IW offense struggles on the road

WESMINSTER, Mo. - The Iowa Wesleyan offense just couldn't get off the ground on Saturday as the Tigers dropped their third straight game to start the season. IW fell at Westminster 35-10 in their first conference matchup.

Westminster quarterback Trent White lit the IW defense up early. White had three touchdowns in the first quarter, two rushing scores sandwiched by a 57-yard touchdown pass.

On the other side of the ball, the Tiger offense was shut out in the first half and the Tigers found themselves trailing 21-0 at halftime.

The Tigers didn't score until 3:16 remaining in the third quarter when Jeremy Scholbrock kicked a 34-yard field goal to cut the Blue Jay lead to 21-3, where it would stay until the end of the period.

Westminster stretched their lead early in the fourth quarter on another rushing touchdown by White to make it 28-3, but IW responded on the first play of the ensuing drive when Stafford Lewis broke free on a 65-yard touchdown run, his only rushing attempt of the game.

The Blue Jays added one more score to the board four minutes later on an eight-yard touchdown run by Kalyn Davis. That score brought the Westminster lead to 35-10, where it would stay.

Tiger quarterback DeMarcus Collins led the IW offense. Through the air, Colins was 14-23 for 146 yards and one interception. He also had 74 yards on the ground.

Jacob Santos was Collins' favorite receiver, catching six passes for 50 yards. Shomari Wilson had one catch for 34 yards. Kyle Divelbiss caught three balls for 32 yards and Akenyon Bagley had three catches for 29 yards out of the backfield. Lewis, Tanner Holder and Jazquez Hall each had one catch on the day.

Three Tiger running backs received carries in the loss. Lewis' 65 yards led the backfield.

Marco Ventura led the defense with 12 tackles. Luke Wells had nine tackles on the day, and Chase Tennant had six. Adrian Walker had one interception for the Tigers' only takeaway.

IW fell to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference. They will be back on the road on Saturday, Sept. 22 when they face a Minnesota Morris team that has also started 0-3 and has also been outscored 130-0 in their first three contests.