FULTON, Mo. - With it being William Woods' inaugural football season, every week history is made - and firsts in the process. The greatest first to this point in the program's history occurred down Westminster Avenue, as WWU (1-3) won its first-ever game against an opponent with the street's namesake, beating Westminster College (1-2) 50-35 at Kent and Judith Mueller Stadium.
While earning their first win, the Owls scored in a couple of different ways for the first time. Jaylen Scruggs notched the first pick-6 in program history, reaching the end zone on his 80-yard interception return. And
Jalen Proctor got it done on the ground, recording WWU's first rushing touchdown when he ran down the right side of the field for a 54-yard score. Proctor broke the program's single-game rushing yards record with 67 on three carries.
Woods also had some continuity in its triumph; for the third straight game, quarterback
Gabe Serri tossed a touchdown to
Troy Oliver. One Serri to Oliver touchdown at No. 5 Grand View University in Week 1 was history, and two versus St. Ambrose University in Week 2 was great, but three at Westminster in Week 3 was a party.
A little less than three minutes after
Brendan Dennis returned a blocked extra-point attempt to the house to put the Owls ahead 9-6, Serri dropped a 62-yard bomb to Oliver, furthering their lead to 15-6 with 2:55 remaining in the first quarter. After the Blue Jays cut it to a two-point game, Serri found Oliver in the end zone on a slant route for a 7-yard touchdown pass to put WWU up by 10 (23-13) with 6:40 left before halftime.
That was the final time Serri lobbed a touchdown pass to Oliver in the first half. Woods led 30-13 at halftime, and it tacked on 20 points in the second half. Capping the Owls' scoring was who else but Serri and Oliver.
Breaking multiple of the program's single-game passing and receiving touchdown records, Serri hurled it to Oliver for a 17-yard touchdown, giving The Woods a comfortable 50-29 advantage with 10:18 remaining in the contest. That was Oliver's fourth and final reception, as he finished with a game-high 93 receiving yards and three touchdown catches.
On top of throwing a career-high five touchdown passes, Serri completed 13-of-23 passes for 207 yards (62 yards, the longest) and no interceptions.
Serri also made Saturday memorable for a pair of Owls receivers. Just 5:40 into the matchup, Dennis registered his first touchdown catch for WWU, snagging an 18-yard pass from Serri to put the visitors in front for good. Striking a pose in celebration of his feat,
Jalen Becerra became the third Owl to post a touchdown reception, hauling in a 14-yard completion from the St. Dominic graduate to increase WWU's lead to 14 with 5:18 remaining in the third quarter.
On the defensive side, William Woods'
Carter Holloway doubled his team-high tackles tally on the year to 24, tying teammate
Darrias Butler for a co-game-high 12 tackles. Additionally,
Sovereign Morton's and
Sean Conner's 1½ sacks each were the most in a single game in Owls history and the co-game-high.
William Woods had 321 yards of total offense (219 passing and 102 - first 100-plus-yard game - rushing yards) with 22:13 time of possession, while Westminster had 372 yards of offense (213 rushing and 159 passing yards) with 37:47 time of possession. The Owls only turned it over once, a fumble, while the Blue Jays did three times, all interceptions.
Competing in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, which is full of new conference opponents for Woods Athletics as a whole, the Owls will face a familiar foe next. They will take on Missouri Baptist, also a full member of the American Midwest Conference that will become a full member of the Heart next school year, at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Spartan Field in St. Louis.
