Better not enough for Westminster Christian
There was nothing fancy about what Ottawa-Marquette did against Westminster Christian on Saturday, but its good old-fashioned grind-it-out style was sure effective.
The Eagles' ground attack racked up 355 yards rushing as they methodically wore down the host Warriors' defense in a 34-8 Northeastern Athletic Conference victory in Elgin.
"We are a wing-T team," Ottawa-Marquette coach Tom Probst said. "So, we run at whatever we can get and today it was right in the belly."
The Eagles (2-1) had 5 touchdown drives of 60 or more yards and controlled the ball with 75 total offensive plays to just 32 for the Westminster.
Marquette scored on its first 3 possessions of the game with drives of 60, 66, and 64 yards to take a 20-0 lead by halftime. Eagles quarterback John Lechtenberg scored on a pair of 2-yard touchdown runs in the first half and added a 12-yard touchdown pass to Sam Hettel.
Lechtenberg, who at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, was bigger than some of the Warriors' linemen, rushed for 72 yards and threw for another 96.
"Even though the numbers might say otherwise, we never felt like they manhandled us," said Westminster coach John Davis, whose team lost to Marquette 53-7 last year. "Last year we felt like they just ran right over us. Today we were able to at least put some defensive pressure on them and make them work harder for their yards."
Joe Wheatland led the Eagles' ground assault with 107 yards on 17 carries. He added touchdown runs of 7 and 4 yards in the second half to give his team a 34-0 lead.
The Warriors (1-2) showed some signs of life early in the fourth quarter when they made a goal line defensive stand on a 4th-and-1 at the 1-yard line to avoid a slaughter rule running clock.
Just 2 plays later Xavier Brown broke free off right tackle and ran 98 yards for the Warriors' only touchdown. Brown broke the 100-yard mark for the second straight week, finishing with 113 yards on 8 carries.
"My O-line did an amazing job and my teammate Connor Albrecht made a great block on the outside," Brown said. "All I had to do was carry the ball and run. They did all the work and deserve the credit."
Other than that big one play the Warriors struggled offensively. Quarterback Max Tucker passed for just 33 yards and was picked off twice. The Warriors turned the ball over 4 times.
"They were in a defense to stop the run," said Brown. "So, the plays were there for us in the passing game. We just didn't connect. But we never gave up. We don't have a die button and just continued to swing away and make some good things happen at the end.'
The game ended on a sour note when Albrecht was carted off to an ambulance with a leg injury that occurred on the final play of the game. Tucker was also transported to an area hospital with concussion symptoms.