Sophomore quarterback Tyler Harper had a hand in three touchdowns as St. Scholastica established itself as the team to beat in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference with a 45-3 homecoming victory over Greenville College (Ill.) before 1,988 fans at Malosky Stadium.
Harper finished 12-for-18 passing for 90 yards and a touchdown, and he ran nine times for 47 yards and two more scores. Jake Jensen had 14 carries for 76 yards and two TDs, Travis Nehowig added 18 carries for 86 yards.
The St. Scholastica defense, meanwhile, forced five turnovers as the Saints won their 15th straight conference game.
Harper set the tone with a 13-yard touchdown scamper early in the first quarter and then found Cory Gebhard six minutes later for a 10-yard TD pass. A Jake Jensen touchdown run and Mike Theismann's 19-yard field goal made it 24-0 at the half.
Greenville (0-2 overall, 0-1 UMAC) was picked over the Saints (2-1, 2-0) to win the UMAC title this season but proved too one-dimensional to challenge the defending conference champions on Saturday. The Panthers ran 46 times for 253 yards but struggled passing the football, with quarterback Brendan Chambers going 5-for-13 for 61 yards and three interceptions, including one Mike LaValley returned 73 yards for the final score of the game.
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Greenville, which won the UMAC title in 2010, was the last conference team to beat the Saints, 35-7 on Oct. 9, 2010, at Public Schools Stadium.
Greenville 0-0-3-0--3
St. Scholastica 14-10-7-14--45
CSS -- Tyler Harper 13 run (Mike Theismann kick)
CSS -- Cory Gebhard 10 pass from Harper (Theismann kick)
CSS -- Jake Jensen 3 run (Theismann kick)
CSS -- Theismann 19 field goal
GC -- Josh Frewin 27 field goal
CSS -- Jensen 1 run (Theismann kick)
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CSS -- Harper 1 run (Theismann kick)
CSS -- Mike LaValley 73 interception return (Theismann kick)
