LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – In the KCAC ESPN3 Game of the Week, the University of Saint Mary football team faced a tough task in trying to take down Sterling College. The Spires would eventually fall 52-7 to the Warriors at Charles J. Berkel Memorial Stadium.

The Spires are now 0-5 overall and 0-4 in the KCAC.

Sterling would strike first – three and a half minutes into the first quarter as they scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass. Sterling would strike again on their next possession to take a 14-0 lead, but the Spires found paydirt when Elijah Creighton picked off Warriors' quarterback Cedrick Phillips and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown.

Saint Mary would fall behind two touchdowns as the Warriors scored again with 6:47 left in the quarter. The Warriors continued to strike on offense as they put up another 17 points in the second quarter to take a 42-7 halftime lead.

After the first drive for the Spires ended in a three and out in the third quarter, Saint Mary drove down the field on their next possession. The Spires connected on three consecutive plays of at least 10 yards to get to the opposition's 37-yard line, but Sterling forced a turnover to take over on offense.

Sterling would miss a field goal toward the end of the quarter and led 45-7 going into the fourth. After a punt by the Spires, Sterling added another touchdown with 8:55 remaining in the game. Saint Mary was able to drive the ball down the field again, but the Warriors forced another turnover to take over and eventually end the game.

Troy Temmink led the Spires with 102 passing yards on 13 completions and Matthew Graham had 61 yards on 12 carries. Creighton came up big on defense as he had his first two interceptions of the year. Garrett Carter led the team with 12 total tackles in the game.

UP NEXT
Saint Mary hits the road for their next two contests as they travel to Salina, Kan. on Oct. 12 to take on No. 4 Kansas Wesleyan at 2 p.m.