New Ulm, MN - Thanksgiving is nearly a month away, but the Martin Luther College football team decided to feast early in their 46-14 victory over Westminster College on Saturday afternoon.

MLC controlled all three phases of the game and not a lot went wrong for them besides a miscue on a punt early in the first quarter. The Brady Turriff to Thomas Koelpin connection clicked once again this week, as the tandem scored on a 53-yard touchdown over the Blue Jays' secondary to put the Knights up 7-0 after the extra point. Turriff found Koelpin one more time towards the end of the first half, but this time it made the score 29-8 and capped off a seven play, 68 yard drive.

The MLC pass rush, led by Andrew Esmay gave the ball right back to the Knights' offense after the junior forced a fumble that was recovered by Daniel Biermann inside Westminster 20-yard line. That turnover gave MLC great field position and a chance to tack on another touchdown before the half and the Knights did just that as Rees Roecker found the end zone on a three-yard rush up the middle. Roecker finished the game with 22 carries and a 133 yards, while only playing in the first half.

With MLC going up 36-8 at the break, it gave an opportunity for many reserves to come in and see the field in the second half, as the Knights chewed up the clock for much of the final 30 minutes of action.

Some notable plays that occurred for MLC in the second half included a 51-yard strip-sack returned for touchdown by Esmay and a 40-yard field goal by Micah Koschnitzke. The junior kicker had a nice game with two field goals and an interception on defense and now sits in second place in career field goals (12) at MLC.

Meanwhile, the Esmay play kept him in first place in all of Division III for sacks (12.5) and forced fumbles (6) this season and the defensive end now has the most sacks in a single season in MLC history.

Overall, the defense played sound football and only allowed 133 yards of total offense with the Knights holding the Blue Jays to -17 rushing yards to go along with only one touchdown in garbage time.

Joey Ehlke and Biermann led MLC with five tackles apiece and the whole MLC defense made plays on the field.

Offensively, Turriff threw for 210 yards and three touchdowns, while Koelpin caught six passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns. Additionally, Arthur Robinson rushed for 57 yards and had an impact with 100 yards in the punt and kick return game.

MLC improves to 5-2 overall, 3-1 in the UMAC and has a pivotal matchup on the road at Northwestern next Saturday. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.