Spires' quick start too much for Bluejays
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
With five losses, all with more turnovers than touchdowns, Tabor College hasn't had much of a season.
Four turnovers Saturday, combined with a 27-point eruption, were too much for Tabor to overcome in Leavenworth in a must-win game against struggling St. Mary.
In a game that could have made for a three-way tie for last in the KCAC pending a Bluejay victory, the Spires' (2-3, 2-3 KCAC) 30-14 victory kept Tabor (1-5, 0-5 KCAC) the sole inhabitant.
The Spires entered the game with a defense that has been holding opponents to 256 yards offense per game, while Tabor features the NAIA's 16th ranked offense, averaging 378 yards per game.
St. Mary had yet to bump into a team with the offensive firepower the Bluejays had. However, thanks to Tabor's generosity, the Spires never had any worries as their defense stymied the Bluejays' big three — quarterback Jason Aubrey, wideout Caleb Marsh, and tailback Demetrius Cox.
Fresh off back-to-back games with more than 120 yards receiving, Marsh was held to just one catch for just 20 yards.
Cox ranked second in KCAC and 14th in the NAIA in rushing, averaging nearly 110 yards a game, however, he never got on track, finishing with 57 yards on 23 carries. Aubrey completed more passes to Spires defenders than he threw touchdowns.
For three quarters, the Spires defense pitched a shutout while the struggling Tabor defense allowed St. Mary to take a commanding 27-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
That was a bad sign considering the Bluejays haven't been able to overcome a deficit greater than six points all season.
The Spires' Bryan Bosely was a one-man wrecking crew, running for a game-high 190 yards on 23 carries and a pair of touchdowns, including one for 62 yards.
Aubrey ran for a touchdown, plunging in for a two-yard score in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Bluejays' biggest highlight offensively came in the game's closing minute with Aubrey airing it out for Jason Medelin on a 32-yard touchdown.
Medelin hauled in five catches for a game-season-high 112 yards in Tabor's 335-yard performance offensively.
Tabor's schedule doesn't get any easier, when it plays host Saturday to 12th ranked Bethel for its homecoming game.
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
