Heavy thunderstorms were expected to hit Rolla during the course of the evening Saturday, but the only storm to arrive appeared at Allgood-Bailey Stadium in the form of the Missouri S&T Miners.

The Miners rolled through Evangel by a count of 41-7 with a balanced offensive attack that produced 466 yards on the night, while the defensive unit held Evangel to 207 including just 40 in the first half when S&T built a 27-0 lead in its home opener.

After going three-and-out in their first possession of the night, the Miners scored touchdowns on their next four trips down the field and five of the next six. The only time they didn't score in that stretch came when time ran out in the first half.

S&T marched 90 yards on nine plays for its first score of the night, highlighted by a swing pass from Jason Schleuter to Zach Howard (McKinney, Texas/Frisco) that covered 43 yards. Later in the drive, David Shields (Florissant, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) ran 13 yards to put the ball inside the Crusader 20 and he eventually scored on a two-yard run.

Kirk Stilwell (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South)'s 27-yard punt return to the Evangel 42 set up the next Miner score, which ended up coming on a fourth down play. After being sacked for a 12-yard loss on third down, Schleuter connected with Chad Shockley (St. James, Mo./John F. Hodge) on the next play for a 25-yard scoring pass to give S&T a 13-0 lead.

Shields scored two more touchdowns in the opening half -- as part of a 102-yard half on the ground -- to give the Miners a 27-0 lead at the break.

Evangel got its only touchdown on the second play of the third quarter when David Sebastian hit a streaking Edward Sands down the sidelines for a 76-yard touchdown play.

The Miners answered the Evangel score when Shockley returned the ensuing kickoff to the Crusader 38; Schleuter would close the drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Crider (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias).

S&T's final score came after a blocked punt by Matt Loula (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) as Schleuter hit Shockley on a one-yard scoring pass early in the fourth quarter.

Shields finished with 119 of the Miners' 246 yards on the ground in the contest, while Jerome Miller (Toronto, Ont./Don Bosco) added 91 on 14 carries. Schleuter completed 17-of-31 passes for 220 yards and the three scores, with Shockley catching six passes for 53 yards.