The Miner football team built a 21-point lead by the early stages of the third quarter, then withstood a furious Saint Joseph's rally to come away with a 38-29 victory on Hall of Fame Day at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

Thanks to an exceptional first half effort, the Miners were able to build a 25-10 lead by the intermission, then drove 63 yards on their first possession of the second half to extend that lead to 31-10.

However, the Pumas scored 19 unanswered points to draw to within two midway through the fourth quarter, but after a two-point conversion attempt failed, the Miners were able to get an insurance touchdown to complete their third victory of the season.

After forcing Saint Joseph's to punt on its opening possession, the Miners put together an impressive nine-play, 83-yard drive for the first score of the game. S&T strung together six first downs on the drive -- never snapping on third down along the way -- and ended the drive on a five-yard scoring run by quarterback Jason Schlueter (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon).

The Miner defense halted two Puma drives on its side of the 50 with interceptions after taking the lead, but the Pumas moved in front early in the second quarter when Terrance Freeman scored on a two-yard run.

S&T answered right back when Mike Greaving (St. Louis, Mo./St. Mary's) leaped above two Saint Joseph's defenders in the end zone to haul in a 43-yard scoring pass. The two-point conversion attempt failed, however, to leave the Miners up 12-7.

After Michael Binder kicked a 25-yard field goal to cut the lead to three, the Miners scored again on a big play. Binder's kickoff bounced over the heads of the Miner returners, but Zach Howard (McKinney, Texas/Frisco) retrieved it on the six-yard line and ran right through the coverage team into the open field to go 94 yards for a touchdown.

S&T added to the lead when David Shields (Florissant, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) powered into the end zone with 2:16 to go in the half to give the Miners' their halftime lead. That score was set up by a 70-yard pass from Schlueter to Greaving that put the Miners at the Pumas' 10-yard line.

The Miners continued to add to the lead by taking the second half kickoff and driving 63 yards on 11 plays, capping the drive with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Schlueter to Greaving.

Saint Joseph's clawed back into the contest by scoring on four straight possessions, getting two field goals from Binder and two touchdown passes from Mike Hladik to cut the lead to 31-29.

After his 15-yard scoring toss to Jashon Banks with 7:50 to play trimmed the lead to two, the Pumas tried to tie the game with a two-point conversion, but Hladik's pass to Scott Chapman came up short.

Howard returned the ensuing kickoff to the Puma 45, then Chad Shockley (St. James, Mo./John F. Hodge) caught a 22-yard pass to get the Miners a first down. Moments later, the Pumas were flagged for pass interference on a third down play to give the Miners a first down at the six; Schlueter then hit Bryan Crider (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) in the end zone to give S&T some breathing room.

Schlueter completed 20-of-28 for 279 yards and three scores, while Greaving had seven catches for 159 yards to lead the Miner receivers.

Saint Joseph's won the yardage battle in the contest with 430 yards to the Miners' 346, with Hladik throwing for 283 yards.

Defensively, Justin Butler (Tulsa, Okla./Holland Hall) led S&T with 12 tackles, while Brett Hanten (Peoria, Ariz./Ironwood) had eight tackles and three pass breakups on the afternoon.