OWENSBORO, Ky. – Missouri S&T closed out the 2009 season Saturday by winning for the fourth time in five weeks, using a 17-point burst late in the second quarter to post a 34-14 win over Kentucky Wesleyan.

 

After seeing an early 14-0 lead get wiped out on a pair of KWC touchdown passes, the Miners regained the lead on Clay Kinman (Carthage, Mo./Carthage)'s first career touchdown catch with 2:13 left in the first half. 

 

The Miners got a field goal from Joe Drahos (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) with two seconds left in the half to extend the lead to 10, then Mark Hopkins (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) intercepted a Hail Mary pass on the Panthers' final play and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown to give S&T a 31-14 lead at the end of the half.

 

S&T scored on each of its first two possessions of the contest, scoring on the game's opening possession on a 13-yard scoring pass from Jason Schlueter (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) to Bryan Crider (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) and again with just under two minutes left in the period on another Schluter-to-Crider scoring pass that covered two yards.

 

The Panthers got on the scoreboard at the start the second period when Derek Brown hauled in a 38-yard scoring pass on a halfback option from Travis Walker. S&T moved right back down the field, but saw that drive end when Greg Embers intercepted a Schlueter pass on fourth down and ran it back 61 yards to the S&T 24-yard line.

 

On the next play, quarterback Vincent Lalonde threw a touchdown pass to DaMarcus Ganaway to knot the score at 14 with 3:46 left in the half.

 

The Miners needed only 1:33 to regain the lead, as Schlueter connected with Kinman on a slant pattern and the S&T receiver got free from the defender for a 47-yard touchdown play to put the visitors back in front.

 

S&T's defense got a quick three-and-out to give the offense nearly a minute to work with and the Miners proceeded to drive to the Panther 12 before settling for a 29-yard field goal from Drahos with two seconds to play.

 

Kentucky Wesleyan received the kickoff without any time going off the clock and took one crack at the end zone, but Hopkins picked off the Lalonde pass at the four-yard line and used a convoy of blockers to get up the field and reach the end zone with the longest interception return in Miner history.

 

The 96-yard return by Hopkins broke a 40-year old record held by Edwin Lane, who brought back an interception 90 yards in a 1969 game against Southeast Missouri State.

 

Drahos also left Steele Stadium with a record Saturday, kicking a 30-yard field goal in the third quarter to break the Miners' single season mark for field goals with his 13^th of the year.

 

The Miners had 440 yards of total offense to 217 yards for the Panthers, getting 156 on the ground and 284 through the air. Schlueter completed 20-of-40 passes for 285 yards in his final game at S&T, with fellow senior Crider catching eight passes for 81 yards.

 

The eight catches made Crider the Miners' all-time leader in receptions for a tight end, as he ended his four-year career at S&T with 142 receptions.

 

Jerome Miller (Toronto, Ont./Don Bosco) led the Miners on the ground with 62 yards.

 

Defensively, the Miners got eight tackles from Terry Robinson (St. Louis, Mo./McCluer South-Berkeley) and seven from Justin Philpy (McKinney, Texas/McKinney). S&T also got two interceptions in the game, the latter from Cameron Williams (Princeton, Ky./Caldwell County) in the fourth quarter.

 

Missouri S&T finished the 2009 season with a record of 4-7 and won their season finale for the fifth straight year.