For the second week in succession, the Miner football team suffered a tough loss on its home turf, as Wisconsin-Stevens Point held off a late Missouri S&T rally effort to come away with a 21-17 win Saturday afternoon at Allgood-Bailey Stadium despite a record-setting day by freshman wideout Marterricus Thomas.

 

Trailing throughout the entire second half, the Miners needed to march 80 yards over the final 2:34 to get the lead. S&T got down to the Pointers' eight-yard line with eight seconds to play, but was unable to get into the end zone on the final two plays of the game.

 

After a scoreless first period, S&T broke on top on a career-best 36-yard field goal by Joe Drahos (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) with 10:11 remaining in the half. However, after Pointer safety Joe Mlezia picked off a pass in the end zone to halt a Miner drive, UW-Stevens Point drove 80 yards to take the lead with 44 seconds remaining in the half.

 

Jared Beckwith's nine-yard scoring pass to Jared Jenkins (Edmond, Okla./Heritage Hall) put the Pointers on top, then the guests from Wisconsin extended that lead on their first possession after halftime when Beckwith scored from the one on a quarterback sneak.

 

S&T marched right back down the field and got its first touchdown of the day on an eight-yard scoring run by Jason Schlueter (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) with 6:33 left in the third period.   After the Miner defense got a three-and-out, S&T moved back into Pointer territory again but had another drive end with an interception at the Stevens Point 15-yard line.

 

The Pointers parlayed that turnover into points as well, as Beckwith connected with Jenkins down the left sideline for a 23-yard scoring pass to give the visitors a 21-9 lead with 13:35 to play.

 

For the second time in the half, the Miners answered a Pointer touchdown with one of their own, quickly moving down the field and scoring on a 33-yard scoring pass from Schlueter to Thomas, one of the single-game record 16 receptions he made on the day.

 

The Miners thwarted a scoring chance for the Pointers when Edwin Scott (Alpadena, Calif./LaSalle) picked off a pass in the end zone with 6:55 remaining, but after the Miners moved out to the Stevens Point 44-yard line, S&T elected to punt on fourth-and-one. The Miner defense got a three-and-out to get the ball back, but Jenkins hit a 73-yard punt for a touchback to make the Miners go 80 yards to win the game.

 

Schlueter completed four passes for first downs on the final drive, two to David Kavish (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) and two to Thomas, the latter a 21-yard play to put the ball at the eight. After a spike to stop the clock, Schlueter threw an incompletion in the end zone and the second opportunity with just over a second left on the clock ended up short.

 

Thomas had 190 yards receiving – the sixth-best single-game total in Miner history – to go with his record 16 receptions, while Bobby Pettis (Hickory Hills, Ill./Argo) also had 10 catches on the afternoon. Schlueter completed 41-of-56 passes for 351 yards.

Thomas' 16 receptions broke the mark of 15 set by Bob Somerville in 1970 and tied by Stu Dunlop five years later.

Beckwith was 28-of-39 for 330 yards for the Pointers (1-1), while Jenkins caught 15 passes for 187 yards and the two scores. UW-Stevens Point, an NCAA Division III school, entered the game ranked 17^th in the D3Football.com rankings.

 

Brian Jordan (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) led the Miner defense with eight tackles, while Terry Robinson (St. Louis, Mo./McCluer South-Berkeley) had four pass breakups in the contest.

S&T (0-3) will open a three-game road trip next Saturday at Wisconsin-LaCrosse; game time will be at 4 p.m.