ROLLA, Mo. – Drake used early touchdowns to begin both halves to propel it to a 28-14 victory over Missouri S&T Saturday night at Allgood-Bailey Stadium in the Miners' home opener, despite a huge night from senior wide receiver Chad Shockley (St. James, Mo./John F. Hodge).

The Bulldogs scored on their initial possession of the game as they succeeded on an early gamble they took. Facing fourth-and-one on S&T's 42-yard line, Drake quarterback Mike Piatkowski connected with Kevin Marshall, who got open behind the Miner defense, for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs the lead 4:14 into play.

After the Miners were stopped on their second possession, a bad snap on a punt gave Drake the ball at the S&T six. Steve Platek scored two plays later on a two-yard run to extend the Drake lead to 14.

Missouri S&T got on the scoreboard with 4:47 left in the half when Joe Drahos (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) kicked a 35-yard field goal, then put together a quick scoring drive to get to within three before halftime.

Taking over on its own 16 after Cameron Williams (Princeton, Ky./Caldwell County) recovered a Platek fumble, Shockley made a diving catch of a Trent Welbern (Fort Smith, Ark./Southside) pass at the Drake 42. Following an incomplete pass, Welbern completed a pass over the middle to Smook Thomas (Quincy, Fla./East Gadsden) and the sophomore wideout zipped past the Bulldog defense for a 42-yard scoring reception.

Shockley followed that with a two-point conversion after picking up a low snap and reaching the front corner of the end zone to cut the lead to 14-11 with under a minute to play in the half.

The Miners opened the second half appearing to have forced a three-and-out on defense, but the Bulldogs used a fake punt – a 19-yard pass from Platek to Tyler Moorehead – to keep their drive alive. Six plays after the successful fake punt, Piatkowski threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Platek.

Drake added onto its lead later in the third period on a 33-yard scoring pass from Piatkowski to Pat Cashmore.

S&T drove to the Drake one-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but had to settle for an 18-yard field goal from Drahos to cut the lead to 28-14 with 11:09 to go. The Miners' next drive also got into Drake territory, but a fourth down pass failed and S&T had to give up the ball on downs.

The Miners finished the game with 276 yards of total offense, gaining 269 of them through the air. Welbern and Matt Elliott (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider) combined to complete 23-of-42 passes on the night, with Shockley hauling in a career high 13 passes for 157 yards.

Curterris Golden (Chicago, Ill./John Hope) had 36 yards on the ground to lead the Miners in that department.

Defensively, the Miners got seven tackles from Terrance Lockett (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit) and six from Ewanu Meneh, while also recording four quarterback sacks and eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Drake finished with 325 yards of offense, as Piatkowski threw for 250 yards and three scores.

The Miners, who dropped to 0-2 with the loss, will play next Saturday at Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 1 p.m.