Box Score ROLLA, Mo. – A 21-point outburst in a span of just over two minutes in the early stages of the game boosted Missouri S&T to its fourth straight victory to open the 2012 campaign, as the Miners bested Kentucky Wesleyan 47-23 Saturday night at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

The victory now sets up a showdown next Saturday night between S&T, the last remaining undefeated team in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and the GLVC's pre-season favorite, Indianapolis, who stayed perfect in conference play with a win over McKendree.  The Miners and Greyhounds will face off at Allgood-Bailey Stadium at 6:30 p.m.

After S&T punted on its opening possession against the Panthers, the Miner defensive and special teams units played a big hand in the early scoring run.

First, Freddy Dugard (Queens Village, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) forced a fumble by KWC's Devin Le'Gall that was recovered at the Panthers' 25-yard line by Chris Horn (Tulsa, Okla./Booker T. Washington).  Six plays later, Scott Hendricks (Kechi, Kan./Maize HS) – on his fifth straight carry of the drive – went over from the one to put the Miners on top.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Panthers again fumbled the ball away, allowing the Miners to set up shop at KWC's 22.  Josh Firm (Lancaster, Calif./Quartz Hill) connected with Joseph Hyman (Los Angeles, Calif./Palisades) streaking down the sideline on the very next play for a touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0.

The Panthers would go three-and-out on its next possession, which was followed by a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown by Carlton Westbrook (Centralia, Ill./Centralia).  On the play, Westbrook twice split through a pair of Panther defenders and got a key block downfield to spring him to his second punt return for a score this season.

The 21 points – scored in a span of just two minutes and six seconds – marked the shortest stretch that a Miner team has ever scored 21 points.  In 2008, S&T posted 21 points in a span of 2:17 in a win at Lincoln.

Matt Wilson's 38-yard field goal at the 6:32 mark of the quarter got the Panthers on the scoreboard, but the Miners pushed their lead to 28-3 on a one-yard scoring run by Curterris Golden (Chicago, Ill./John Hope) early in the second quarter to conclude a 60-yard drive.

Kentucky Wesleyan took advantage of some mistakes by the Miners over the next several minutes after the Golden touchdown to close the gap.  Following a 26-yard pass play from Will Barnes to Le'Gall, Barnes hit a wide open Shawn Mooney for a 22-yard touchdown.  S&T then committed a fumble on a short kickoff and a personal foul on the play as well to give the Panthers the ball at the Miners' 11, which led to a two-yard scoring pass from Barnes to Jeff Ward to make it 28-17.

The Miners would get a 35-yard field goal from David Druse (Coal City, Ill./Coal City HS) on their next possession, then got an interception from Jimmy Barnhart (Union, Mo./Union) after the Panthers drove inside the S&T 10-yard line to snuff out that scoring chance. 

Before the first half ended, the Miners put together a  42-yard touchdown drive that ended with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Firm to Hyman, allowing S&T to take a 37-17 lead into the locker room.

The second half was far quieter on the scoring front.  The Panthers' touchdown came after a Cole Wassner (Quartz Hill, Calif./Quartz Hill) hit a low liner on a punt that caromed off the back of Dustin Harvey; Kendall Tinsley picked up the loose ball at midfield and took it in for the score.

S&T answered that score with a 27-yard field goal from Druse and a five-yard scoring run by Hendricks to cap a 109-yard night on the ground.

The Miners finished with a season-high 553 yards of total offense, including 253 on the ground as Golden added 92 to go with the 109 gained by Hendricks.   S&T also had a pair of 100-yard receivers for the second week in succession, as Smook Thomas (Quincy, Fla./East Gadsden) caught 13 passes for 135 yards and Hyman had 103 yards on his six receptions.

Firm completed 24-of-46 passes in the game for 283 yards and the two touchdowns.

Defensively, the Miners gave up just 203 yards of total offense to the Panthers and recorded a season-high seven quarterback sacks.  S&T also forced five KWC turnovers, recovering three fumbles and getting an interception from Sean Martin (South Holland, Ill./Seton Academy) along with the one from Barnhart.