Box Score ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Missouri S&T struggled to get its offense going Saturday night, while Missouri Western took advantage of some errors by the Miners along the way to build a big early advantage to down the Miners 63-3 at Spratt Stadium.

The Griffons, ranked sixth in both the AFCA and D2Football.com rankings, turned an S&T interception, fumble and blocked punt in the opening half into 21 points as they built a 35-3 lead by halftime.  Western also did a lot of damage to the Miners with their ground game, with 331 of its 462 total yards coming via its running game.

S&T had a good opportunity early in the contest, holding the Griffons to a three-and-out on their opening possession and getting the ball at midfield after a punt.  However, the MIners went three-and-out themselves and then after Western missed a field goal on its next trip, an interception by Marc Harrison gave the Griffons the ball at the S&T 38-yard line.

Two plays later, quarterback Travis Partridge kept the ball on a fake and took it in from 11 yards out to give Western the lead.

Later in the quarter, Raphael Spencer closed a four-play drive with a 30-yard touchdown run, then added a 41-yard scoring run immediately after a fumbled punt gave the ball to the Griffons in Miner territory.

Western added to its lead in the latter stages of the half when the Griffons blocked a punt and Darrian Bass scooped up the loose ball at the six-yard line and took it into the end zone.

The Miners got on the scoreboard following that score when Adam Peden (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) kicked a 33-yard field goal, but Western got back to the end zone in the final minute of the half on a six-yard touchdown pass from Partridge to Daylon Harper.

Partridge threw another scoring pass in the opening minute of the second half, then the Griffons (2-0) got a touchdown pass from reserve quarterback Nate Wilson to Jon Green and two touchdown runs from Tra Brown for the final margin.

The Miners (0-2) finished the night with 213 yards of total offense, as Reed Brown (Rogers, Ark./Heritage HS) completed 15-of-26 passes for 130 yards.  Josh Corbid (Stockton, Calif./Lincoln) had a game-high five receptions for S&T for 47 yards, while Nick Taylor (Wichita, Kan./Southeast HS) caught four passes for 49 yards.

Western had two backs clear the 100-yard mark on the night as Brown ran for 109 yards and Spencer finished with 107.  Partridge also ran for 89 yards while completing nine of his 17 throws  for 111 yards.

Chris Emesih (Houston, Texas/Westfield) led the Miner defense with six tackles and had one of S&T's three quarterback sacks on the evening.

Missouri S&T returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Wisconsin-LaCrosse in a 1 p.m. game on Hall of Fame weekend at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.