ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T overcame a two-touchdown deficit in the second half to catch up with William Jewell, but a critical turnover in the fourth quarter led to the Cardinals' game-winning score as the Miners dropped a 34-27 Great Lakes Valley Conference decision to the league's co-leader at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

The Miners tied the score at 27 with 6:24 remaining on DeSoto Dickson (Florissant, Mo./Trinity Catholic)'s four-yard scoring run, then forced the Cardinals into a three-and-out on their next possession to get the ball back with 5:28 to go.  However, Thomas Clanton picked off a pass from Lamar Wilkes (Maryland Heights, Mo./Pattonville) and returned it the Miner 22-yard line to set up William Jewell's game-winning score.

Nick West threw a 20-yard scoring pass to Staton Rebeck two plays later to put WJC back in front, before the Miners' final drive stalled just across midfield in the final minute of play.

The Miners never led in the contest, as the Cardinals took the lead on their opening possession on Brandon Womack's 20-yard field goal.  Womack added a 46-yard field goal before the first period ended, then Le'Andre Nebbit returned a fumble 30 yards for a score to give the Cardinals a 13-0 advantage.

S&T answered the fumble return with its first scoring drive of the afternoon, driving 69 yards on 13 plays and ending it with an 18-yard scoring pass from Wilkes to Leon Moody (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit HS).  Wilkes completed four passes for first downs on the drive, including a 12-yard strike to Nick Taylor (Wichita, Kan./Southeast HS) on a third down play to keep the drive moving.

Moments after the Moody touchdown, Dan Mauszycki (Gardner, Kan./Gardner-Edgerton HS) forced a fumble as West tried to get rid of the ball; the play was ruled a lateral and Dillon Bowman (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt South) returned the loose ball to the Cardinals' six-yard line.  The Miners were unable to punch it into the end zone, however, and had to settle for Nolan Mannino (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo)'s 20-yard field goal to draw to within three.

William Jewell pushed the lead back out when it got the ball back, mostly due to the work of West as he escaped the rush and picked up 22 yards on a third-and-11 play.  Later in the drive, he connected with Rebeck for a 20-yard scoring pass to extend the lead to 20-10.

Mannino kicked a 30-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half to cut the lead to 20-13 at halftime, but Trejuan Mask went 67 yards for a touchdown on an option play on WJC's first possession of the second half to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the second half.

The Miner defense created a pair of scoring chances for the Miners in Cardinal territory with a pair of interceptions in the second half.  The first came from Will Brown (Hazelwood, Mo./Hazelwood West), who picked off a West pass and returned it to the WJC 10-yard line.  After a penalty on third down backed the Miners up, Wilkes hit Taylor in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown to cut the lead in half.

Nearly midway through the fourth quarter, the Miners got another turnover when Jon Vance (Marshalltown, Iowa/Marshalltown) intercepted a pass at the Jewell 48.  Moody made a 23-yard reception on a third-and-13 play to put the Miners at the 10, then Dickson finished the drive with a four-yard scoring run.  Mannino's extra point tied the score with 6:24 to go.

S&T got the ball back after forcing a punt at its own 12-yard line, but on third down, Wilkes threw a pass down the middle of the field that was picked off by Clanton and returned 33 yards to the S&T 22.  West then hit Rebeck on a quick pass over the middle that he took into the end zone for the go-ahead score.

The Miners got the ball back with 2:59 to play and was aided by a pass interference penalty on a fourth down play that gave them an automatic first down at the Jewell 49-yard line.

However, the Miners were unable to move much farther downfield after the penalty and lost the ball on downs with 37 seconds to play.

Wilkes completed 21-of-40 passes for 221 yards on the day and accounted for 252 of the Miners' 349 offensive yards.  Moody caught nine passes for a season-high 115 yards, while Taylor hauled in eight passes for 63 yards.  Chris Kennard (Plano, Texas/Parish Episcopal) led the Miners' ground attack with 44 yards as S&T had 128 yards overall.

Bowman and Daleroy Davey (Kansas City, Kan./Turner) had five tackles apiece for the Miners, who also got an interception from Dawan Ferguson (St. Louis, Mo./Riverview Gardens) in forcing four Cardinal turnovers.

West was 23-of-41 passing for 256 yards in the contest as Jewell (4-3, 4-0 GLVC) outgained the Miners 388-349.  Mask, who handled the bulk of the Cardinals' running duties after an injury to Thomas Cook early in the game, rushed for 107 yards.

The Miners, now 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the GLVC, will face McKendree next Saturday in a 1 p.m. contest in Lebanon, Ill.  The Bearcats got into the win column for the first time this season Saturday with a 53-43 victory at Southwest Baptist.