QUINCY, Ill. – Missouri S&T's offense was unable to answer a game-tying score in the fourth quarter Saturday, allowing Quincy to parlay a pair of long runs into a winning touchdown with under three minutes to play as the Miners fell 20-13 to the host Hawks in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

The Miners had taken a 13-10 lead early in the fourth quarter when Peter Simpson (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) connected with Leon Moody (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit HS) for a 19-yard scoring pass.  Quincy responded by getting good field position on the ensuing kickoff and knotting the score on Blake Allison's 40-yard field goal with 9:52 remaining.

After picking up one first down on its next series, the Miners had to punt the ball back to the Hawks and Austin Dussold (Farmington, Mo./Farmington)'s career-long 57-yard punt put Quincy back at its own 26.  S&T had the Hawks in a third-and-15 situation two plays into the possession, but QU quarterback Nick Lonergan got away from the Miner pass rush and ran 29 yards for a first down to midfield.

Two plays later, Chris Harris dashed 45 yards to the Miner one-yard line, where Lonergan scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:52 left on the clock.

S&T's attempt to get the tying score was thwarted when it got caught in a long yardage situation, first by a penalty that negated a first down completion to Melvin Stovall (Los Angeles, Calif./Lancaster) and then a sack.  Simpson's pass on fourth down to Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, Calif.) was broken up by Jasus Harkins with 44 seconds to go.

The Hawks were able to take advantage of a pair of mistakes by the S&T punting game to take a 10-7 lead in the opening half.   The first came on the Miners' opening possession, when Daniel Lee blocked a Dussold punt to give Quincy the ball at the S&T 31-yard line.  Allison ended the drive with a 33-yard field goal to give the Hawks the initial advantage.

S&T responded with its best drive of the afternoon, driving from its own 16 on 14 plays to reach the end zone.  The Miners caught a break early in the drive when Lamar Wilkes (Maryland Heights, Mo./Pattonville) had a pass intercepted, but that was negated by an offsides penalty on the Hawks that gave S&T a first down.

Later in the drive, Wilkes hit Elrod for a 21-yard pickup to get into Quincy territory, then a pass interference call on third down gave S&T another automatic first down.

Simpson completed the drive by crashing over from the one to put the Miners in front.

However, the Miners' next possession ended in disaster.  Forced to punt after a sack on third down, the snap sailed over Dussold's head and he was flagged for intentional grounding to give Quincy the ball as the Miners' seven-yard line.  The Hawks took the lead two plays later on a one-yard scoring run by Sterling Ross.

Aside from both teams missing field goal attempts in the second quarter, the defenses took over control of the game for the better part of the next two quarters of play.  S&T got the ball late in the third quarter after a Hawk punt in Quincy territory and after a 17-yard run by Charles Bournes (Chicago, Ill./Morgan Park), scored on the 19-yard pass play from Simpson to Moody – hitting him in the back off the end zone -- to take the lead back before Quincy rallied itself for the tying and winning scores.

The Miners were held to 193 yards of total offense on the afternoon, its lowest total in a game in over three seasons.  Wilkes and Simpson combined to complete 16-of-28 passes, but for only 135 yards while the Miner rushing attack accumulated just 58.

S&T's defense held the Hawks to 261 for the game – the third time this season it has held an opponent under 300 yards – and recorded seven sacks.  Daleroy Davey (Kansas City, Kan./Turner) had three of the Miner sacks, while linebackers Nick Kruse (Cuba, Mo./Cuba HS) and Dillon Bowman (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt South) had eight tackles apiece.

Missouri S&T will play its final two games at home, beginning with next Saturday's tilt against GLVC leader Indianapolis at 1 p.m. at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.