ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T went to its ground game Saturday to close the 2014 season on a winning note, running off a season high in rushing yards to grind out a 14-9 victory over Lincoln University at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

Playing on a day when the game time temperature was 33 degrees and snow fell for a period of time in the second half, the Miners posted 248 yards with its running game to knock off the error-prone Blue Tigers for their fourth victory of the season.

The Miners thwarted two Lincoln scoring opportunities with interceptions in the opening quarter.  The first came when Jake Harlan (St. James, Mo./John F. Hodge) picked off an errant throw at the S&T 18-yard line, then Will Brown (Hazelwood, Mo./Hazelwood West) recorded his Great Lakes Valley Conference-high seventh interception of the year when he picked off a Dennis Vinson pass just inside the goal line to halt that drive.

However, the Miners were unable to capitalize on those turnovers, then the Blue Tigers took advantage of a 46-yard pass from Owen Jordan to Khiry Draine to score the first points of the game.  Draine's reception went to the Miners' one-yard line, but the Miners kept Lincoln out of the end zone, forcing it to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Andrew Fishel.

After being held off the scoreboard for the first 28 minutes of the opening half, the Miners put together a two-minute drive that put them in front right before the half ended.

By picking up four first downs along the way – including one when Lincoln was flagged for 12 men on the field – the Miners used the legs of quarterback Lamar Wilkes (Maryland Heights, Mo./Pattonville) to get into scoring position.  Wilkes carried for 19 yards on back-to-back plays to get S&T to the LU three-yard line with 25 seconds to go. 

Reed Brown (Rogers, Ark./Heritage HS) entered the game at quarterback after the second run by Wilkes and tossed a scoring pass to Jacob Nutt (Pacific, Mo./Pacific), one of 21 Miner seniors playing in their final game Saturday.

S&T added to its lead early in the third quarter following a Blue Tiger punt that gave it the ball near midfield.  A roughing the passer call after a sack moved the Miners to the Lincoln 27, Peter Simpson (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) hit Leon Moody (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit HS) with a pass across the middle; Moody zig-zagged his way through the Lincoln defense before being taken down just short of the goal line.  Charles Bournes (Chicago, Ill./Morgan Park) scored on the next play to give the Miners a 14-3 advantage.

The Blue Tigers had appeared to get closer later in third period when Jordan hit Morris Henderson for an apparent 78-yard touchdown, but Henderson stepped out of bounds before catching the ball to nullify the score.   Lincoln lost another touchdown due to a penalty before the quarter ended when Jordan's run in the end zone was called back due to a holding penalty.

However, a pass interference penalty against S&T gave Lincoln another chance and it capitalized this time, as Rashyied Melvin scored on a one-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter.  LU's two-point conversion attempt failed to keep the S&T lead at five.

But after Lincoln closed the gap, the Blue Tigers ran just one play in Miner territory for the remainder of the contest and S&T was able to run out the clock after getting the ball with 3:31 to go.  Bournes did the bulk of the work on the game-clinching possession, running for 42 of his 68 yards in the final minutes.

S&T also got 70 yards from Wilkes and another 60 from Scott Hendricks (Kechi, Kan./Maize HS) as it closed out the season with a win for the third consecutive year.

The Miners also set a new single-season record in the game, racking up six sacks to finish with 47 on the year, breaking the mark set two seasons ago.  With his interception in the first quarter, his seventh of the season, Brown also set a new GLVC mark for interceptions in a season.

S&T had three interceptions overall, two from Harlan, as its defense held Lincoln (2-9, 1-7 GLVC) to 299 yards of total offense.  Much of that came from Draine as he hauled in nine passes for 170 yards while S&T held Henderson, the GLVC's leading rusher at the start of the day to 38 yards on 16 carries.

The Miners finished with a 4-7 overall record and 3-5 mark in the GLVC.