ROLLA, Mo. – After struggling to slow Quincy down in the second half, Missouri S&T's defense came up with two stops in the closing minutes Saturday afternoon to secure a 42-35 win for the Miners in their season finale at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

The Hawks had scored on three straight possessions in the second half and were threatening to tie the score as they drove from their own 16-yard line to S&T's 37.  But on a second down play, Rob Cidlik (Eureka, Mo./Eureka) knocked the ball loose on a sack of Quincy quarterback Nick Lonergan and Josip Juric (West Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) recovered it for S&T to halt the drive with 1:34 to play.

However, the Miners were forced into a punting situation after going three-and-out – and a bad snap on the punt gave Quincy the ball at the Miners' 19 with 1:01 remaining.  The Hawks reached the four-yard line before Lonergan was stopped for a one-yard loss on first down and then threw three incompletions to give the ball back to S&T on downs to allow it to run out the clock.

S&T got on the scoreboard first when Tyler Swart (Dickinson, Texas/Dickinson) connected with Ray Mullen (Palm Springs, Calif./Palm Springs) for a 27-yard touchdown late in the first quarter.  Swart threw another scoring pass five minutes into the second quarter when he hit Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, Calif./Eastside) for a 22-yard touchdown to give S&T a 14-0 lead.

Quincy cut the lead in half when it got the ball back after the kickoff as Lonergan threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Jake Braskett, then tied the score in the final minute of the first half when De'Carlos Poole wrapped up a 76-yard scoring drive with a 10-yard touchdown reception.

Elrod returned the ensuing kickoff for an apparent 88-yard touchdown, but the runback was called back due to an illegal block.  Starting from the Quincy 40 after the penalty, Swart hit Elrod for 19 yards and Mullen for 20 to reach the Hawks' one-yard line, where Swart scored on a quarterback sneak with a second to go to give S&T a 21-14 halftime lead.

After each team punted on its initial possession of the second half, the game suddenly turned into a scoring fest – one where the Miners were able to maintain the lead throughout.

First, Scott Hendricks (Kechi, Kan./Maize) closed out a drive with a one-yard touchdown run, only to be answered by an Eric Poindexter touchdown reception of 29 yards from Lonergan.  Swart then threw his third touchdown pass of the day as he hit Braxton Graham (Seneca, Mo./Seneca) for a three-yard score, but the Hawks responded quickly with a four-play scoring drive that ended with another scoring pass from Lonergan to Poindexter that covered 46 yards.

S&T extended its lead to 42-28 early in the fourth quarter as Swart hit Mullen for a nine-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone, but Quincy came back with a 74-yard drive that culminated with a two-yard scoring run by Darius Burse that drew it to within seven again with 8:15 to play.

The Miners appeared to be on the verge of scoring again as they moved inside the Quincy 10-yard line, but a penalty moved them back and they gave up the ball on downs with 3:11 to go at the Hawk 16.  Lonergan quickly got his team into Miner territory before Cidlik's sack and forced fumble thwarted that chance.

S&T finished with 390 yards of total offense to 465 for Quincy, as Lonergan threw for 366 on the afternoon.  Swart, making his first career start for S&T, was 20-of-33 for 248 yards and four touchdowns; he accounted for five of S&T's six touchdowns in the game.

Elrod and Graham each finished with six receptions and over 100 all-purpose yards on the day, as Elrod accumulated 212 yards to finish the year with 1,431 and Graham ended the season with 1,335 after a 147-yard day.

S&T's defense did have a season-high eight sacks in the game – Cidlik was in on four of them and Juric on two.  Austin Truvillion (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill) finished with a game-high nine tackles, while Bret Curtis (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard South) and Bo Brooks (Canutillo, Texas/Canutillo) were in on eight apiece.

With Saturday's win, the Miners finished at the .500 mark for the season at 5-5 and alone in third place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with a 5-3 record.  S&T was picked to finish sixth in the GLVC in the pre-season coaches poll.