KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Missouri S&T's defense rose to the occasion Saturday night, holding Truman State off the scoreboard over the final three quarters to lead the Miners to a 10-7 win in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams. 

Truman (0-3, 0-1 GLVC) took the lead just before the end of the first quarter, as Devonte Black connected with Joey Schenck on a five-yard scoring pass to wrap up an 85-yard scoring drive.

That would turn out to be the only Bulldog points of the night, as the Miner defense held Truman to just 187 total yards after the opening period and got a key stop in the fourth quarter to clinch S&T's second win over the Bulldogs in the last 26 meetings between the teams.

The Miners (1-2, 1-0 GLVC) had the ball inside the Truman 20-yard line twice in the second quarter, but could only get three points out of the two possessions.  The first came when Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, Calif./Eastside) returned a punt 35 yards to the Bulldog 13, but had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Nolan Mannino (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) to get on the scoreboard.

Later in the period, Jack Miller (Casa Grande, Ariz./Union) knocked the ball free from Derek Hamman following a punt, which Gabe Marcantonio (Jefferson City, Mo./Jefferson CIty) recovered on the Bulldogs' eight-yard line.  However, the Miners managed only one yard on the three plays that followed and Mannino pushed a 24-yard field goal attempt wide to the left.

S&T got another golden opportunity in the Truman red zone early in the third period when Black lost the handle on the ball when getting ready to throw; Bret Curtis (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard South) recovered the fumble at the Bulldog 18-yard line.  The Miners came away empty again, however, as Mannino missed a field goal try from 27 yards away.

On the Miners' next possession, S&T moved deep into Truman territory when quarterback Tyler Swart (Dickinson, Texas/Dickinson) – who took over when starting quarterback Lamar Wilkes (Maryland Heights, Mo./Pattonville) was shaken up earlier in the quarter -- completed a third down pass to freshman Ray Mullen (Palm Springs, Calif./Palm Springs) for 43 yards to the Truman 30.  Moments later, a holding penalty on the Bulldogs moved the ball to the nine.

Swart escaped a sack and ran to the one-yard line, then scored on a quarterback sneak on the next play to give S&T its first lead of the night with 8.9 seconds left in the third quarter.

S&T's defense got a stop on a fourth down play at the Miner 27-yard line, then the offense ran nearly nine minutes off the clock on a 16-play drive that took it to the Truman 12 – but that drive ended without points as Ryan Arceneaux missed a 29-yard field goal attempt with 3:55 to play.

But on the next Truman possession, the Miners got a three-and-out to force a Bulldog punt, then ran out the clock by picking up a pair of first downs as they took the ball back inside the Truman red zone.

S&T finished the night with a 321-287 advantage in total yards, much of that coming from Wilkes as he passed for 109 yards and ran for 50 more.  Dalton Major (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bishop McNamara) also ran for 50 yards and gained a large portion of them on the final two S&T drives to help run the clock out, while Ray Mullen (Palm Springs, Calif./Palm Springs) had five catches for 85 yards to lead the S&T receivers.

Linebacker Austin Truvillion (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill) had a team-high 15 tackles for the Miners, including having a hand in three of S&T's eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage, while Landon Compton (Lamar, Mo./Lamar) finished with eight stops.  The Miners also got an interception from Isaiah Hardy (San Jose, Calif./Sobrato) to halt a Truman drive in the second half.

Saturday's win was S&T's first in a GLVC opener since 2012 and was its 10^th victory in 14 all-time GLVC contests away from home.

Missouri S&T returns home next Saturday to face Saint Joseph's in a 6:30 p.m. contest at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.  Next week's game will be Hall of Fame Night at Missouri S&T.