ROLLA, Mo. – Homecoming didn't start out well for Missouri S&T's football team on Saturday afternoon, but on a chilly day at Allgood-Bailey Stadium, it sure ended well.

Trailing by as many as 21 points in the first half, the Miners (6-3, 4-1 GLVC) staged a comeback in the second half to down Southwest Baptist 41-38 and put themselves in a position to play for a potential share of the Great Lakes Valley Conference title next weekend.

Saturday's game started with the teams combining for 24 points before six minutes had been played – with the 24 points being scored in a span of 1:36.  SBU (4-4, 3-3 GLVC) got on the board first when Jordan LeClair kicked a 24-yard field goal on its opening drive, then the Bearcats scored again just under a minute later when Julian Shade forced a fumble on a sack of S&T quarterback Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson); Tevin Hall picked up the loose ball and ran six yards for a touchdown.

Missouri S&T responded on its first play following the ensuing kickoff when Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) raced 82 yards for a touchdown, only to see the Bearcats' Kendrick Payne return the kickoff that followed that score back 83 yards to the end zone to give SBU a 17-7 lead.

The Bearcats extended the lead to 17 on a one-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal by Larry Nixon later in the first quarter, then took their largest lead at 31-10 as they followed a 32-yard field by S&T's Ben Styron (Harrisonville, MO/Harrisonville) with a drive that ended when Payne hauled in an eight-yard scoring pass from TJ Edwards.

Following an S&T turnover on its next possession, the Miner defense forced a punt and S&T got the ball back at its own 11.  On the first play after the punt, Swart hit Justin Vaughn (Houston, TX/George Bush) along the sideline in front of the Miner bench and after breaking a tackle, raced 89 yards for a touchdown to get the Miners to within 14.  The play tied the third-longest passing play in school history.

The first half ended with the Miners down 31-17 in a game in which they allowed two returns for touchdowns and also had two field goals blocked, including one just before halftime.  But when the second half began, the Miners took control of matters right from the outset.

S&T got a 44-yard field goal from Styron on its first possession of the half, then got to within a score four minutes later – taking advantage of a turnover as Tershawn Wharton (University City, MO/University City) forced a fumble when sacking Edwards -- when Swart connected with Logan Armontrout (Centralia, MO/Centralia) on a 23-yard scoring toss.

Before the quarter ended, the Miners took their first lead of the game when Swart fired his third touchdown pass, covering 36 yards to Josh Brown (Gainesville, FL/North Marion HS).  Swart also hit Brown for the two-point conversion to give S&T a three-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

SBU took the lead back with its best drive of the afternoon, going 66 yards on 11 plays and included conversions on third and fourth down along the way.  The drive ended on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to Payne to give the Bearcats a 38-34 lead with 11:40 left to play.

But the Miners had an answer of their own, converting a third down play and overcoming a 15-yard penalty to reach the red zone after a 31-yard Swart completion to Austin Griffin (West Palm Beach, FL/Oxbridge Academy).  On  a second down play, the Bearcats were called for pass interference in the end zone to put the ball at the two-yard line, then Jones took it into the end zone to return the lead to the Miners.

The Bearcats had the ball twice in the final eight minutes, but went three-and-out on the first possession and lost the ball on downs with 1:23 go after getting it back following a Miner punt.  Edwards – the GLVC leader in total offense heading into play this weekend with 304.5 yards per game – was sacked twice on the final possession, including one by Eli Thomas (Valdosta, GA/Valdosta) on fourth down to lock up the win for the Miners.

In a game of two of the top three offenses in the GLVC, the Miners outgained the Bearcats by over a two-to-one margin as they had 492 yards to SBU's 240.  Jones cleared the 100-yard mark on the ground for a school record seventh consecutive game with 155 yards on 22 carries, while Swart threw for 352 and three scores.

Brown caught nine passes for a career high 124 yards – with 206 all-purpose yards in the game -- and Vaughn also went over the century mark in reception yards with 110 on the afternoon. 

The Miner defense recorded five sacks of Edwards, who had just 195 total yards in the game.  Wharton had three of the sacks, while Joe Boettcher and Thomas had the other two.  Wharton had four of S&T's 11 stops behind the line of scrimmage.

Bo Brooks (Canutillo, TX/Canutillo) had a team-high nine tackles, while Austin Truvillion (Kansas City, MO/Park Hill) and Wharton had eight stops apiece.  The Miners also picked Edwards off twice, one by Landon Compton (Lamar, MO/Lamar) and the other by Nate Brown (Webb City, MO/Webb City).

With the win, Missouri S&T stayed one game behind league leader Indianapolis in the loss column in GLVC play heading into its matchup with the sixth-ranked Greyhounds next Saturday in Indianapolis.  UIndy improved to 9-0 on the season (6-0 GLVC) with a 42-3 win Saturday at William Jewell, its school record 13^th consecutive victory.

Next Saturday's contest will get underway at 6 p.m. (Eastern time).