ROLLA, Mo. – A chance to pull out a dramatic, last-minute win in its season opener fell out of Missouri S&T's grasp at the goal line Saturday night, as a fumble on a potential game-winning score led to a tough 20-16 setback for the Miners to West Florida at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) was barreling towards the end zone with under 40 seconds to play, but as he was leaping over a Argonaut defender to extend the ball to the goal line, had the ball knocked out from behind by UWF's Martes Wheeler.  Trent Archie recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a touchback that ended S&T's hopes of pulling out the win in heartbreaking fashion.

West Florida took the lead on its second possession of the night with an 18-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a Chris Schwarz one-yard touchdown run, but the Argonauts missed the extra point.  The Miners, however, answered back early in the second quarter when Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson) connected with Braxton Graham (Seneca, MO/Seneca) on a 65-yard touchdown reception to take a 7-6 lead after Ben Styron (Harrisonville, MO/Harrisonville)'s extra point.

S&T had a chance to extend the lead late in the first half when it drove to the Argonaut 21-yard line and elected to go for it on fourth-and-one, but an incomplete pass ended that chance with 1:51 to play.

That turned out to be enough time for West Florida to drive down the field before halftime, as after completing a third down pass early in the possession to keep the drive going, the Argonauts regained the lead with six seconds to go before halftime when Mike Beaudry hit Rodney Coates for a 25-yard scoring pass.

The Miners tied the game up with a pair of scoring drives in third quarter that ended with Styron field goals, first from 35 yards away and the other from 32 that tied the game at 13.  S&T got a sack from Tershawn Wharton (University City, MO/University City)  and Eli Thomas (Valdosta, GA/Valdosta) to force an Argonaut punt to start the fourth quarter, but the Miners were unable to get a handle on the return and UWF recovered at the S&T 21-yard line.

Three plays later, West Florida went back in front as Beaudry threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Gage Krull.

Styron kicked his third field goal of the night from 25 yards away to bring S&T back to within four on its next trip down the field, then with 3:02 left, the Miners got the ball back at their own 44 with a chance to pull the game out.

After a 21-yard completion to Graham to start the drive, the Miners soon faced a fourth down play at the Argonaut 38.  Swart threw a ball long down the middle of the field in the direction of Graham, who was hauled down to draw a pass interference call and an automatic first down.

Swart then connected with Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, CA/Eastside) for a 14-yard completion to the nine, right before Jones' attempt to score that ended with the fumble.

The Miners outgained West Florida 422-265 for the game – the S&T defense held West Florida to just 54 total yards in the second half – and got huge games from Swart and Graham as they reached career-high marks.

Swart recorded the first 300-yard game of his career with 357 yards as he completed 31-of-43 passes on the night, while Graham hauled in 10 of those passes for 206 yards – the second-most in a game in school history.  Elrod also had a career-high 11 receptions for 85 yards and Jones finished with 80 yards on the ground.

Landon Compton (Lamar, MO/Lamar) had 11 tackles to lead the Miner defense, while Ryan Kirkendall (Silsbee, TX/Silsbee) finished with eight and also had a pair of pass breakups in the contest.

Missouri S&T will play at home again next Saturday, hosting Northwood from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in a 7 p.m. game at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.  The Timberwolves opened their season Saturday by upending Siena Heights 38-7.