ROLLA, Mo. – If Thursday's performance was any indication of things to come for Missouri S&T's football team in the 2018 season, then Miner fans are going to have a lot to look forward to in the weeks to come.

The Miners jumped on visiting Eastern New Mexico for touchdowns on their first two possessions of the game and held down NCAA Division II's top rushing team from a year ago for a good portion of the evening as they captured an impressive 31-14 win over the Greyhounds at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

S&T took advantage of a turnover on the Greyhounds' first play from scrimmage, as Johnny Smith was unable to corral a pitch and freshman safety Stefan Camplin (Raytown, MO/Raytown) came up with the loose ball on the ENMU 25-yard line.  Three plays after a pass interference penalty put the ball at the 10, Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson) connected with Logan Armontrout (Centralia, MO/Centralia) for the first of his four touchdown passes on the night to give the Miners the lead after only 1:28 had elapsed.

The scoring play was the third-earliest score to begin a season on record in school history – and the Miners added to that advantage when they got the ball back following a three-and-out by the Greyhounds.

The Miners put together an 85-yard drive, which was aided by a personal foul penalty along the way after a third down reception by Braxton Graham (Seneca, MO/Seneca) to keep the ball with the Miners.  Four plays after the infraction, Payton McAlister (Decatur, TX/Decatur) took a pass from Swart and raced through the defense for a touchdown to double the S&T lead.

While S&T missed a couple of opportunities in the opening half to extend the lead farther, the Miner defense held down the ENMU offense.  The Greyhounds averaged 352.7 yards per game on the ground last fall, but had just 59 rushing yards in the first 30 minutes and a grand total of only 76 yards of total offense in the half.

S&T got a 40-yard field goal from Ben Styron (Harrisonville, MO/Harrisonville) in the final minute of the first half to take a 17-0 lead to the locker room, then scored again on its opening possession of the second half on a 79-yard drive that ended with a pair of catches by Graham.  Graham caught three passes for 70 yards on the drive, including ones of 24 and 20 on the final two plays that put S&T up by 24.

Eastern New Mexico got on the scoreboard late in the third quarter on a one-yard run by quarterback Wyatt Strand, but the Miners answered right back as Swart completed a pass on fourth-and-three to Josh Brown (Gainesville, FL/North Marion HS) that the sophomore wideout took to the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Swart, who threw for 293 yards as he matched his career high with the four scoring passes that went to four different receivers, helped the Miners rack up their second-best offensive output in school history in a season opener with 512 total yards.  S&T also outgained the Greyhounds 219-201 on the ground, with Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) recording his school record 10^th consecutive 100-yard game with 106 on 22 carries.

Graham had 108 yards on seven receptions, while Brown caught five balls for 91 yards.

Justin Onwugbufor (Maize, KS/Northwest) led the Miner defensive efforts with 10 tackles, while Bo Brooks (Canutillo, TX/Canutillo) and Landon Compton (Lamar, MO/Lamar) had nine stops apiece.   The S&T defense held the Greyhounds to 269 offensive yards in the game.

The Miners will hit the road for their next four contests, beginning next Saturday when they face Northwood in Midland, Mich., at 1 p.m. (Eastern time).  Northwood opens its 2018 season Saturday when it plays at Tiffin.