ROLLA, Mo. – Following consecutive road losses to two of the top teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, Missouri S&T's football team returned to Allgood-Bailey Stadium Saturday afternoon and got itself back on track as it blanked Southwest Baptist 62-0.

The Miners (6-3, 3-2 GLVC) – who clinched their third straight winning season with Saturday's victory – were dominant on both sides of the ball as they racked up 585 yards of total offense and held the Bearcats to just 272.  The S&T defense also scored a touchdown in the contest in the process of recording its first shutout since Oct. 1, 2016.

S&T wasted little time in taking control of matters, driving 64 yards for a score on its opening drive of the game and capping it with a five-yard scoring run by Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central).  The Miners scored again later in the quarter when Brennan Simms (Punta Gorda, FL/Charlotte) connected with Austin Griffin (West Palm Beach, FL/Oxbridge Academy) down the middle of the field and the tight end outran the SBU defenders to the goal line for an 83-yard touchdown reception.

On the first play of the second quarter, the Miners hit another big play for a score as Simms connected with Aundray Henley (Miami, FL/Flanagan) for a 48-yard touchdown pass.  Ben Styron (Harrisonville, MO/Harrisonville) added a 37-yard field goal seven minutes later to extend the S&T lead to 24-0, then defensive end Tershawn Wharton (University City, MO/University City) got a score for the defense when he recovered a fumble and took it 81 yards the other way for a touchdown.

The Miners finished the first half with 273 yards of total offense and kept that momentum going when the second half began.

Payton McAlister (Decatur, TX/Decatur) scored two touchdowns for the Miners in the first six minutes of the second half, first on a 13-yard scoring reception from Simms and scored again three minutes later when he raced down the sidelines for a 65-yard touchdown run.

S&T reached the end zone two more times on the afternoon, as Breon Michel (Colorado Springs, CO/Vista Ridge) caught Simms' fourth touchdown pass on a 32-yard touchdown play on fourth down and reserve running back Quentin Gray (Newport News, VA/Woodside HS) scored late in the contest on a two-yard run.

The Miners finished with 273 of their 585 yards on the ground, as Jones finished with an even 100 yards – the 14^th 100-yard game of his career – and McAlister added 86.  Simms, meanwhile, completed 15-of-22 passes for 285 yards and the four touchdowns as he shared the receiving wealth among eight receivers.

Besides scoring the touchdown, Wharton was also in on a game-high eight tackles and recorded 2.5 sacks, while Justin Onwugbufor (Maize, KS/Northwest) finished with seven stops and Dontay White (Florissant, MO/Hazelwood Central) and Jack Hayes (Republic, MO/Republic) had six apiece.  The Miners had four quarterback sacks in the game among their seven tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

S&T forced four SBU turnovers in the game and also blocked a punt in the contest as its 62-0 win was the third-largest shutout victory in GLVC history.  Southwest Baptist fell to 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the GLVC.

Missouri S&T will play its final road game of the 2019 season next Saturday when it takes on conference leader Lindenwood at 1 p.m. in St. Charles, Mo.  The Lions knocked off eighth-ranked Indianapolis 34-27 Saturday to take over the lead in the GLVC standings.