ST. CHARLES, Mo. – After overcoming a rally by Lindenwood with a rally of its own in the second half to force overtime, Missouri S&T fell short in the extra period as the Lions scored on the first possession and then stopped the Miners on fourth down to come away with a 37-31 Great Lakes Valley Conference win at Hunter Stadium.

The Lions – who clinched at least a share of the GLVC title with the victory – took the lead in overtime on a 12-yard scoring pass from Cade Brister to Glen Gibbons.  The extra point was blocked to give S&T a chance to win the game on its possession with a touchdown and extra point, but the Lions stopped the Miners on downs when Jordan Perry broke up a pass on fourth down that was intended for Breon Michel (Colorado Springs, CO/Vista Ridge) in the end zone.

Saturday's contest was a back-and-forth affair, as Lindenwood (7-3, 6-0 GLVC) scored first just moments after a turnover on S&T's opening drive following a fumble on a sack gave the Lions the ball at the Miners' nine-yard line.  Two plays later, Brister connected with Payton Rose for those final nine yards to give Lindenwood the early advantage.

However, the Miners (6-4, 3-3 GLVC) responded with an 11-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a 30-yard field goal by Ben Styron (Harrisonville, MO/Harrisonville), then took the lead the next time they got the ball as Aaron Moya (Canutillo, TX/Canutillo) capped a 54-yard drive with a three-yard scoring run.

Moments later, Dontay White (Florissant, MO/Hazelwood Central) picked off a Brister pass and returned it to the Lion 28-yard line and following a 26-yard completion to Logan Armontrout (Centralia, MO/Centralia) to get inside the five, Payton McAlister (Decatur, TX/Decatur) scored on a four-yard run to extend the S&T lead to 17-7.

Lindenwood cut into the S&T lead early in the second quarter on a 17-yard scoring pass to Nash Sutherlin, but the Miners drove for another score before the half ended.  S&T moved deep into Lion territory following a 39-yard completion from Brennan Simms (Punta Gorda, FL/Charlotte) to Michel, then finished the drive when Simms went over from the one with 15 seconds remaining in the half to give the Miners a 24-14 lead at the intermission.

The Lions got closer again when they drove 95 yards for a score in the third quarter, a drive that culminated with a 21-yard scoring run by Brister after he got free from a Miner defender in the backfield.  Following a Miner punt that was returned by Ricky McCoy to the S&T 28-yard line, the Lions got down to the two-yard line before a sack by Jack Roush (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) and a stop on third down forced Lindenwood to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Brett Garner to tie the game.

When Lindenwood got the ball back early in the fourth quarter, the Lions used two big plays to regain the lead.  Sutherlin got loose from a couple of Miner defenders near the line of scrimmage on a screen pass that he took for 35 yards to the S&T 46-yard line, then Brister scrambled out of the pocket and scored two plays later on a 37-yard run.

S&T's offense, which had been stagnant during the second half, responded with a game-tying scoring drive when Simms hit Michel on a 17-yard touchdown pass with 9:39 to play in the fourth quarter. 

The Lions returned the ensuing kickoff to near midfield and a tack-on penalty set the Lions up in S&T territory, but the Miner defense got a stop on downs when Stefan Camplin (Raytown, MO/Raytown) broke up a pass on fourth down to stop that opportunity.

The Miners got one first down on a completion to Michel, but elected to go for it on fourth down themselves at their own 48 with 4:40 to play and Simms was stopped short of the first down to give the ball back to Lindenwood.  S&T, however, stopped that possession in its tracks to force a long field goal attempt that was blocked by Joe Boettcher.

S&T proceeded to move the ball into field goal range and set up for a 40-yard field goal attempt for Styron, but the snap was low and led to the kick being blocked to send the game into overtime.

Missouri S&T outgained the Lions 491-401 in the game, but Brister accounted for 331 of those yards with 143 on the ground and 187 more through the air.

Simms completed 27-of-43 passes for the Miners for a career-high 371 yards, as he connected 11 times with Armontrout for 136 yards and seven times to Michel for 135.  Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) had 97 yards on the ground as he moved to within 86 yards of the S&T career record for rushing yards.

Justin Onwugbufor (Maize, KS/Northwest) finished with 12 tackles for the Miners and Wulfe Retzlaff (Truckee, CA/Truckee) recorded 10 on the afternoon in what was the Miners' first overtime contest since the 2013 season opener against Chadron State.

Missouri S&T will wrap up its 2019 campaign next Saturday when it hosts McKendree at 1 p.m. on Military Appreciation Day at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.