ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T fell behind 28-7 early in the second half to an Indianapolis team it had not defeated in eight previous tries, but the Miners staged a huge rally and scored 24 unanswered points to upend the Greyhounds 31-28 Saturday in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

Breon Michel's (Colorado Springs, CO/Vista Ridge) third touchdown of the day – a play in which he had deflected the ball into the air before making the catch and then raced into the end zone on a 40-yard scoring reception with 2:47 to play – completed the rally as the Miner defense got a stop on fourth down and then was able to run out the clock, thanks in part to a pass interference penalty on the Greyhounds on a fourth down play with under a minute remaining to win for the third straight week.  The comeback also matched the largest deficit overcome by the Miners to win a game in program history.

The win improved to 5-4 overall and to 3-2 in the GLVC with conference leader Lindenwood set to visit Allgood-Bailey Stadium next Saturday.

UIndy (5-4, 3-2 GLVC) led 14-7 at halftime, then increased that lead with two touchdowns in the first five minutes of the third quarter.  The Greyhounds scored on the opening possession of the half when Bryce Stancombe connected with Jeremiah Lee for a 57-yard touchdown pass, then took advantage of an S&T fumble on a punt and scored on the play that followed when Jon Eineman caught a 14-yard scoring pass from Stancombe.

But on S&T's next possession, the rally began.

It started when Luke Hertzler (St. Louis, MO/Parkway North) hit Tate NIckleberry on a 54-yard completion to put the ball at the UIndy 21-yard line.  Two plays later, Hertzler hit Michel in the end zone to trim the lead to 28-14.

However, while the Miner defense was holding firm, the offense was unable to put together another scoring drive until the fourth quarter.  Faced with a fourth down play at the Greyhound 27-yard line, Hertzler completed a pass to tight end Trevor Anthony (Elsberry, MO/Clopton) to get the first down, then Michel scored on the next play on an end around from the 12 to cut the margin in half.

S&T's defense followed that score by getting a three-and-out and the Miners drove back down the field, taking advantage of a personal foul penalty that wiped out a 55-yard interception return for a score by Kiave Guerrier.  Given that second life, the Miners got into field goal range and Zach Glaess (Queen Creek, AZ/Queen Creek) connected from 49 yards away to trim the Greyhound lead to four.

Another three-and-out by the Greyhounds followed, then the Miners put together their game-winning drive.  A pass interference penalty early in the possession gave S&T a first down in UIndy territory, then Hertzler hit Brown for 16 yards for another first down.  Two plays later, Michel made his juggling catch and took it the rest of the way untouched to give S&T its first lead of the contest.

The Greyhounds got a quick first down when they got the ball back with 2:34 left, but Stancombe threw four straight incompletions – three of them broken up by Cameron Clemons (St. Louis, MO/Lutheran North) – to surrender the ball back to S&T with 1:51 remaining.

The Miners ran three running plays to force UIndy to use its last two timeouts, but faced fourth down at the Greyhound 27-yard line with exactly one minute to go.  Hertzler lofted a pass downfield in the direction of Brown, but he was dragged down on the play to draw a pass interference call to give S&T an automatic first down and the ability to run out the remaining time.

Saturday's game was scoreless in the matchup of the top two offenses in the GLVC entering the game until midway through the second quarter.  The only good scoring chance to that point had come on UIndy's opening drive, but the Miners blocked Paul Buisman's 46-yard field goal attempt – S&T's eighth blocked kick of the season -- to keep the game scoreless.

The Greyhounds got the first points of the game on defense, as Gavin Bane picked off a Hertzler pass and ran it back 14 yards for a touchdown.  UIndy added to its lead later in the second quarter following an S&T turnover, as Stancombe hit Lee on a 14-yard scoring pass with 2:14 to play in the half.

The Miners marched right back down the field before halftime to get on the scoreboard as Hertzler, who had struggled to find the mark in the first half, completed a 26-yard pass to Michel to set up a 37-yard touchdown to Brown with just 32 seconds to play before halftime to make it 14-7 at the break.

Hertzler completed only five-of-22 passes in the first half, but connected on 13-of-25 after the intermission and finished with 365 yards and the three touchdowns.  Michel had 146 yards on his seven receptions and Brown had 141 yards on eight catches on the afternoon as S&T finished with 380 yards of total offense.

S&T's defense held the Greyhounds to just 59 yards rushing and 325 total yards in the contest; NCAA Division II rushing leader Toriano Clinton had only four carries in the game and none after the first quarter.  Dontay White (Florissant, MO/Hazelwood Central) had nine tackles to pace the S&T defense, while Ben Straatmann (Washington, MO/Washington) finished with seven stops as did Stefan Camplin (Raytown, MO/Raytown), who had one of the Miners' two interceptions; Jordan Gomez (Dallas, TX/White) had the other.

The Miners will host Lindenwood (7-2, 5-0 GLVC) next Saturday at 1 p.m.