ROLLA, Mo. – A mistake-plagued first quarter proved to be costly for Missouri S&T Saturday afternoon, as the Miners lost to Lindenwood 43-16 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Senior Day at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

The Lions, who have been plagued by slow starts throughout the season, took advantage of two S&T turnovers, another fumble that led to a safety and the Miners being stopped on downs near midfield to race out to a 19-0 lead by the end of the first period.  Lindenwood (8-2, 6-0 GLVC) eventually built that lead to 33-0 by halftime and went on to post a win that allowed it to clinch the outright GLVC championship.

After S&T (5-5, 3-3 GLVC) forced a punt on Lindenwood's first possession, the Lions got the ball right back when the bouncing punt caromed off a Miner and was recovered by Lindenwood's Koby Charles at the S&T 34-yard line.  Three plays later, quarterback Alex Faddoul – the third starting quarterback employed by the Lions in the past four games due to injuries – broke away from a possible loss in the backfield and raced 25 yards down the sideline for the first touchdown of the contest.

S&T's first possession of the afternoon also ended with a turnover as Grady Daniels picked off a pass to set up a 24-yard field goal by Logan Siebert, then the next possession ended when the Miners went for it on fourth-and-three from their own 48 and had an incomplete pass to give the ball back to the Lions.

Lindenwood scored on the very next play after that change of possession when Faddoul connected with Spencer Redd for a 48-yard scoring pass and again following the ensuing kickoff when a bad snap was recovered by S&T quarterback Luke Hertzler (St. Louis, MO/Parkway North) for a safety.

The Lions scored twice in the second quarter on Faddoul's second touchdown run of the game from nine yards away and a four-yard touchdown run by Robert Giaimo.

S&T got on the scoreboard in the third quarter on a 36-yard field goal by Zach Glaess (Queen Creek, AZ/Queen Creek), then got its first touchdown of the afternoon when it completed its longest scoring drive of the season – 95 yards on nine plays – with a two-yard touchdown run by Payton McAlister (Decatur, TX/Decatur).

McAlister finished his last home game at S&T with a season-high 134 yards on 24 carries as S&T recorded 202 yards on the ground Saturday.

The Miners also got a touchdown pass from Hertzler as he hooked up with Brown on a 32-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter.

S&T finished the game outgaining the Lions 478-449; the Miners racked up 325 yards from scrimmage over the final 30 minutes of play.  Hertzler completed 17-of-34 passes for 221 yards – Brown had six receptions for 117 yards and Breon Michel (Colorado Springs, CO/Vista Ridge) also had six catches for 77 as he moved over the 1,000-yard mark in receptions for the season.

Ben Straatmann (Washington, MO/Washington) led the Miner defense with nine tackles and had one of S&T's three quarterback sacks in the contest.  Stefan Camplin (Raytown, MO/Raytown) and Dontay White (Florissant, MO/Hazelwood Central) had seven stops apiece and While also recorded a sack as did Jack Hayes (Republic, MO/Republic).

Missouri S&T concludes its 2021 season next Saturday when it faces Southwest Baptist (4-6, 3-3 GLVC) in a 1 p.m. game in Bolivar, Mo.