ROLLA, Mo. – When the first three touchdowns of the game were scored in a span of 25 seconds Saturday afternoon, those attending Missouri S&T's game with Wayne State (Mich.) at Allgood-Bailey Stadium could have sensed it would be a wild day of football.

Saturday's back-and-forth affair finally concluded in overtime with the Miners coming away triumphant, as Aaron Moya (Canutillo, TX/Canutillo) scored on a two-yard run to give S&T a 51-45 win over the Warriors for their second straight victory.

After the Miners (2-1) forced the Warriors (0-3) to surrender the ball on downs on their possession to begin overtime, the Miners needed seven plays to end the contest when Moya crashed over the goal line in the affair that the Miners had to rally twice in the second half -- including a drive to force overtime in the final 1:36 of regulation time.

S&T took the initial lead of the game on their opening possession when Luke Hertzler (St. Louis, MO/Parkway North) – getting his first career start – connected with Breon Michel (Colorado Springs, CO/Vista Ridge) for a 26-yard scoring pass.  The Warriors answered right back on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, running a flea flicker that ended up with Josh Kulka hitting a wide open Jesse Prewitt for a 75-yard touchdown play to tie the game.

But the Miners regained the advantage just seconds later as Gideon Niboh (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) returned the Wayne State kickoff back 93 yards for a score that gave the Miners a 14-7 lead.  However, Wayne State took control of matters after the kickoff return, scoring on its next possession when Prewitt caught a 14-yard scoring pass to tie it and taking the lead on Kulka's third scoring pass of the quarter, a 68-yard connection to Tre Davis on the last play of the first quarter.

The Warriors added to their lead on Griffin Milovanski's 33-yard field goal midway through the second quarter, but the Miners forced a punt on Wayne State's next possession and it was blocked by Moya; Blaize Klossner (Rolla, MO/Rolla) picked up the loose ball and returned it to the Warriors' three-yard line.  Moya scored on the next play to cut the deficit to 24-21, before the Miners kept the Warriors out of the end zone on successive plays to end the opening half. 

Davis was ruled short of the goal line on the next-to-last play of the half, then Chase Churchill – who replaced Kulka at quarterback after he was injured two plays earlier – was stopped on a quarterback sneak as the half ended.

Both teams traded punts to open the second half before S&T drove 66 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.  Hertzler completed all four of his passes on the drive, the last an eight-yard completion to Gabe Goodwin (Palmyra, MO/Palmyra) that put the Miners in front.

S&T's defense got a three-and-out on the next Wayne State possession, then the Miners struck quickly when they got the ball back as Hertzler completed three straight passes, the last of which was a 54-yard scoring strike to Michel to give the Miners an 11-point lead.   However, the Warriors quickly moved back into S&T territory and reached the end zone when Myren Harris scored on a nine-yard run.

Wayne State threatened to take the lead the next time it got the ball as it drove to the S&T six-yard line, but Churchill was intercepted in the end zone by Stefan Camplin (Raytown, MO/Raytown) to douse that scoring chance.

The combination of Hertzler and Michel responded by connecting for another long touchdown play after the turnover, as Michel's 70-yard scoring reception gave the Miners a 42-31 lead with 12:25 remaining.  Wayne State drew closer again on Avery Hall's two-yard scoring run, but missed a two-point conversion attempt to keep the Miner lead at five.

But Hertzler and Michel hooked up again on a long pass play, a 52-yard throw that put the Miners at the Warriors' 20-yard line with under six minutes to play; Michel was tripped up by Shavez Hawkins to prevent him from scoring his fourth touchdown of the day.  However, the Miners had to settle for a field goal attempt that Zach Glaess (Queen Creek, AZ/Queen Creek) pushed wide to the left to give the ball back to Wayne State with 5:06 left.

The Warriors converted a fourth down play early in the drive on a Churchill-to-Davis completion for 26 yards into Miner territory, then that duo put Wayne State into the lead with 1:36 to play on a 17-yard touchdown pass.

Following Niboh's touchdown return early in the game, the Warriors elected to kick the ball short on all of their ensuing kickoffs.  On the kickoff that followed the go-ahead touchdown, Josh Sanders (Maize, KS/Maize) returned it to the S&T 40-yard line to give the Miners great field position for their final drive that reached the Warrior 23-yard line and ended with a game-tying 40-yard field goal by Glaess as regulation time expired.

Wayne State got the ball first in overtime and chose to go for it on fourth-and-three at the S&T, but Churchill was unable to connect with Nolan Kimmey in the corner of the end zone to give the ball to S&T.

The Miners got a first down on the first play on a 12-yard run by Moya, then after getting backed up 10 yards on a holding penalty, got another first down when Payton McAlister (Decatur, TX/Decatur) got to the two on a third-and-seven play.  Two plays later, Moya crashed over the goal line to win the game for the Miners.

S&T finished the game with 501 yards of total offense, as Moya rushed for 103 yards and Hertzler completed 21-of-35 passes for a career-high 361 yards and four touchdowns.  Three of those scoring passes went to Michel, who accumulated a school record 234 yards on his seven catches in the contest; the 234 receiving yards are the third-most in  game in GLVC history.

The Warriors, on the other hand, set a school record with 673 yards in the game, with Kulka and Churchill combining to throw for 443 on the afternoon.  Ben Straatmann (Washington, MO/Washington) finished with 12 tackles and was in both of the Miner sacks, while Justin Onwugbufor (Wichita, KS/Northwest) made nine tackles for S&T.

Saturday's win was the first for S&T in an overtime contest since Oct. 16, 2010 and third all-time in eight overtime contests.

Missouri S&T returns to action next Saturday when it takes on Hillsdale in a 3 p.m. (Central time) contest in Hillsdale, Mich.