ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's offense produced its highest yardage and point totals of the season and thrilled a Homecoming crowd at Allgood-Bailey Stadium with five big play touchdowns on a breezy Saturday afternoon.
However, the Miners were unable to hold onto a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter as McKendree – playing with the strong winds at its backs in the final period – rallied to beat S&T 42-35 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference affair.
Taking advantage of the gusty winds blowing out of the south, the Bearcats (5-3, 2-2 GLVC) scored 28 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes as they used some advantageous field position to come back on the scoreboard. McKendree would eventually get the game-winning score on Narkel Leflore's 18-yard touchdown run with 3:05 to play, then got an interception from Luca Gualdoni with 1:07 remaining on a fourth down play to lock up the win to drop S&T to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in the GLVC.
Prior to the fourth quarter, everything was coming up roses for the Miners. S&T took the lead on its second play from scrimmage, as
Staton King (Bixby, OK/Bixby) connected with
Isaiah Wright (Panama City, FL/Port St. Joe) on a 73-yard touchdown pass.
Throughout the first half, the Miner defense bent but didn't break and made some plays to end scoring opportunities for the Bearcats. McKendree had a 15-play drive that carried over into the second quarter that ended with a sack and then a blocked field goal, but did tie the game on its next possession when Turner Pullen threw the first of his two scoring passes to Jordan Sprycha – a five-yard connection midway through the second quarter.
S&T answered right back after the ensuing kickoff as
Kai Martin (Clearwater, FL/Calvary Christian) broke through the line and dashed 75 yards for a score, then after the Bearcats drove to the Miner nine-yard line, got a sack from
Kyle Viverito (South Elgin, IL/South Elgin) that led to a missed field goal attempt by Ryan Kastl.
The Miners quickly reached the end zone again after the miss, as the Bearcats were called for defensive holding on an incomplete pass that was followed by a 70-yard touchdown run by
Cameren Smith (Claymont, DE/Concord), who broke a couple of tackles near midfield and outran the pursuing McKendree defenders down the sideline to the end zone.
S&T halted another scoring chance for the Bearcats right before halftime, as
Matthew Hutson (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) picked off a Pullen pass in the end zone to keep the score at 21-7.
The big plays kept coming for the Miner offense early in the second half, as Smith had his second long touchdown run of the afternoon on a 63-yard run on the first play of the second half and
Gideon Niboh (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) – after McKendree got in the end zone on an eight-yard run by Leflore – had an 80-yard scoring run of his own that put the Miners up 35-14.
But with 3:11 to go in the third quarter and backed up at their own 10-yard line, the Bearcats went on a drive that carried into the fourth quarter – and allowed them to get the wind to their advantage – which ended with Pullen scoring on a seven-yard scramble.
S&T went three-and-out on its next possession and
Parker Boyce's (Hartsburg, MO/Southern Boone) punt was knocked down by the wind at the S&T 37; two plays later, the Bearcats got to within seven when Leflore ran 37 yards to the end zone. Another three-and-out led to another short punt into the wind, setting up McKendree inside the Miner 40-yard line and leading to the game-tying touchdown when Pullen hit Yogi Flager in the corner of the end zone on a 23-yard touchdown pass.
The Miners reached midfield when they got the ball back after the kickoff, but were forced to punt on fourth down and the snap went over the head of Boyce, giving McKendree the ball at the S&T 31-yard line. Pullen completed a 14-yard pass to Flager on third-and-10 to keep the drive going before Leflore scored for the third time to give the Bearcats their first lead of the afternoon.
S&T got past midfield before facing a fourth-and-one at the McKendree 46, but King's pass intended for
Gabe Goodwin (Palmyra, MO/Palmyra) was picked off by Gualdoni to end the final Miner opportunity.
The Miners finished the afternoon with 487 yards of total offense that included 359 on the ground – the eighth-most in a game in school history – and had two 100-yard rushers in Smith, who recorded a career-best 176 yards and Niboh with 102 as he went over the 100-yard plateau against the Bearcats for the second year in succession.
McKendree, who came into the game with the top-ranked offense in the GLVC, ran 86 plays in the game to S&T's 46 and had the ball for 38:29. The Bearcats finished with 564 yards of offense as Leflore ran for 180 and Pullen, the NCAA Division II leader in passing yardage and touchdown entering the weekend, threw for 320 yards in the contest.
Ben Straatmann (Washington, MO/Washington) had eight tackles and a sack to lead the Miners on the defensive side of the ball, while
Carson Prenger (Jefferson City, MO/Blair Oaks) and
Nick Mattli (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt South) had seven stops each.
Missouri S&T will take on GLVC leader Indianapolis, a 52-38 winner over Quincy, next Saturday in Indianapolis at 6 p.m. Eastern time.
