ROLLA, Mo. – A game that saw both teams slug it out on the ground for much of a chilly afternoon at Allgood-Bailey Stadium wound up being decided through the air, as Southwest Baptist's Cooper Callis threw three touchdown passes of offset Missouri S&T's 191-yard day on the ground to beat the Miners 24-17 to close out the 2022 season.
With temperatures hovering near the freezing mark, both teams elected to spend much of the afternoon running the ball as SBU carried the ball on 45 of its 65 offensive plays – 40 of those carries coming from Abel Carter – while the Miners kept the ball on the ground for 39 of their 49 plays.
However, it was the three scoring passes by Callis, including a 12-yard scoring strike late in the third quarter to Curtis Culliard that ended up making the difference on the scoreboard. Not only did Callis have the three touchdown throws, he also make a key completion to Culliard for a first down and ran for another on a third-and-10 play on SBU's final drive as the Bearcats (6-5, 4-2 Great Lakes Valley Conference) held the ball for the final 6:52.
The Miners (3-7, 2-4 GLVC) got on the scoreboard first midway through the opening period after Nick Mattli intercepted a pass and returned it to the Bearcats' 14-yard line. After picking up just five yards on the next three plays, Parker Boyce kicked a 26-yard field to put the Miners in front.
SBU answered back on its next possession, getting a 48-yard kickoff return from Rodrick Weaver Jr. to get into S&T territory. Eight plays later, Callis found Kylan Herrera for an 18-yard touchdown to put the Bearcats into the lead.
The Bearcats extended their lead when Logan Turner booted a 48-yard field goal with just over six minutes remaining in the half, but the Miners drove back down the field to tie the contest when they got the ball back. Max Conard, who got the start at quarterback, completed a third down pass to Gabe Goodwin to get a first down, then Cameren Smith raced 53 yards on the next play before getting knocked out of bounds at the SBU seven-yard line.
Two plays following the Smith run, Kai Martin took it in from four yards away to knot the score.
But just over two minutes later, SBU went back into the lead when Callis connected with Carter down the middle of the field and he broke free to reach the end zone to give the Bearcats a 17-10 lead at the half.
The Miners had two key turnovers in the third quarter, the first coming on the kickoff to start the half when Martin ran the ball back into SBU territory but had it knocked loose and recovered by the Bearcats. Later in the period, a Miner fumble at the SBU 27-yard line set up the scoring pass from Callis to Culliard to give the Bearcats a 24-10 lead.
Smith had another big run on the second play of the fourth quarter and wound up in the end zone on that one, as he broke tackles along the way and dragged an SBU defender into the end zone to complete his 25-yard scoring run that cut the margin in half.
However, the next two Miner possessions – both of which started near midfield – resulted in three-and-outs and after the second one, the Bearcats never gave the ball up as they picked up three first downs and eventually ran out the clock.
Smith finished the afternoon with 151 yards on 23 carries, but the Miners finished with just 214 yards of offense in the game. Conard threw the ball only 10 times and completed five for 23 yards, with Goodwin and Isaiah Wright finishing with two catches apiece.
Defensively, linebackers Ben Straatmann and Wulfe Retzlaff recorded 15 and 13 tackles, respectively, in their final game in a Miner uniform. The Bearcats finished with 331 yards of offense in the game as Callis threw for 192 and Carter, who entered the game ninth in rushing yards in NCAA Division II, running for 130 on his 40 carries.
