ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T jumped out to a lead on its first possession of the season Thursday night, but a slew of big plays triggered by quarterback Jayden Johannsen allowed South Dakota School of Mines to come away with a 43-20 win at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.
Johannsen, who began his collegiate career at NCAA Division I Football Championship Series power North Dakota State, accounted for 489 yards of total offense in the game which included 433 through the air and four touchdown throws. It was the first touchdown pass that sparked the Hardrockers after the Miners had taken the initial lead.
S&T recovered a fumble on the first play from scrimmage at the Hardrockers 24-yard line and three plays later,
Max Conard (Blue Springs, MO/Blue Springs South) connected with freshman CJ Jarmon on a 21-yard touchdown pass in the back corner of the end zone to give S&T a 6-0 lead.
But three plays after Mines got the ball back, Johannsen hit Isaiah Eastman up the sideline and he dashed through the Miner defense for a 69-yard touchdown reception that knotted the score. After the Miners went three-and-out on their next possession, Eastman struck again as he broke off an 85-yard punt return for a score that gave Mines the lead.
Mines added to its lead as Connor Taylor connected on a 30-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but S&T answered with a big play of its own, as Conard hit
Isaiah Wright (Panama City, FL/Port St. Joe) down the middle of the field for a 61-yard touchdown that cut the Hardrocker lead to 16-13.
However, Mines took control of the contest after the Wright touchdown, as it responded just 1:25 seconds later when Jeremiah Bridges ran down a Johannsen throw and took it to the end zone for a 70-yard scoring play. The Hardrockers would add to their lead in the final minute of the half when Taylor hit a 34-yard field goal to make it 26-13.
S&T got the ball to begin the second half but had to punt and pinned the Hardrockers at their own three-yard line. But on the second down play, Johannsen hit Bridges on a slant pattern and he ran away from the Miner defense for a 94-yard touchdown to add to the lead.
Mines got two more scores later in the second half – a 21-yard field goal by Taylor and Johannsen's final scoring pass of the night to Eastman – before the Miners scored late in the contest on a eight-yard touchdown pass from
Sam Simril (Portland, OR/Grant) to Biaize Klossner.
The Hardrockers finished the contest with 534 yards of total offense to S&T's 323.
Conard completed 19-of-30 passes in the game for 241 yards, with Wright accumulating 119 yards on five receptions. The Miners got 58 of their 74 rushing yards from
Gideon Niboh (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell).
Eastman had six catches for 136 yards, while Bridges racked up 192 on his five receptions.
Ben Straatmann (Washington, MO/Washington), who was named earlier in the week to D2Football.com's Top 100 players heading into the 2022 campaign, led the Miners with eight tackles and had three of them for a loss.
Carson Prenger (Jefferson City, MO/Blair Oaks) and
Kyle Viverito (South Elgin, IL/South Elgin) had seven tackles apiece, while S&T had a pair of quarterback sacks that were recorded by
Skylar Sappington (Brentwood, MO/Brentwood) and
Richard Goode (Sulligent, AL/Sulligent).
Missouri S&T will be on the road for the next two weeks, beginning with next Saturday's matchup against Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
