DES MOINES, Iowa – A hard-fought effort on defense and a big special teams play in overtime helped get Missouri S&T's football team its first win of the season Saturday afternoon, as the Miners came away with a 17-14 victory over Drake on a rainy day at Drake Stadium.
Parker Boyce (Hartsburg, MO/Southern Boone) kicked a 26-yard field goal to give Missouri S&T (1-1) the lead in overtime, then after forcing the Bulldogs (0-2) to attempt a field goal to extend the game,
Jamie Gott (Marion, IL/Marion) got a hand on Luke Williams' 43-yard try and the ball fell short in the end zone to lock up the first win for Miner head coach
Andy Ball.
Saturday's game was a defensive battle all afternoon, as the teams were in a scoreless contest until late in the first half. After
Parker Boyce's (Hartsburg, MO/Southern Boone) punt with just over a minute to play in the half was downed at the Drake one-yard line, Bulldog quarterback Ian Corwin fumbled the snap and the ball was recovered by S&T linebacker
Wulfe Retzlaff (Truckee, CA/Truckee) just outside the goal line.
The Miners were unable to get into the end zone on their first two tries, but on third down, Cameron Smith crashed over the goal line with 27 seconds to go for the first points of the game.
S&T's defense got the second touchdown early in the second half as Corwin first ran into his own running back, then turned into defensive end
Bentley Hart (Brookland, AR/Brookland) who knocked the ball free.
Ben Straatmann (Washington, MO/Washington) scooped up the loose ball and took it 65 yards to the end zone to extend the Miner lead to 14-0.
The Miners continued to frustrate the Drake offense and forced the Bulldogs into a punting situation late in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs ran a fake punt and got a 25-yard run from Nathan De Brun to reach the Miner 32-yard line. Five plays later, Corwin connected with Austin Flax on a 14-yard scoring pass to cut S&T's lead in half.
However, the Miner offense was struggling to put drives together and in turn, kept the defensive unit on the field for a good portion of the second half. S&T was still clinging to the seven-point lead when it had Drake in a third-and-10 situation, but a pass interference penalty on the Miners gave the Bulldogs a first down and propelled them to the tying score, which came on a three-yard touchdown pass from Corwin to Brandon Langdok with 1:20 remaining.
After each team had possessions in the final minute that came up empty, the Miners got the ball first in overtime and got a first down when
Kai Martin (Clearwater, FL/Calvary Christian) took an end around to the seven-yard line. The drive stalled there, forcing the Miners to take the go-ahead field goal by Boyce.
On Drake's possession, Straatmann forced Corwin to throw the ball away on first down, then the Miners stopped Dorian Boyland for a one-yard loss on second down. On the third down play, S&T broke up a pass in the end zone to force the long field goal attempt that Gott blocked to preserve the win.
The Miners were held to 165 yards of total offense in the game, getting 115 of them on the ground that was led by Smith's 33 and
Gideon Niboh's (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) 30. Drake finished with 322 yards of total offense and had 177 passing, but Corwin completed just 15-of-40 passes and his interception was one of four turnovers forced by the Miners.
Stefan Camplin (Raytown, MO/Raytown) led the Miners with 10 tackles in the contest, while Straatmann was credited with nine stops and had two of S&T's four quarterback sacks. Besides the interception that was made by
Peyton Shelton (Ventura, CA/Buena), the Miner secondary also broke up six passes in the contest, two of which were made by
Cam Orr (Mansfield, TX/Lake Ridge).
The win was the first for the Miners over Drake in eight attempts.
Missouri S&T returns to action next Saturday when it takes on Kentucky Wesleyan in a 7 p.m. contest in Owensboro, Ky.
