Miners Bring Home Win on Homecoming
The Missouri S&T football team had a successful Homecoming weekend, beating the Quincy University Hawks 21-13 on Saturday night. S&T looked to build off of their 41-24 victory last week against William Jewell the Miners got on the board quickly, after defensive back Vidal Daniels picked off Quincy quarterback Andrew Rund to set up good field position for the S&T offense. Running back Deshawn Jones then punched in a nine-yard run for a touchdown to take the early lead. The Hawks were able to tie the game later in the quarter on a four-yard run by Jalen Griffin to make the game 7-7. Quincy failed to take the lead in the first half when kicker Michael Klotz pushed a short field goal attempt left of the post. After the Miners regained possession, they drove down the field and finished off the first half with a 10-yard pass from quarterback Brennan Simms to receiver Josh Brown, giving S&T a 14-7 lead.
No points were scored in the third quarter due to strong defensive showings from both teams, as well as a field goal attempt from S&T kicker Ben Styron that bounced off of the upright. The Miners took a 21-7 lead midway through the fourth quarter after a drive involving multiple long passes from Simms, ending with an 11-yard run into the endzone by running back Aaron Moya. The Hawks answered back with a touchdown run from Andrew Rund in the final minutes of the game but missed the extra point and were unable to score again.
Brennan Simms finished the game with 345 yards through the air and a touchdown for the Miners. S&T’s trio of running backs added 134 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Deshawn Jones and Aaron Moya each had one touchdown respectively. The S&T defense was also a key factor in the victory, forcing three turnovers during the game including two interceptions and a forced fumble. The defense also recorded six sacks, which was a season high for Missouri S&T.
The Miner offense has been incredibly potent this year, averaging 38 points per game and having strong performances both passing and rushing each week. This is up four points from last year’s season average. Simms is now just short of 1400 passing yards on the season, averaging 277.6 yards per game along with 13 touchdowns. The Miners committee of running backsall have at least 200 yards each, with Aaron Moya leading the pack with 344 yards.
The Miners are now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in GLVC games. The team looks to make it five wins in a row next week as they travel to Houston, Texas to take on Texas Southern University in another GLVC matchup. The trip to Houston will begin a three-week road trip, all against GLVC opponents as the team will then play against Truman State and Indianapolis before returning home November 2nd. After finishing 10-2 last season and capping it off with a bowl win, this team looks like they could be even better this season.
