ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T hung in with the nation's 10
th-ranked team throughout the first half of Thursday's season opener, but Delta State's offense exploded in the third quarter and sent the Miners to a 48-20 loss at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.
S&T trailed 17-6 at halftime, but the Statesmen rattled off 21 points in the third quarter – all on touchdown passes by Patrick Shegog, who threw four in the contest – to break the game open.
Each team scored on its opening possession of the game, with Delta State drawing first blood less than two minutes into play. A 64-yard completion by Shegog to Todd Lee Battle on a third-and-six play got DSU to the Miners' five-yard line, then Shegog threw his first scoring pass of the night two plays later on a four-yard toss to tight end Tycen Gray.
S&T answered right back, moving into Delta State territory when quarterback
Tyler Gioia (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison) – making his first appearance for the Miners in a starting role Thursday – weaved through the Statesmen defense for 32 yards. He capped the 13-play scoring drive by going the final eight yards as he got just inside the pylon to trim the lead to 7-6; the Miners missed the extra point after the touchdown.
The Miners again drove into Statesmen territory on its next possession, but a fumble at the 30-yard line ended the drive.
Delta State added to its lead midway through the second period, first on a 45-yard field goal by Nick Herber that capped a 12-play drive, followed by forcing another turnover on a quarterback sack deep in S&T territory that led to a four-yard touchdown run by Alfonso Franklin to extend the lead to 17-6.
After the Miners had to punt on their opening possession in the second half, Delta State scored touchdowns on each of its first four possessions of the half to take control on the scoreboard. The first three scores were through the air, including scoring catches of 59 yards to Jalen May and 92 yards to Calvin Lockett.
The Miners did reach the end zone twice in the fourth quarter on scoring passes from Gioia to
Justis Braden (Liberty, MO/Liberty North). The duo combined for four catches on the first drive for a total of 54 yards, the last six coming on the final catch of the drive, then Braden got wide open in the secondary on the second touchdown pass that covered 34 yards.
Braden finished the contest with 112 yards on his seven receptions, while Gioia completed 20-of-33 passes for 224 yards in his S&T debut. Gioia also led the Miners on the ground with 84 yards on 14 carries as S&T finished the night with 238 yards on the ground and 462 yards overall – outgaining the Statesmen on the night by a 462-453 margin.
Linebacker
Nick Mattli (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt South) was in on six tackles to lead the Miners and had one of the team's two sacks, while
Aidan Hurtado (Austin, TX/McNeil) had the other among his four tackles on the night.
Shegog threw for 317 yards as he completed 16-of-22 passes in the contest, with Lockett and Battle hauling in four passes apiece for a combined 204 yards.
Missouri S&T will be on the road for the next two weeks, beginning with next Saturday's game against Wayne State in Detroit, Mich. Next week's game will begin at 1 p.m., Eastern time.
