Mike Greaving

RENSSELAER, Ind. -- The UMR football team was unable to overcome an early deficit Saturday and wound up losing a 35-17 decision to Saint Joseph's at Alumni Stadium.

The Pumas bit the Miners early, scoring touchdowns on each of their first three possessions to take a lead that UMR could not erase despite its best efforts in the second half.

UMR pinned the Pumas at their own five-yard line after a punt by Renny Dillinger, but Saint Joseph's marched down the field over the next six minutes to take the lead. Anthony Lindsey completed a third down pass for 21 yards to Austin Capi in the early stages of the drive to keep it going, then the Miners missed another chance to halt the Pumas when they couldn't recover Greg Ford's fumble after a 36-yard run to the UMR five.

Lindsey hit Cole Hewitt for a two-yard scoring pass to cap the drive.

The Miners came right back and got on the scoreboard when Tim Valencia connected on a 32-yard field goal. Steve Watson's 17-yard completion to Mike Greaving extended the possession, then Watson made a 14-yard run on another third down play to put the Miners in field goal range.

However, the Pumas scored on back-to-back possessions after the Valencia field goal to build a 21-3 lead that they would take to halftime. Lindsey threw scoring passes of 30 yards to Mack Ogletree and 10 yards to Victor Torres to give them the 18-point lead in the first 18 minutes of play.

Lindsey's fourth scoring pass of the day, a 10-yard pass to Dan Paulsen late in the third quarter, made it 28-3 for the Pumas before the Miners started drawing closer.

Two plays after the touchdown, Watson hit Greaving for a 61-yard touchdown pass to make the score 28-10. The UMR defense, which had settled down after the early Puma flurry, forced a punt on the next possession to get the Miners' next scoring drive started.

A 25-yard pass play to Bryan Crider moved UMR into Saint Joseph's' territory, then Watson hit Crider again on a fourth-and-one play to keep the drive moving. The Miners eventually got into the end zone on a 10-yard run by David Shields with 9:04 to play.

But after UMR had cut the lead to a two-possession game with plenty of time to go, the Pumas chewed up nearly seven minutes on the clock on a game-clinching drive, ending a 12-play, 71-yard drive with a seven-yard scoring run by Ford.

Watson completed 14 of his 26 pass attempts for 220 yards and the one touchdown, with Ashton Gronewold leading the way with six catches for 77 yards; Greaving had 89 yards on his three receptions. Shields ran for 79 yards for the Miners, who had 124 yards on the ground in finishing with 344 yards of total offense.

Lindsey ended the day completing 25-of-28 passes -- setting a Saint Joe's record for completion percentage -- for 301 yards.

Brian Jordan led the Miners with 11 tackles on the afternoon.

UMR will face Southern Nazarene next Saturday in a 6 p.m. game in Bethany, Okla.