OWENSBORO, Ky. -- For the third straight season, the University of Missouri-Rolla football team wrapped up its season on a winning note as it routed Kentucky Wesleyan Saturday by the score of 49-21.
The Miners overwhelmed the Panthers with a 518-yard offensive performance, including a season-best 321 yards on the ground. Four different Miner backs had at least 50 yards on the ground in the game, led by the 108 yards posted by tailback David Shields.
UMR got on the scoreboard first midway through the opening period when quarterback Steve Watson connected with Bryan Crider in the flat and the sophomore tight end took it to the end zone for a 39-yard scoring play to cap a 65-yard drive.
The Miners drove 65 yards for their second score as well, which came when Watson threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ashton Gronewold with 1:31 to go in the opening period. The drive was set up by an interception by Jamel Sims, one of three interceptions made by the Miner defense Saturday.
After the Panthers got into the end zone on Chris Owen’s quarterback sneak early in the second period, the Miners answered right back as Gronewold took an option pitch 63 yards to the end zone to give UMR a 21-7 lead.
The touchdown, Gronewold’s 57th in his record-setting career as a Miner, was his first rushing touchdown in his four seasons at UMR. He scored his 58th touchdown just under five minutes later when he caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Watson.
UMR built its lead to 35-7 just over a minute before halftime when Shields ran 13 yards for a score after an interception by Kirk Stilwell. Shields scored again on UMR’s first possession of the second half on an eight-yard run to give UMR a 42-7 lead.
The Panthers scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, which were sandwiched around Nathan Binder’s 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It marked the fourth time that the Miners returned a kickoff for a score during the 2007 season.
Besides the 108 yards posted by Shields on the ground, the Miners also got 81 yards from Chad Shockley, 64 from Gronewold and 53 from Mike Greaving, who played periodically at quarterback on Saturday.
Watson completed 14-of-22 passes for 170 yards and three touchdowns, with Gronewold catching 10 passes for 87 yards.
In his last game at UMR, Gronewold compiled 162 all-purpose yards to finish the year with a school record 2,250 yards and a career total of 5,992. He also broke his own record for catches in a season with 87 and finished over the 1,000-yard mark in receptions with 1,009.
Gronewold, who was named Friday as one of the Southwest region finalists for the Harlon Hill Award, ended up with receiving totals of 278 catches, 3,708 yards and 52 touchdowns. His 58 career touchdowns also included five returns for scores.
Linebacker Steve Edwards led the Miners with eight tackles while Garyion Turner posted seven stops on the afternoon. UMR also got an interception from linebacker Brandon Kessler among the four turnovers it forced on the day.
UMR finished the 2007 season with a record of 4-7.
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