ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's football team returns home for the first time in nearly a month – and appropriately, it is Homecoming weekend where the Miners will square off with Great Lakes Valley Conference co-leader Saint Joseph's at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

Game time will be at 1 p.m., with pre-game Homecoming festivities in the parking lot outside the stadium set to begin at 11 a.m.

S&T wrapped up a three-game stretch on the road on a winning note Saturday, rolling up a season-high 551 yards of total offense in a 41-21 victory at Kentucky Wesleyan that evened its conference record at 1-1.  The Miners, 2-4 overall, trailed 14-7 in the first quarter, but outscored the Panthers 34-7 over the balance of the contest.

The Miners had 271 of the 551 yards on the ground, even with leading rusher Zenel Hudson (Bayshore, N.Y./Milford Academy) out of the lineup due to an injury.  In his absence, S&T got a career-high 120 yards rushing from redshirt freshman Chris Kennard (Plano, Texas/Parish Episcopal), while DeSoto Dickson (Florissant, Mo./Trinity Catholic) picked up 73 yards and Anthony Moore (Hazelwood, Mo./McCluer) scored twice on the ground.

Reed Brown (Rogers, Ark./Heritage HS), who has completed 58 percent of his passes on the season for 1,255 yards, completed 23-of-37 passes Saturday for 280 yards, his highest output since the season opener against Chadron State.  Melvin Stovall (Los Angeles, Calif./Lancaster) has a team-high 38 catches for 329 yards, while Leon Moody (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit HS), who had 131 yards in receptions at KWC, has caught 28 balls on the season.

Meanwhile, S&T's defense picked up a season-high eight quarterback sacks at Kentucky Wesleyan to double its total for the year to 16.  The unit – led by linebacker Chris Emesih (Houston, Texas/Westfield)'s 45 tackles and defensive end Dan Mauszycki (Gardner, Kan./Gardner-Edgerton HS)'s four sacks -- has steadily improved over the last four weeks, but will be tested Saturday by the GLVC's top rushing attack, paced by league leader Braxton Shelton.

Shelton, with 734 yards on the year, ran for a career-high 200 yards – second in the GLVC this season to the 222 posted by Hudson in the Miners' last home game on Sept. 21 – in the Pumas' 34-26 victory Saturday at Quincy.  Saint Joseph's led the game from wire-to-wire, but needed a late defensive stand to hold off a late rally effort by the Hawks as Eric Heinzman's sack on the final play secured the win.

As a team, the Pumas, 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the GLVC, are averaging 264 yards per game on the ground which is the 16^th-best mark in NCAA Division II.

Quarterback Billy VandeMerkt has completed 85-of-143 passes for 1,176 yard and 12 touchdowns on the season; he threw three touchdown passes against S&T last season and has six scoring tosses in his career against the Miners.  His top target, Julian Walker, has 25 receptions at the midpoint of the season after hauling in 92 passes a season ago.

The Pumas' run defense has been stout during the first half of the year as it has given up just 88.8 yards a game on the ground – 11^th-best in Division II – behind linebacker Joel Wimbley and his 52 tackles.  Wimbley has also made a league-high 12 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for a unit that has 60 tackles for lost yardage in the first six weeks of the campaign.

Game Notes: Miners vs. Saint Joseph's

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