ROLLA, Mo. – One last time.

Missouri S&T's football team has spent the better part of the last month getting on and off of buses, but finally gets to complete its travels for the 2013 season this weekend when it travels to Liberty, Mo., to take on William Jewell in a 1 p.m. contest.

The Miners, 3-5 overall and 2-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference after a 27-7 loss last Saturday at Truman State, have played four of their last five games away from home. Following this week's outing in Liberty, Missouri S&T will get to stay home for the balance of the year with home games against McKendree and Quincy to close the schedule.

But first, the Miners have to contend with a William Jewell team that is coming off its first GLVC victory of the season, as the Cardinals got a 46-yard field goal with just over a minute to play from Warren Frevert to upend Quincy 19-17 Saturday. The Cardinals, who broke a five-game losing streak with the victory to improve to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in league play, have one of the GLVC's top running backs in sophomore Thomas Cook who ran for 162 yards in last week's win.

Cook has been the best offensive weapon for William Jewell this season, running for 561 yards and five touchdowns out of the backfield and also leading the Cardinals in receptions with 39 for 254 yards and three more scores. Cook, who has also returned a punt for a touchdown on his resume this season, is fourth in the GLVC in all-purpose yards with 124 per contest.

Quarterback Sean Shelton, a three-year starter, has completed 84-of-156 passes for 752 yards and seven touchdowns, while linebacker Jimmy DeStefano leads the WJC defense with 70 tackles.

The Miners held a 7-6 halftime lead at Truman State Saturday, but were outscored 21-0 in the second half as the Bulldogs forced four turnovers and outgained S&T 185-113 after the intermission.

Zenel Hudson (Bayshore, N.Y./Milford Academy), who returned to action after missing the better part of three games due to an injury, scored the lone Miner touchdown on a one-yard run that capped a 16-play, 83-yard scoring drive in the opening quarter. Hudson leads the Miner ground game with 443 yards on the season.

Redshirt freshman Peter Simpson (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) made his first career start at quarterback Saturday and completed 12-of-32 passes for 130 yards – he has thrown for 364 yards in four appearances this season – while wide receiver Melvin Stovall (Los Angeles, Calif./Lancaster) has a team-high 49 receptions and is closing in on the Miners' all-time record for receptions by a first-year player.

Linebacker Chris Emesih (Houston, Texas/Westfield) had nine tackles to lead S&T at Truman along with defensive end Dale Davey; Emesih leads the Miners with 67 stops on the year.

Missouri S&T and William Jewell have played only six times prior to this weekend and the Miners have won three of the prior matchups, including wins in each of the last two years. After holding off a late Cardinal rally to win 28-26 in 2011, the Miners blasted the Cardinals 52-17 last October in Rolla.

Game Notes: Miners vs. William Jewell

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