ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T will seek to win for the fourth consecutive week and stay in contention for the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in the process this weekend as it hosts William Jewell for Homecoming at Allgood-Bailey Stadium. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
The Miners, who won a non-conference tilt 21-3 last week over Lindenwood-Belleville, will take on a Cardinal squad that currently shares the conference lead with Indianapolis at 3-0 after rallying for a 21-17 win at Truman State. Both teams bring 3-3 overall records into the contest, with the Miners 2-1 in league play.
S&T needed some big plays in the second half to dispatch Lindenwood-Belleville, getting three interceptions from its defense and a record-setting pass play to break free from the Lynx. With the Miners holding a three-point lead midway through the third quarter,
Will Brown (Hazelwood, Mo./Hazelwood West) picked off a pass deep in S&T territory to halt that drive and moments later,
Lamar Wilkes (Maryland Heights, Mo./Pattonville) and
Melvin Stovall (Los Angeles, Calif./Lancaster) hooked up on a 95-yard scoring pass to extend the Miner advantage.
It was the longest play from scrimmage in school history and tied the GLVC mark for the longest pass play in league history.
Nick Kruse (Cuba, Mo./Cuba HS) stopped another Lynx drive with an interception early in the fourth quarter, then Brown clinched the win with his second interception of the game when he ran it back 33 yards for a touchdown with 1:30 remaining.
Linebacker
Zach Melber (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville), who reached double figures in tackles for the third week in succession, leads S&T with 42 on the season, while Kruse has 36 and safety
Dawan Ferguson (St. Louis, Mo./Riverview Gardens) has 34. The Miners also moved back atop the charts for quarterback sacks in NCAA Division II with four on Saturday to give them 28 on the year;
Daleroy Davey (Kansas City, Kan./Turner) has six to lead the way, while
Dan Mauszycki (Gardner, Kan./Gardner-Edgerton HS) and
Jacob Nutt (Pacific, Mo./Pacific) have five apiece.
Stovall, who had 132 yards in receptions for his GLVC-record eighth 100-yard game of his career, is second in the GLVC in receptions and third in yardage with 34 for 636 yards. Meanwhile,
Scott Hendricks (Kechi, Kan./Maize HS) had his second straight 100-yard outing by recording 101 yards in Saturday's win.
William Jewell won for the third time in GLVC play without a loss by coming back from a 17-point halftime deficit in its 21-17 win at Truman State. The Cardinal defense allowed just 74 total yards to the Bulldogs after the intermission and got a fourth quarter stop in the red zone to preserve the win to retain their spot at the top of the standings.
The Cardinals have a strong one-two punch at the skill positions with running back Thomas Cook and wide receiver Anthony Mullins, who rank second and third, respectively, in all-purpose yards in the GLVC. Cook, who is averaging 152.8 per game, has 378 yards on the ground and a team-high 27 receptions for 182 yards; he also has a kickoff return for a score this season.
Mullins is averaging 21.6 yards per reception on his 24 catches and is accumulating 152 yards per game, with four games where he has recorded at least 138 all-purpose yards.
Quarterback Nick West, who threw a touchdown pass and then ran for the eventual winning score in the fourth quarter last week, has completed 56 percent of his passes for 1,091 yards and nine touchdowns.
Linebacker Jimmy DeStefano leads the Cardinals with 68 tackles and cornerback Quinlan Riser has recorded 45 tackles while holding a share of the league lead in interceptions with three. The Cardinals also have the GLVC's sack leader in Marqus Moye with seven on the year, including two in last Saturday's victory.
Game Notes: Miners vs. William JewellLive VideoLive AudioLive Stats
