ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T will close out its 2014 football season Saturday when the Miners renew their rivalry with Lincoln University in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Allgood-Bailey Stadium. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m.
Saturday's game will be Military Appreciation Day at Missouri S&T, as all military members, active or retired and their immediate families will be admitted free to the contest. In addition, the Miner seniors will be honored prior to playing their last home game and Missouri S&T's men's track & field team will be honored at halftime for its 2014 GLVC championship.
The Miners and Blue Tigers, meanwhile, are both looking to end losing streaks prior to the close of the current season. S&T has dropped its last four contests, including a 30-12 decision Saturday to 25
th-ranked Indianapolis, while Lincoln lost its third straight in a 56-36 loss to McKendree.
One of the bright spots for the Miners in last week's contest was the play of cornerback
Will Brown (Hazelwood, Mo./Hazelwood West), who had two interceptions – one of which led to S&T's first touchdown of the game – to take over the GLVC lead in that category. Brown's six interceptions, which rank ninth in NCAA Division II, are the most by a Miner in a single season in 20 years.
Meanwhile, the defensive unit continues to rank high on the national charts for sacks and tackles for a loss, entering this week's game second in sacks with 41 and fifth with 9.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage in the nation. Defensive end
Daleroy Davey (Kansas City, Kan./Turner) is second in the GLVC with 12.5 sacks – good for sixth on the national level -- and is one of four Miners with at least 10 tackles for a loss with 17.5 on the year.
Linebacker
Zach Melber (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville), one of 20 seniors who will be playing in their final game this weekend, has made 15.5 tackles for a loss, while defensive end
Dan Mauszycki (Gardner, Kan./Gardner-Edgerton HS) has 12.5 stops for lost yardage.
Dawan Ferguson (St. Louis, Mo./Riverview Gardens) and
Nick Kruse (Cuba, Mo./Cuba HS) are tied for the team lead in tackles with 62 apiece, while Melber has made 60 stops from his outside linebacker position.
S&T's offense, however, was held to a season-low 158 yards by the Greyhounds last week. It did reach a milestone in the game when wideout
Nick Taylor (Wichita, Kan./Southeast HS) joined teammates
Melvin Stovall (Los Angeles, Calif./Lancaster) and
Leon Moody (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit HS) with 1,000 career receiving yards, marking the first time in school that three active players had reached that plateau.
Stovall has 48 receptions for 804 yards and seven touchdowns to lead the Miners, while Moody has caught 36 balls for 428 yards and Taylor 34 for 302 yards.
Charles Bournes (Chicago, Ill./Morgan Park) heads the S&T rushing attack with 320 yards and three touchdowns.
S&T has split its quarterback duties over the last few weeks between freshman
Lamar Wilkes (Maryland Heights, Mo./Pattonville) and sophomore
Peter Simpson (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh). Wilkes has thrown for a team-high 906 yards and six touchdowns, while Simpson has completed 51.8 percent of his throws and fired five scoring passes.
Lincoln has been paced by an offense which is 33 points away from its highest scoring season since 1964 and one that has been productive on the ground behind the running of Morris Henderson. The senior running back leads the GLVC with 1,153 yards (he is second in yards per game to Truman State's Garrett White) and is ranked eighth in Division II in all-purpose yards with a league-high 177.5.
Henderson has also scored 20 touchdowns this season and is among four receivers who have caught at least 26 passes, a group led by Khiry Draine with 51 receptions for 841 yards. Quarterback Owen Jordan has completed 56.3 percent of his passes for 1,673 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Linebackers Jeremy Rives and Kareem Joyner head the Blue Tiger defensive unit with 80 and 70 stops, respectively, while defensive tackle Davon Walls, a transfer from Syracuse, has 16 tackles for a loss which includes 8.5 sacks. Cornerback Robert Daniels is second in the GLVC in interceptions with four.
The Miners have won the last ten matchups in Rolla between the teams, but the Blue Tigers took the last meeting in 2010 with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 1:20 remaining to pull out a 21-20 victory in Jefferson City.
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