ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T makes its first trip to Jefferson City in five years Saturday to renew acquaintances with Lincoln University as the Miners and Blue Tigers face off Saturday in a 2 p.m. Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
The Miners last faced the Blue Tigers in Jefferson City on the final day of the 2010 season, when Lincoln staged a late rally to stun S&T 21-20. The two teams played in the season finale last year as well – the first meeting since that 2010 game – with the Miners taking a 14-9 decision at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.
Missouri S&T, 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the GLVC, defeated College of Faith in an exhibition contest Saturday 63-0, jumping out to a 28-0 lead in the first seven minutes of play.
D'Luis West (Troup, Texas/Troup), who had 103 yards on 11 carries and
DeSoto Dickson (Florissant, Mo./Trinity Catholic) each had two touchdown runs in the first quarter, while the Miner defense held the Warriors to just 50 yards of total offense and forced six turnovers.
Lincoln, meanwhile, dropped its fifth straight contest Saturday when it fell 42-14 at Saint Joseph's. The Blue Tigers trailed 21-7 at halftime, then gave up three touchdowns in the third quarter as the Pumas busted the game open. Lincoln comes into Saturday's game at 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the GLVC.
ABOUT THE MINERS: The Miners quickly dispatched College of Faith by scoring four touchdowns and a safety in the game's first seven minutes and led 42-0 at halftime in an exhibition contest at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.
After
Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, Calif./Eastside) returned the opening kickoff to the Warriors' 25-yard line, Dickson scored three plays later to put the Miners on the scoreboard. West got his first touchdown just over two minutes later after
Isaiah Hardy (San Jose, Calif./Sobrato) recorded the first of S&T's five interceptions on College of Faith's first play, then the Miners got scoring runs from Dickson,
Braxton Graham (Seneca, Mo./Seneca) and West around a safety.
The defense also scored a touchdown in the second quarter when freshman defensive tackle
Christian Weller (Garland, Texas/Naaman Forest) recovered a fumble forced by
Bret Curtis (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard South) in the end zone.
Miner quarterback
Lamar Wilkes (Maryland Heights, Mo./Pattonville) has completed 83-of-183 attempts for 982 yards and five touchdowns, as he is currently 53 yards shy of 2,000 yards passing for his career. He has also accounted for 1,124 yards of total offense through the first five games of the season.
Elrod leads the receivers with 23 catches for 368 yards and two touchdowns, while a pair of freshmen have also had solid seasons to date as
Braxton Graham (Seneca, Mo./Seneca) has hauled in 21 passes for 249 yards and
Ray Mullen (Palm Springs, Calif./Palm Springs) has 18 catches for 222 yards and two scores.
The Miners' ground game, which is averaging 158.8 yards per game, is headed by
Dalton Major (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bishop McNamara) with 215 yards on the year and Wilkes with 142 yards.
DeSoto Dickson (Florissant, Mo./Trinity Catholic), with 117 yards on the year, is coming off his best game as a Miner with 91 yards two weeks ago at William Jewell.
Defensively, the Miners have had two recent selections by the GLVC for player of the week awards in linebackers
Landon Compton (Lamar, Mo./Lamar) and
Austin Truvillion (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill), who also rank as the Miners' top two tacklers on the season. Compton has made a team-high 43 tackles, while Truvillion, who won his award after the win at Truman State, has 42 stops.
S&T has also recorded 10 sacks -- three by defensive tackle
Josip Juric (West Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) -- and four interceptions at the midway point of the season.
ABOUT LINCOLN: After knocking off Langston 35-32 in the season opener, the Blue Tigers have dropped their last five outings, including a 42-14 loss last week at Saint Joseph's.
Lincoln fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter, but cut the lead in half when cornerback Brandon Wood returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown. However, the Pumas pulled away in the third quarter with three touchdowns to drop the Blue Tigers to 0-3 in conference play.
Quarterback Owen Jordan completed 25-of-42 passes against the Pumas for 259 yards and a touchdown, but also threw three interceptions. For the year, Jordan has completed 60.5 percent of his throws for 1,356 yards and eight touchdowns, with his top trio of receivers combining for 100 catches.
Darius Hicks has a team-high 34 receptions, the fourth-most in the GLVC, for 450 yards and three scores, while Delvon Rouser has 33 catches for 346 yards and four touchdowns and Bryson Winfrey has 33 for 256 yards. The top running back for the Blue Tigers has been Miles Drummond with 317 yards and three touchdowns, but as a team, Lincoln is rushing for just 91.3 yards per game.
Lincoln's defense has been headed by linebacker Kareem Joyner with 72 tackles, including a team-best 6.5 for a loss and two interceptions. Safety Paul Dodson has made 45 tackles, while Jeremy Rives and Treston Pulley have been in on 44 stops apiece. Robert Daniels, who plays the corner opposite of Wood, leads Lincoln with three interceptions.
