ROLLA, Mo. – Coming off a win in a matchup of the two second place teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, Missouri S&T returns to Allgood-Bailey Stadium Saturday seeking to keep pace with league leader Indianapolis as it hosts a dangerous Southwest Baptist team in a 1 p.m. contest.
Saturday's game will be Halloween Youth Day at S&T, as children ages 12 and under will be admitted free with an adult and receive a candy bag upon entrance to the stadium. In addition, the Missouri S&T Street Team will be holding a costume contest for S&T students – with prizes to be awarded during the halftime intermission.
The Miners improved to 4-1 in the GLVC -- and moved above the .500 mark for the first time since the end of the 2013 season -- with their 34-27 win home win over McKendree. After spotting the guests a 17-0 lead, S&T stormed back by rattling off 27 unanswered points and got two key defensive stops in the second half to secure the win.
Southwest Baptist comes in at 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the GLVC after dropping a one-point decision for the second week in a row, a 24-23 home loss to Saint Joseph's Saturday. SBU took the lead late in the third quarter, but after the Pumas got a go-ahead field goal with 7:39 to play, a turnover inside the Pumas' 10-yard line prevented SBU from taking the lead.
ABOUT THE MINERS: Missouri S&T used a 27-point run to overcome a 17-0 deficit last week against McKendree and went on to a 34-27 Homecoming win over the Bearcats to take over sole possession of second place in the GLVC.
Braxton Graham (Seneca, Mo./Seneca) started the 27-point outburst by taking a
Lamar Wilkes (Maryland Heights, Mo./Pattonville) pass 70 yards for a touchdown midway through the second quarter, then capped the run by returning a punt 50 yards for a score as part of a 245-yard day in all-purpose yardage.
In between,
Dalton Major (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bishop McNamara) -- who had a career-high 144 yards on the ground -- had a touchdown as did Wilkes, who would also throw a touchdown pass to
Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, Calif./Eastside) as S&T scored on five straight possessions in one stretch.
Wilkes, who was 12-of-15 for 211 yards against McKendree, has completed 49.3 percent of his passes for 1,397 yards and nine touchdowns. Elrod and Graham have 30 receptions apiece to lead the Miners while freshman
Ray Mullen (Palm Springs, Calif./Palm Springs) has 22 grabs.
Major leads S&T in rushing with 386 yards as the Miners have rushed for 172.4 yards per game, the GLVC's fourth-best mark through play on Saturday.
Landon Compton (Lamar, Mo./Lamar) leads the Miners with 60 tackles, while
Austin Truvillion (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill) has been in on 59 stops.
Josip Juric (West Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) has a team-high 4.5 quarterback sacks and
Rob Cidlik (Eureka, Mo./Eureka) has made four, while
Albert Yemitan (Houston, Texas/Western Illinois Univ.) leads S&T with eight pass breakups which is tied for the lead in the GLVC.
ABOUT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST: The Bearcats come into Saturday's contest at 2-6 and 1-5 in GLVC play, but four of SBU's losses have been by a touchdown or less. That includes a two-point road loss to league leader Indianapolis and one-point setbacks in each of the last two weeks.
In last week's 24-23 setback to Saint Joseph's, SBU got a big performance by GLVC rushing leader Bubba Jenkins as he ran for 160 yards and two scores. The 160 yards -- part of his 926 on the year with 12 touchdowns -- was topped only by his league-record 258 posted earlier this season against Quincy as he paces the league's top rushing attack.
Quarterback Trent Edwards has been good on 54.8 percent of his passes for 1,640 yards and 13 scores, while also running for 481 yards. His top target has been Nathan Mourik, who has 33 receptions for 638 yards and six scores a year after leading the GLVC with 1,398 receiving yards. Kendrick Payne also has 31 catches for 382 yards and four scores for SBU.
On the defensive side, the Bearcats are paced by linebacker Tyler Curts with 78 tackles, while Shaun Hutchinson has been in on 62 stops. Antion McBee is second in NCAA Division II with eight interceptions and in last year's meeting between the teams -- a 28-21 S&T win in Bolivar -- McBee had a 100-yard return of an interception for a touchdown.
