ROLLA, Mo. – Two teams closing out their 2015 campaigns meet up Saturday at Allgood-Bailey Stadium as Missouri S&T hosts to Quincy on Military Appreciation Day.
Kickoff for Saturday's game is at 1 p.m. and all military personnel – active or retired – will be admitted free along with their immediate family members with a military I.D. card.
Saturday's contest is also the final home game for eight Miner seniors who will be honored prior to kickoff. The eight seniors are
Reed Brown (Rogers, Ark./Heritage HS),
Cody Burgess (Cuba, Mo./Cuba HS),
Vince Fricke (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North),
Scott Hendricks (Kechi, Kan./Maize),
Josip Juric (West Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic),
Steve Martin (St. Louis, Mo./Christian Brothers College HS),
Evan Merz (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) and
Albert Yemitan (Houston, Texas/Western Illinois Univ.).
Those seniors will look to go out on a winning note and give the Miners a .500 record for the season, as S&T comes into the game at 4-5 overall and 4-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Miners have dropped their last two games, including a 38-14 loss last Saturday to league champion Indianapolis.
Quincy also suffered a loss over the weekend at the hands of McKendree by a count of 56-30, a team the Miners beat three weeks ago. The Hawks, 3-6 overall and 3-4 in the GLVC, have all of their league wins over teams the Miners have also defeated this season -- Truman State, Saint Joseph's and Lincoln.
ABOUT THE MINERS: Missouri S&T struggled out of the gate at Indianapolis Saturday and ended up on the losing end of a 38-14 decision. The Miners had only 86 yards of total offense in the first half as they fell into a 28-0 hole in the first 30 minutes.
The Miners have gotten big seasons from two of their wideouts in both the receiving and return categories.
Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, Calif./Eastside) has accumulated 1,219 all-purpose yards this year and is on the cusp of posting one of the 10 best seasons in school history in that regard, while
Braxton Graham (Seneca, Mo./Seneca) has 1,188 all-purpose yards.
Both players also have kick returns for scores this season, as Graham is one of the nation's top punt returners at 14.7 yards a return and Elrod, who had a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in S&T's last home appearance, is averaging 23.7 per kickoff runback.
Lamar Wilkes (Maryland Heights, Mo./Pattonville) has completed 46.7 percent of his passes on the season for 1,677 yards and 12 touchdowns; his yardage mark is close to one of the top 10 years in Miner history.
Dalton Major (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bishop McNamara) leads the Miner ground game with 502 yards on the year and has scored four touchdowns.
On the defensive side,
Landon Compton (Lamar, Mo./Lamar) leads S&T with 78 tackles, while
Austin Truvillion (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill) has made 68 including 10 behind the line of scrimmage.
Rob Cidlik (Eureka, Mo./Eureka) leads the Miners with 11 tackles for a loss this year, while
Josip Juric (West Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) has a team-high 6.5 quarterback sacks.
ABOUT QUINCY: The Hawks ended up on the short end of a shootout last week at McKendree, as the Bearcats outscored them 28-6 in the fourth quarter after Quincy had drawn to within four in an eventual 56-30 loss.
Quincy had 504 yards of total offense last week and is averaging nearly 400 yards per game on the year. Quarterback Nick Lonergan has completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 1,955 yards and 17 scores, while Eric Poindexter ranks third in the GLVC with his 48 catches for 771 yards and a league-high nine receiving touchdowns. The Hawks had to turn to backup quarterback Robbie Kelley last week after Lonergan suffered an injury and Kelley threw for 223 yards on 15-of-21 passing.
Meanwhile, running back Chris Harris -- last year's GLVC freshman of the year -- has rushed for 642 yards and seven touchdowns for a running attack that is averaging 151.1 yards per game.
Quincy's defense has been up and down during the 2015 season, as it performed well against two of the league's top offenses but has also had three games where it has allowed over 50 points. The Hawks currently rank last in the GLVC in total defense with an average of 463.8 yards allowed per game.
Linebacker T.J. Daniels leads the Hawks with 72 tackles, while Darian Johnson has made 42 stops which includes 3.5 sacks. Adehkeem Brown and Chris Parker have two interceptions apiece.
