ROLLA, Mo. – After recording its highest point in a game since 2008, Missouri S&T heads into a challenging closing stretch to the 2016 season which begins Saturday when it travels to Lebanon, Ill., to take on McKendree. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Leemon Field.
The Miners are coming off a 65-16 win over Lincoln Saturday that moved them to 4-3 on the season – the same record that McKendree holds – and 3-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Miners are currently one game in back of conference leader Truman State with four games to play, with three of S&T's final four games away from Allgood-Bailey Stadium.
McKendree used a late rally to upend Saint Joseph's Saturday, scoring two touchdowns in the final 1:26 to overcome a 16-7 deficit to win 20-16. After getting the first score, the Bearcats got a three-and-out on defense and then blocked a punt to set up Elcee Burke's four-yard touchdown pass to Skylar Paulson with 43 seconds remaining.
Missouri S&T beat the Bearcats 34-27 last season in Rolla.
ABOUT THE MINERS: S&T used its biggest offensive day of the season, one where it racked up 530 total yards and 311 on the ground, to rout Lincoln 65-16 on Homecoming at S&T. The Miners got a career-high 136 yards rushing from freshman
Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) and another 85 from
Charles Bournes (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park), while
Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson) – named as this week's GLVC offensive player of the week – accounted for six touchdowns by rushing for two and matching his career best with four scoring passes.
Swart has completed 56.5 percent of his passes for the season for 1,501 yards and 16 touchdowns, with his top target being
Braxton Graham (Seneca, MO/Seneca) with 41 receptions for 757 yards and six touchdowns. Graham is tied for third in the GLVC in receptions and ranks third in yardage, while also sitting second in all-purpose yards with 1,155 yards.
Ray Mullen (Palm Springs, CA/Palm Springs) has also caught 21 passes for 284 yards and four touchdowns.
Defensively, the Miners have been paced by linebacker
Landon Compton (Lamar, MO/Lamar) with 56 tackles, including 8.5 for a loss and three sacks.
Bret Curtis (Lombard, IL/Glenbard South), who has 40 stops on the year, leads S&T with 11.5 tackles for a loss and fellow defensive end
Andrew Masters (Kearney, MO/Kearney) has recorded a team-high five sacks; the Miners had 10 sacks in Saturday's win and have 26 for the year.
S&T has also picked off 10 passes, with two of them coming from
Jeremi Ross (Valencia, CA/Hollywood).
ABOUT McKENDREE: The Bearcats were held in check for most of the contest Saturday against Saint Joseph's, but a pair of touchdowns in the final 1:23, the last set up by John Alvin's blocked punt, allowed McKendree to pull out a 20-16 victory.
Elcee Burke, who became the Bearcats' starter at quarterback in the second week of the season, threw the game-winning touchdown pass with 43 seconds left for his sixth scoring pass of the year. Burke has completed 49.3 percent of his passes for 347 yards, while Brandon Wildman, who has appeared in four games, has 883 yards passing with six touchdowns. The top target for the Bearcats has been Sean Dowling with 26 receptions for 334 yards.
Shayeen Edwards is fourth in the GLVC in rushing with 577 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bearcat defense, which ranks third in the conference with 23 points and 356.7 yards per game allowed (Missouri S&T is second in yardage at 322.1), is paced by linebacker A.J. Wentland with 105 tackles, eight of which have been for a loss. Defensive end Tobias Cook has made 45 tackles and Jabaree Winston has 42 stops, while Nate Powell and Blake Benoist have three interceptions apiece; Benoist's third pick sealed the win over Saint Joseph's.
Lucky Baar, despite missing the last two-plus games with an injury, has the third-most sacks in Division II with 10.5.
