ROLLA, Mo. – With optimism in the air, Missouri S&T gets its 2016 football season underway Saturday when it hosts Bacone College in a 7 p.m. contest at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.
The Miners were picked to finish third in the Great Lakes Valley Conference this fall and with a good deal of its starting lineup back for the coming year, there is hope that the Miners can make a run at the top of the conference in the upcoming year.
The campaign, however, begins with a pair of non-conference tilts before the Sept. 17 GLVC opener against Truman State and the first of those will take place Saturday against a Bacone squad that is coming off a 2-9 season in 2015. It will also be the season opener for the Warriors.
Saturday's game is sponsored by Miner Corporate Club member United Health Care.
ABOUT THE MINERS: Missouri S&T improved to the .500 mark last season and finished third in the GLVC, providing the team an optimistic outlook to the upcoming season with 19 starters back in the fold.
The offensive unit has 10 returners back in the starting lineup, led by a three-headed receiving corps of
Spencer Elrod (Lancaster, CA/Eastside),
Braxton Graham (Seneca, MO/Seneca) and
Ray Mullen (Palm Springs, CA/Palm Springs). Elrod led the Miners with 40 receptions for 749 yards and seven touchdowns, while accumulating 1,431 all-purpose yards.
Graham hauled in 39 passes for 566 yards and also had 1,335 all-purpose yards, while Mullen had 31 catches as a freshman for 376 yards and five scores.
The quarterback who figures to throwing passes to them is
Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson), who threw four touchdown passes in his first start as a Miner in last year's finale against Quincy.
Dalton Major (Bourbonnais, IL/Bishop McNamara), a second-team All-GLVC running back, led the Miner ground game with 502 yards and will run behind an offensive line with four returning starters. One of those returning starters is
Adam Echele (Wildwood, MO/Lafayette), who was named honorable mention All-GLVC a year ago.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Miners bring back nine players with starting experience which includes All-GLVC performers
Rob Cidlik (Eureka, MO/Eureka),
Jeremi Ross (Valencia, CA/Hollywood) and
Landon Compton (Lamar, MO/Lamar).
Cidlik led S&T in sacks and tackles for a loss a year ago, recording 8.5 sacks and 15.5 stops behind the line. Ross led the team in pass breakups with nine and also had a pass interception return for a touchdown, while Compton led S&T in tackles with 85, which included 8.5 for a loss from his linebacker position.
The Miners also return placekicker and punter
Nolan Mannino (Waterloo, IL/Waterloo), who averaged 37.2 yards per punt last season and placed 15 inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
ABOUT BACONE: The Warriors are looking to bounce back from a two-win season in 2015 and will look to do so behind the arm of quarterback Trey Seward, who threw for 1,362 yards and eight touchdowns last fall.
Seward completed 47 percent of his throws during the year, with his top returning target being Graylon Dunams, who hauled in 23 balls for 226 yards.
The Warriors' top returner in the backfield is Johnny Thomas, who had 338 yards rushing last season; Seward also had 129 net rushing yards, a total that included 373 yards gained.
Last year, the Warriors averaged 246.7 yards per game on offense, but gave up 480.2 yards on the defensive side.
Linebacker Shawndell Kirkland led Bacone in tackles with 72 during the 2015 season, while defensive back Erik Brown recorded 69 stops and linebacker David Cooper had 68. Another member of the Warrior defensive backfield, Moses Gilbert, had three of his team's 13 interceptions during the year.
