ROLLA, Mo. – Winners of two consecutive games, Missouri S&T's football team heads to the Kansas City area this weekend to resume Great Lakes Valley Conference play as it takes on William Jewell in a 1 p.m. contest in Liberty, Mo.
The Miners went outside the GLVC to pick up a win last week, knocking off Malone 48-21 after falling behind 14-0 just over 12 minutes into play. S&T grabbed the lead by halftime and outscored the Pioneers 20-0 in the second half on a day when it produced its third-best offensive performance in school history.
Meanwhile, William Jewell is seeking its first win of the 2017 season after losing 54-28 to McKendree over the weekend. The Cardinals, 0-4 overall and 0-1 in the GLVC, fell behind 35-0 in the first quarter as they allowed over 50 points in a game for the third week in succession.
ABOUT THE MINERS: Missouri S&T comes into Saturday's contest sporting the top-ranked offense in the GLVC, averaging 461.5 yards per game after racking up 605 in the win at Malone. The 605 yards – 222 of which came on the ground and 383 through the air – marked just the fourth time in school history that the Miners had exceeded the 600-yard mark in total offense in a game.
Quarterback
Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson), who threw for 367 yards in the win, is ranked seventh in NCAA Division II in passing yards with 1,314 on the year as he has completed 64 percent of his throws. Swart has eight touchdown passes on the year, three of which have gone to
Braxton Graham (Seneca, MO/Seneca), who has caught a team-high 27 balls for 477 yards; both marks lead the GLVC.
Justin Vaughn (Houston, TX/George Bush) has caught 14 passes on the year and is averaging 19.4 yards per reception, while
Logan Armontrout (Centralia, MO/Centralia) has caught 11 passes and has touchdown receptions in each of the last two games.
Meanwhile,
Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) rushed for 154 yards Saturday and currently leads the conference with 407 yards on the ground. Jones also had a pair of touchdown runs in the victory at Malone as he is averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
Linebacker
Austin Truvillion (Kansas City, MO/Park Hill) paces the S&T defense with a team-high 32 tackles, while defensive end
Tershawn Wharton (University City, MO/University City) and linebacker
Landon Compton (Lamar, MO/Lamar) have 29 apiece. Compton leads the Miners with eight tackles for a loss and four sacks, while Wharton has 6.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and 3.5 sacks.
Cornerback
Ryan Kirkendall (Silsbee, TX/Silsbee) is among the national leaders in passes defended with eight, including a team-high seven pass breakups.
ABOUT WILLIAM JEWELL: The Cardinals enter Saturday's game at 0-4 and 0-1 in the GLVC after the loss to McKendree, as the Bearcats ran out to a 35-point lead before 11 minutes had been played.
Quarterback Brad Strauss has been the focal point of the Jewell offense, as he has completed 61.8 percent of his pass attempts for 983 yards and six touchdowns while also leading the Cardinals with 187 yards on the ground. William Jewell is ranked third in the GLVC in passing with an average of 261 yards per game.
Running back Tre Mask is the top receiver for the Cardinals with 16 catches for 195 yards and two touchdowns, while Bulla Graft and Ethan Weilant have each caught 12 balls on the year.
However, the Cardinals have allowed a GLVC-high 498 yards and 52.2 points per game on the season and have stuggled to slow down teams on the ground, allowing 235 rushing yards per contest. Jewell's last two opponents – Findlay and McKendree – combined to run for 600 yards against it.
Linebacker Quayde Bauman leads the Cardinals with 29 tackles on the season and 6.5 for a loss, while Isaac Dozier has been in on 22 stops. The Cardinals have made 21 tackles behind the line of scrimmage this season and have four sacks to their credit.
