ROLLA, Mo. – Following a solid opening week win over Eastern New Mexico, Missouri S&T's football team begins a four-game stretch away from home Saturday when it faces Northwood in Midland, Mich.  Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. Eastern time.

The Miners are looking to avenge a loss to the Timberwolves last season in Rolla as they seek their first 2-0 start in six years.  S&T opened the year by knocking off an Eastern New Mexico team that received votes in the American Football Coaches Association's pre-season poll 31-14 at Allgood-Bailey Stadium behind strong performances on both sides of the ball.

Meanwhile, Northwood fell behind 25-6 by halftime in an eventual 40-27 loss at Tiffin to open its 2018 campaign.  The Timberwolves, picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, are coming off their best season since 2009 as they finished with a 7-4 record last fall.

ABOUT THE MINERS:  The Miners rolled up 512 yards of total offense while holding the nation's top rushing team in 2017 more than 150 below its average of a year ago and to 269 yards overall as they defeated Eastern New Mexico to raise the curtain for the new season.

Quarterback Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson), named as the Great Lakes Valley Conference's offensive player of the week, completed 21-of-30 passes for 293 yards and matched his career high with four touchdown passes – which were thrown to four different receivers in the contest.  The first of them went to Logan Armontrout (Centralia, MO/Centralia) just 1:28 into play shortly after a Greyhound fumble on their first play from scrimmage.

Swart also threw scoring passes to Payton McAlister (Decatur, TX/Decatur), Braxton Graham (Seneca, MO/Seneca) and Josh Brown (Gainesville, FL/North Marion HS) as he moved closer to the S&T career record for touchdown passes.  Graham caught seven passes for 108 yards, while Brown finished with five receptions for 91 yards.

In addition, the Miners got 106 yards on the ground from Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) as he cleared the 100-yard mark for a GLVC-record 10^th consecutive game; the Miners outgained the Greyhounds 219-201 on the ground in the contest.

Defensively, the Miners got a team-high 10 tackles from Justin Onwugbufor (Maize, KS/Northwest) and nine apiece from linebackers Landon Compton (Lamar, MO/Lamar) and Bo Brooks (Canutillo, TX/Canutillo).  The S&T defense also recorded one sack, a combined sack by Tershawn Wharton (University City, MO/University City) and Dontay White (Florissant, MO/Hazelwood Central).

ABOUT NORTHWOOD:  The Timberwolves struggled with mistakes in the first half In their loss to Tiffin, committing two of their three turnovers in the half and also losing the ball on downs after a bad snap on a punt that allowed the Dragons to seize control on the scoreboard.

Northwood was able to climb back into contention in the second half, cutting the margin to six midway through the fourth period before Tiffin scored an insurance score to secure the victory.

Quarterback Joe Garbarino accounted for 276 yards of total offense in the game, running for 102 in the Timberwolves' run-based attack and throwing for another 174.  Garbarino was Northwood's leading rusher in 2017 with 568 yards and also threw for 723 yards and eight touchdowns.

Dominick Giovinazzo ran for 313 yards a year ago and John Hall had a team-high 16 receptions.  However, Alex Spicuzzi led the Timberwolves with five catches in the opener and Gary Landless accumulated 114 yards on his three receptions.

Linebacker Travis Wiltjer had 13 tackles in the opener and led Northwood with 72 tackles last fall, while free safety Chad Samuels was in on seven stops and linebacker Dmitri Abro and Niko Savich had six tackles apiece in the Tiffin contest.

Following its game with Missouri S&T, the Timberwolves' next three games are against teams ranked in the top 25 in the AFCA poll as they will tackle ninth-ranked Ferris State, No. 18 Ashland and eighth-ranked Grand Valley State to complete their September schedule.