ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T returns to Allgood-Bailey Stadium for the first of back-to-back home games this weekend, as the Miners play host to Hillsdale College on Friends and Family Weekend at S&T. Saturday's contest is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m.

The Miners got another solid performance from its defense last week, but the offense struggled to generate any drives as S&T dropped an 11-6 decision at Kentucky Wesleyan. The Miners held the Panthers to 258 yards of total offense and allowed only a touchdown on the first KWC drive – which came after an S&T turnover set up a short field and then the score came on a deflected pass – and a field goal in the second half.

Ben Straatmann (Washington, MO/Washington) and Nick Mattli (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt South) had 12 tackles apiece and they rank among the top three for S&T in tackles on the season.  Straatmann leads the way with 30 stops, three quarterback sacks and 10 tackles for a loss – which ranks third in NCAA Division II -- while Mattli has recorded 19 tackles with five of them coming behind the line of scrimmage.

In between those two in the tackle rankings is safety Stefan Camplin (Raytown, MO/Raytown), who has 20 stops on the year, while the Miners have also gotten 17 tackles apiece from Carson Prenger (Jefferson City, MO/Blair Oaks) and Wulfe Retzlaff (Truckee, CA/Truckee).  The S&T defense, which has allowed an average of just 290 yards over the last two weeks, has recorded 10 quarterback sacks, 31 tackles for a loss and an interception that was made by Peyton Shelton (Ventura, CA/Buena).

But while the defense has performed well, the S&T offense is still looking to gain some footing.  The Miners were held below the 200-yard mark for the second straight game and S&T's only score came on special teams when Gideon Niboh (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Niboh leads the Miners in rushing with 90 yards on the season, while Cameren Smith (Claymont, DE/Concord) has 80 yards and Josh Sanders (Maize, KS/Maize) has run for 70 yards.  S&T has used three quarterbacks in games this season, with Max Conard (Blue Springs, MO/Blue Springs South) completing 52.8 percent of his throws for 324 yards and two touchdowns.

Blaize Klossner (Rolla, MO/Rolla), who had a team-high four catches on Saturday, leads the Miners with seven receptions on the season while Isaiah Wright (Panama City, FL/Port St. Joe) has made five for a team-high 119 yards.  Klossner, Wright and CJ Jarmon have touchdown receptions for the Miners this season.
 
Parker Boyce (Hartsburg, MO/Southern Boone) currently ranks fourth in NCAA Division II with his punting average of 44.8 yards per kick and has dropped nine of his 21 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line.  Niboh ranks fourth in punt return yardage with his average of 18.8 yards per runback, buoyed by the touchdown return at KWC and is averaging 106 all-purpose yards per outing.

ABOUT HILLSDALE:  Hillsdale opened its season with back-to-back victories over Lake Erie and Walsh to open its Great Midwest Athletic Conference schedule, but let a 13-0 halftime lead slip out of its grasp in its first venture outside the G-MAC last Saturday as it fell 21-13 to Truman State.  The Chargers amassed only 214 yards of total offense in the contest and had only 85 in the second half as the Bulldogs rallied for the victory.

Quarterback Luke Keller has completed 62.9 percent of his passes (29-of-62) for 593 yards and eight touchdowns on the season, but has also thrown four interceptions.  Isaac TeSlaa has hauled in six of those scoring passes among his team-high 20 receptions on the season; no other Charger has more than five catches.  TeSlaa has accumulated 395 receiving yards over the first three games.

Michael Herzog leads the Charger ground game with 303 yards and is averaging nearly five years per carry with a pair of touchdowns along the way.

Defensively, strong safety Julius Garber leads the team with 27 tackles, while linebacker Vince Francescone has been in on 25 stops.  The Chargers have recorded seven quarterback sacks – half of that courtesy of defensive end Riley Tolsma, who has four tackles for a loss along with Kendall Tobin.