ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's football team has not won as many as two games in succession since October 2021, but will have a chance to do so this weekend when it heads to Bolivar, Mo., for a matchup against Southwest Baptist.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

The Miners broke into the win column for the first time this season in a big way Saturday, outscoring Upper Iowa 24-0 in the second half in a 31-6 win over the Peacocks.  S&T, 1-5 overall and 1-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, outgained Upper Iowa by a 359-252 margin and rushed for a season-high 256 yards in the contest.

Running back Cameren Smith (Claymont, DE/Concord) had 124 yards on 21 carries and scored three touchdowns in the victory, helping him land the GLVC's Offensive Player of the Week award.  Smith enters the week ranked fifth in the GLVC in rushing with 449 yards and holds a share of the conference lead with eight rushing touchdowns, all of which have come in the last four weeks.

Gunnar Palacios (Canyon, TX/Canyon) got his first start at quarterback for the Miners last week and completed nine-of-15 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown, which went to CJ Jarmon as he hauled in his fourth scoring catch of the year.   Jarmon is one of three S&T receivers with at least 20 catches with 21 for 271 yards, while CJ Wiggins (Yuma, AZ/Gila Ridge) has a team-high 26 catches for 397 yards and Blaize Klossner (Rolla, MO/Rolla) has caught 23 balls for 202 yards.

After forcing just two turnovers over the first five games of the season, the Miners picked up three on Saturday.  S&T recovered two fumbles and also got a pass interception from David Harris (Maidson, TN/Goodpasture Christian) II, while also recording three sacks in the win.  Linebacker Justin Gniedziejko (Chicago, IL/Taft) leads S&T with 40 tackles on the season, while Carson Prenger (Jefferson City, MO/Blair Oaks) has been in on 39 stops and Derrick Thomas (Dallas, TX/South Oak Cliff) on 26.  Justin Amaro (Wichita, KS/Goddard) has 6.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage to lead the Miners in that department, while Nick Mattli (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt South) and Bentley Hart (Brookland, AR/Brookland) share the team lead with three quarterback sacks.
 
ABOUT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST: The Bearcats picked up their first GLVC win as well over the weekend with a 24-17 victory at home over McKendree, as they raced out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and held off McKendree on its final drive that reached SBU territory.  SBU had just 249 yards of total offense in the game, but allowed just 197.

Running back Abel Carter is fourth in the GLVC in rushing with 478 yards on the season, while quarterback Collin Sutton has completed 57.8 percent of his passes for 1,058 yards and seven touchdowns.  Sutton's top target has been Kylan Herrera with 20 receptions for 406 yards and two scores, while Jordan Kent has three touchdown receptions among his 14 catches on the year.

Defensively, the Bearcats are paced by linebacker Jeremiah Scroggins with a team-leading 32 tackles, while safety Cejai Parrish has been in on 27 stops this season.  SBU has recorded just seven quarterback sacks in its first six contests, two of them coming from Tyler Hart, while Raymari Oggs has two of the Bearcats' six pass interceptions.

The Bearcats have been outscored 214-175 this season, but those numbers include a 65-7 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State and an 86-7 loss to Texas-Permian Basin. Three of the other four SBU games this season have been decided by one score, including both GLVC games to date.