ROLLA, Mo. – With a shot at a winning season in front of it, Missouri S&T's football team closes out its 2025 schedule Saturday with a trip to Jefferson City to face Lincoln University in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest.  Kickoff is slated for noon.

The Miners gave themselves the opportunity for a winning season after knocking off William Jewell 24-17 Saturday to even their record at 5-5 on the year.  S&T also improved to 3-4 in the GLVC – and can reach the .500 mark in league play for the 10^th time in 14 full seasons of conference play in the GLVC with a win on Saturday.

Lincoln has dropped its last seven contests, the latest a 59-26 loss Saturday at home to Truman State.  The Blue Tigers, who will be playing their final home game this week, are 2-7 overall and 0-6 in the GLVC.
 
ABOUT THE MINERS: Missouri S&T held a 14-3 lead at halftime against William Jewell, but after allowing the Cardinals to come back and tie the game in the second half, pulled out the win when Evan Wells (Roxana, IL/Roxana) scored on a 60-yard run with 2:27 to play and the defense forced a turnover on downs on Jewell's ensuring possession.

Wells cleared the 100-yard mark for the third time this season, finishing with 151 yards to give him 629 on the season that ranks third in the GLVC.  He was part of a rushing attack that racked up 213 yards on the ground against the Cardinals to compliment the 215 passing yards from Jake Farrell (Scottsdale, AZ/Notre Dame Prep).

Farrell enters the season finale with 2,623 yards on the season, the fifth-most in NCAA Division II, as he has completed 60.4 percent of his throws and has thrown 22 touchdown passes.  His top target this season has been Reid Weber (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) with 41 receptions for 513 yards and eight touchdowns, while Brennen Taranto (Weston, FL/Western) has brought in 34 passes for 363 yards and four scores.

The Miners have five receivers with at least 30 catches this season, as tight end Justis Braden (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) has 33 receptions, Sam Ryan (Columbia, MO/Father Tolton) has 32 and Tyler Gioia (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison) has made 31.  Another receiver, Sheldon Butler-Lawson (Junction City, KS/Junction City), comes into the finale with 25 catches; the Miners have never had a season where six receivers had at least 30 receptions each.

The S&T defense is paced by Seneca Bradley (Clarksville, TN/Rossview) Jr., who leads the team in tackles with 67 and Cameron Sturgell (Lamar, MO/Lamar), who has made 65 stops.  Bentley Hart (Brookland, AR/Brookland) leads S&T with 14.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage which ranks fourth in the GLVC and has added six sacks, while Bradley has recorded four.  Christian Kemp (Madison, AL/Bob Jones), who has eight tackles for a loss, has recorded three sacks of his own this season as the Miners have reached the quarterback 19 times this season.

ABOUT LINCOLN: After winning their first two games of the season, the Blue Tigers have dropped seven games in succession heading into their final home game this weekend against the Miners.  Lincoln, 0-6 in the GLVC, lost 59-26 to Truman State last week in Jefferson City despite getting a big day from wideout Marcus Harris, who had eight catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

Harris leads Lincoln with 704 yards – good for third in the conference – and five touchdowns on his 29 reception on the season.  Jaden Holloway has a team-high 38 receptions for 354 yards and Israel Tate has hauled in 21 passes for 254 yards, but no other Blue Tiger player has more than eight catches.  Armani Turner has eight receptions, but has averaged 29.6 yards on those catches.

Lincoln quarterback Jaylen Thomas has completed 55.6 percent of his passes for 1,222 yards and seven touchdowns, with 693 of those yards coming in the last two games after a 417-yard performance at McKendree two weeks ago.  Jareese Howard paces the Lincoln rushing attack with 453 yards, the eighth-best mark in the GLVC heading into Saturday's play.

The Blue Tigers have struggled on defense in recent weeks, as they have allowed 50 or more points in each of their last five contests.  Linebacker Jordan Hoskins leads the team with 43 tackles, while cornerback Nathan Harden has been in on 39 stops.  Defensive tackle Jacob McGhee has a team-leading four quarterback sacks and seven tackles for a loss.