ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's football team kicks off its 131^st season of football Saturday night as it hosts Central Methodist in a 6 p.m. contest at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.

While Saturday's game is the season opener for S&T, it will also serve as the Miners' Senior Night as the senior members of the team will be introduced in a ceremony prior to the start of the contest.  It will also be Color Quest Night in a promotion sponsored by Missouri S&T's Residential Life office.

The Miners are looking to bounce back from a 4-7 campaign in 2024 and have optimism abound heading into the new year with a number of veterans returning to the squad along some talented newcomers added to the roster.

One of the more noteworthy additions is Jake Farrell (Scottsdale, AZ/Notre Dame Prep), a transfer from the University of Hawai'i who is projected to be the starter in Saturday's opener.  He will have a largely new group of receivers to throw to as the Miners graduated their top three pass catchers from last fall, with the top returners in terms of receptions last year being tight end Justis Braden (Liberty, MO/Liberty North), who had 18 receptions last season and Reid Weber (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell), who had 10 catches in 2024.

A handful of transfers and redshirt freshmen also figure to be in the receiving mix, led by Sheldon Butler-Lawson (Junction City, KS/Junction City) (Minnesota State), DJ McPherson (Union City, CA/James Logan) (Wayne State, Neb.) and Brennen Taranto (Weston, FL/Western) (Presbyterian).  They will be joined by redshirt freshmen Matt Young (Springfield, MO/Kickapoo) and John Gentry Jr. (Round Rock, TX/Cedar Ridge), along with returning tight end Garrison Burns (Pearland, TX/Shadow Creek).

The Miners also have a returner at running back to spice up the running game in Kai Martin (Clearwater, FL/Calvary Christian), who had 391 yards on the ground two seasons ago before missing the 2024 campaign due to an injury.  He will join last year's top rusher, AJ Harris (Wentzville, MO/Lutheran-St. Charles), in the backfield; Harris had 509 yards and six scores last fall.

They will work behind an offensive line that will feature two returning starters in tackle Austin Mahoney (St. Peters, MO/Fort Zumwalt South) and guard Tyke Wells (Branson, MO/Branson), with center Sam Gravert (Dewitt, IA/Central DeWitt), tackle Drew Sandefur (Mount Orab, OH/Western Brown) and guard Kumni Ibrahim projected as the starters at the other three spots.

On the other side of the ball, the defensive line is led by a pair of returning starters at defensive end in Bentley Hart (Brookland, AR/Brookland) – named on the D2Football.com pre-season Elite 100 watch list – and Louis Traglia (Wichita, KS/Kapaun Mount Carmel).  Hart finished last season with 10.5 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks, a mark that ranked third in the GLVC, while Traglia had 14 tackles from the other side of the line.  Inside, the Miners return a pair of veterans in Christian Kemp (Madison, AL/Bob Jones) and John Rasmussen (Arlington, TX/Arlington).

Four of S&T's top five tacklers last season came from the linebacker position, a group led by Cameron Sturgell (Lamar, MO/Lamar) with 59 stops and 12 for a loss.  Justin Gniedziejko (Chicago, IL/Taft) finished last season with 58 tackles from an outside position, while Jaylen Nevins (Raymore, MO/Raymore-Peculiar) had 54 tackles (8.5 for losses) and Seneca Bradley Jr. (Clarksville, TN/Rossview) recorded 41 stops.  Another returning veteran at linebacker is Kian Shafe (Kansas City, MO/Park HIll), who was in on 17 tackles last season, while newcomer Kaden Glass (San Antonio, TX/Pieper) figures to see playing time after transferring from Coastal Carolina.

S&T's secondary is an experienced unit, as six of the eight players listed in the pre-season two-deep saw action in a Miner uniform over the last two seasons.  Max Barnes (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) and Matthew Hutson (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) – who missed the 2024 season due to an injury – are projected as the starters at the cornerback spots, while redshirt freshman Ilias Cooper (Jenks, OK/Jenks) and transfer Kam Richardson (Kirkwood, MO/Kirkwood) will see time at corner as well.

At safety, the Miners have four players will significant experience in Devin Dunn (McLean, VA/The Potomac School) at free safety and Derrick Thomas (Dallas, TX/South Oak Cliff) at strong safety, while Peyton Webster (Springfield, IL/Springfield) and Kayden Uhlmeyer (Troy, MO/Troy Buchanan) will also compete for time at those positions.

The Miners have many of their key special teams players back as well, including two All-GLVC performers in Layne Ryals (Louisburg, KS/Louisburg) returning as the kicker after making six of nine field goal attempts and 39 of 41 extra point tries in 2024 and punter Logan Jacobson (Hillsboro, MO/St. Pius X), who averaged 41.4 yards per punt a year ago.  S&T's long snapper, Graham Carter (Liberty, MO/Liberty North), is also back in the fold, but the Miners will have to replace the league's top special teams performer in Gideon Niboh (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) in the return game.

That role is expected to be filled by Tyler Gioia (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison), who played quarterback for S&T last season and newcomer K'Vion Bills (Country Club Hills, IL/Hillcrest).

ABOUT CENTRAL METHODIST: The Eagles are looking to bounce back from a 1-10 campaign in 2024 and have a large contingent of newcomers on the squad in their efforts to have more success this fall.

CMU has one returner at the quarterback position in Jordan Gile, who completed 47-of-80 pass attempts last year for 531 yards and four touchdowns.  Dawan Lomax, who was second on the team in catches with 12, also led the Eagles on the ground with 549 yards and scored four times.

The Eagles also have one of their top pass catchers back in Tristan Boyce, who hauled in 11 passes last year and averaged over 20 yards per reception.

On the defensive side, Myron Page Jr. is the top returning tackler as he made 29 from his defensive line position and fellow lineman Caleb Justice was in on 23 stops as was defensive back Kyndal Royal.  Justice also had 3.5 sacks to lead the Eagles in that department last year.