Box Score

After a road victory last week against St. Joseph's College, The William Jewell football team returned home this Saturday for a senior day matchup against the Wildcats from Culver-Stockton College and came away with a 52-24 win.

In a rematch of the NAIA rivalry, the Cardinals had their best offensive showing of the year, putting up 52 points on the Wildcats with a balanced offensive attack, which helped William Jewell put up a total of 496 yards, 155 yards on the ground and another 341 yards passing. Although the offense only scored once in the first half, the second half would be a completely different story.

With Jewell down by three at halftime, the Cardinal offense came out firing on all cylinders. After an impressive kick return by sophomore wide receiverChris Smith, the offense went on an eight play drive for 55 yards which resulted in a seven yard pass from sophomore quarterback Sean Shelton to senior wide receiver Ethan Cunningham, putting Jewell ahead 14-10.

After a quick 3 play scoring drive by Culver-Stockton, the Cardinals responded with one of the fastest scoring drives of the season. With just two plays on the drive, Sean Shelton ran for gains or 20 and 40 yards to put the home team back on top just 40 seconds after losing the lead, making the score 21 to 17 midway through the third quarter.

The Cardinals defense would only give up one more touchdown in the game, allowing the Cardinals to completely dominate the fourth quarter. Within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, William Jewell would score two touchdowns to make the score 42-24 and put the game out of reach. However, the Cardinal defense would come up with two more interceptions that would turn into touchdowns, giving Jewell the victory with a final score of 52 to 24.

William Jewell's offensive leaders today were junior wide receiver Jon Molzen, who had seven catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore quarterback Sean Shelton, who completed 70 percent of his passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns. Shelton also racked up 166 yards and one touchdown rushing the ball. Seniors Phillip Freeman, Ethan Cunningham, Chris Stuart, and Harrison Blue would also account for 26 catches, 228 yards, and three touchdowns.

The Cardinal defensive leaders were senior Owen Hodges, Kurt Webster, and Nathan Valentine who had a total of four interceptions for 27 yards. Senior linebacker Nelson Windebank also finished the game with 8 tackles.

With a record of 3-6, the Cardinals will finish the 2011 season on the road in Owensboro, Kent., against the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers. That game will be played on Saturday, November 12 at 1:00 pm in Steele Stadium.-Story by Kurt Hixson