Box Score

The William Jewell College football team secured its first win of the season and their first ever GLVC conference win as it defeated Kentucky Wesleyan College by a score of 29-26 on Saturday at  Greene Stadium in Liberty, Mo. 

The visiting Panthers got on the board first as kicker Matt Wilson connected on a 19 yard field goal to give Kentucky Wesleyan an early 3-0 lead. 

The Cardinals were able to drive down the field on the next possession only to see disaster strike as Sean Shelton fumbled the ball at the Panther 10 –yard line and it was scooped up by Ryan Hogg who returned it back 90-yards for a Panther touchdown and extended their lead to 10-0. 

After both teams traded possessions, Shelton connected with Jon Molzen on a 63-yard touchdown to pull the Cards within 10-7 early in the second quarter. 

The Panthers once again extended their lead to 10 when quarterback Will Barnes found Jeff Ward open near the five yard line and Ward ran the rest of the way in for six.  Kentucky Wesleyan would go into halftime up 17-7. 

In the third quarter, Shelton again connected with Molzen for another touchdown this time from seven yards out closing the gap to 17-14.   Jewell then took a 21-17 lead before as Shelton hooked up yet again with Molzen for a 33 yard score.
 
The score remained 21-17 until the fourth quarter when The Panthers tried to stop Jewell momentum.  Matt Wilson connected on a 42-yard field goal with 12:55 to go in the game to pull Kentucky Wesleyan within one 21-20. 

The Panthers then stopped the Cardinals on offense and went on an eight play touchdown drive when Will Barnes found Jeff Ward for another scoring strike nine yards out.  The Panthers went for two but Barnes' pass fell incomplete.
 
The Cardinals then went on an 11 play scoring drive which ate up nearly five minutes of the clock.   Shelton then connected on his fourth touchdown pass of the day as he hit Quentin Riser on a quick slant from the five yard line.  Jewell then converted the two-point conversion as Shelton threw a quick in route to Scott Buffa.

The Panthers took over possession with 4:14 to play and converted a key fourth down play when Will Barnes hooked up with Ta'Ron Squires for five yards on fourth and three.  Barnes then found Devin Le'Gall for a nine yard completion to the Jewell 44.  Barnes threw an interception on the next pass attempt to Jewell's Caleb Sims and the Cards took over possession at the Jewell 25-yard line with 1:27 to go in the game.  After two straight running plays to try and run down the clock the Cardinals took a gamble as Shelton dropped back to pass and his throw was intercepted by Rykan Jones and returned to the Jewell 15-yard line. 

Troy Fletcher broke through the line on the next play sacking Barnes for a loss of two.  Barnes' next pass was incomplete but then hit Jeff Ward for a seven yard completion to bring up fourth down.  The Panthers lined up for the game tying field goal but the snapped hit the ground and holder Joey Kramer picked it up and scrambled to the side and threw an incomplete pass into the end zone to seal the win for the Cardinals. 

Offensively the Cardinals were led by Shelton was20-for-32 for 185 yards and four touchdowns and two interceptions.  Shelton also led the Cards in rushing with 82 yards on the ground on 14 attempts.  Molzen led the receivers with six catches for 93 yards and three touchdowns. 

Defensively the Cards were led by Brock Sheldon who had eight tackles on the day.  Jewell also had four sacks and two interceptions. 

The Cardinals (1-2, 1-0 GLVC) travel to Rapid City, S.D. next week to take on South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.  Kick-off is set for 5:00 p.m. (Mountain time) and can be heard live on The William Jewell College Sports Network and locally on 91.9 FM.