On Tap
William Jewell opens the season at home for the second straight season as they host Southwest Baptist under the lights in an non-conference contest. 

2019 marks the 123rd season of football on the William Jewell campus and the Cardinals enter a new era as interim head coach Chuck Lliteras took the reigns on February 11. Lliteras, the 29th coach in program history, has a long resume of experience and previoulsy served two stints as Jewell's Defensive Coordinator. 

GLVC Preseason Poll
Despite defeating Southwest Baptist last season, Jewell was selected last in the GLVC Coaches Preseason Poll. Indianapolis was once again chosen as the preseason favorite after winning the 2018 championship and enters the season ranked No. 16 nationally. 

Quarterback On the Run
Will Schneider proved to be one of the more versatile quarterbacks in the GLVC last season as he threw for more than 1,500 yards, an average of nearly 152 per game, which ranked fifth in the league. Additionally, he led the Cardinals in rushing yards and his eight rushing touchdowns are most by any player in the NCAA era and the third most by a Jewell quarterback behind Shane Davolt's nine and 15 in 1989 and 1990. 

Season Opening Win
The Cardinals have their best opportunity in five years to win a season opener this Saturday. The last time Jewell came away with a win in week one was 2014 when they held on to top Southwest Baptist 29-26, despite giving up 13 fourth-quarter points. Eventual GLVC Freshman of the Year Thomas Cook, Jr. began his career with a bang that day by rushing for 100 yards. The Cards are just 6-13 in openers since the turn of the century but have faced some stiff competition over the past five seasons including top ranked Texas A&M-Commerce in 2018 and NCAA-I Drake in 2015. 

Returning All-GLVC Performers
The Cardinals return four All-GLVC performers from last season in second teamers Donte' Colum and Antonio Wabanimkee along with honorable mention picks Major Walker and Dalton Dye. Colum was second in the GLVC with five interceptions in his first season back after injury while Walker ranked second in the NCAA-II with five blocked kicks. Dye was superb from the punting position, averaging more than 40 yards per punt, which is tied for fifth all-time at Jewell but struggled at times from the field goal game, connecting on just 53 percent of attempts. 

Cardinals vs. Bearcats
Southwest Baptist owns a 6-3 lead in the all-time series but the Cardinals got the best of the Bearcats in 2018, pulling out a 14-10 win in the final quarter of play. After SBU grabbed a 10-7 lead with under 12 minutes to play, the Cardinals marched 76 yards down field on five plays before Will Schneider ran into the end zone to put Jewell up four. 

The series dates back to 1986 when Jewell and the Bearcats faced off in back-to-back seasons before a 23-year hiatus. They met again in 2010, just prior to SBU joining the GLVC as an associate football member. The Bearcats won the first four games of the series, but Jewell has taken three out of the last five. 

Gone is Bulla
While the defensive core remains in tact, the offense has multiple holes to fill, none bigger than three-time All-GLVC performer Bulla Graft. Graft finished his career with more than 3,000 all-purpose yards and ranked in the top-10 in the NCAA era in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, total receptions, yards per catch, receptions per game, total touchdowns, points scored, and kick return yards. The Cardinals are expecting a combination of returners Zack Gaudette, Anthony Pritzel, and TJ Guillory along with newcomers Octavion Phelps and Jalik Jaggwe to help fill the void left by Graft.

Last Time Out
The Cardinals would like to erase the memory of the 2018 season finale during which they hosted the No. 2 ranked and eventual national runner-up Ferris State and fell by a final of 47-6. After holding one of the nation's top offenses to just three points in the opening quarter, the Bulldogs exploded to outscore the Cardinals 44-6 the rest of the way. 

The Newcomers 
Jewell welcomed in one of the largest recruiting classes in recent memory, as 42 new faces came upon The Hill this fall. This group includes six transfers and 36 freshmen. Among those 36 underclassmen is John Anderson and Cole Hon who competed at Oak Park High School under Jewell alumnus and 2019 Hall of Fame inductee Ken Clemens, '92, along with Winston Quinn a 6-foot-5 receiver who is the younger brother of Cardinal volleyball standout Elizabeth Quinn.