GAME 8
vs. Missouri S&T (1-7, 1-5 GLVC)
Saturday, October 31
1 p.m. • Greene Stadium (Liberty, Mo.) 

The William Jewell Cardinals will look to maintain a hold on first place in the GLVC as they take on Missouri S&T (1-7, 1-5) this weekend, in their first home game since October 3. The Miners are led by fifth year head coach Andy Ball and while the overall record isn't eye popping, the Miners have played the fourth toughest schedule in the GLVC, having already faced UIndy, Truman, and McKendree along with Missouri Western and then-No. 18 Northeastern State in non-conference play.

AJ Harris is one of the top running backs in the league, ranking second in rushing touchdowns while also top-5 in rushing yards (697) and rushing yards per game (87.1). Quarterback Eli Scott, completes 53% of his passes for 1,176 and nine touchdowns. A pair of receivers boast more than 275 yards each, as Tyler Gioia and Sam Ryan have caught eight of the Miners 11 touchdowns through the air. The offensive line has been superb at protecting Scott, as S&T leads the league with less than one sack allowed per contest while ranking second with more than 2.25 defensive sacks. 

CARDINALS vs. MINERS
While last week's opponent Upper Iowa is a new rivalry, the history between Jewell and Missouri S&T goes back 115 years with the first recorded meeting being a 2-2 tie in 1911. The teams also met in 1952, 1966, and 1967 but did not battle again until the Cardinals joined the ranks of NCAA-II in 2011. Overall, the Miners lead the series, 14-4-1, including winning the last 10. 

ONE DOWN, THREE TO GO
Jewell has already surpassed their win total from a year ago, but are looking for more. Currently, the GLVC sits out of range of an at-large bid to the NCAA playoff as the Cardinals are in front of the league, currently ranked 16th, and only one team will receive the GLVC's automatic bid with a regular season championship. Entering the back quarter the schedule the Cardinals faced two of the top teams in the GLVC still in the race for the title. Knocking off Upper Iowa last week was the first big step in their pursuit but the road does not get easier with Missouri S&T, Lincoln, and Truman State still to come with the latter currently sitting tied with Jewell for the GLVC lead.  

GETTING THE OFFENSE GOING
As the Cardinals look to make a late push toward a trip to the postseason for the first time since 1990, the offense will have to find momentum. Jewell currently ranks last in the league in scoring and passing offense, and are sixth in rushing offense. In the last two games, the Cardinals have averaged 213.5 yards of total offense. In the red zone, Jewell has only failed to score once, but have scored touchdowns only seven times while settling for eight field goals. Hunter Bailey and Ronnie Thomas, Jr. continue to be bright spots, as the duo are both in the top-11 in the GLVC in rushing yards with 507 and 374, respectively. 

SPECIAL TEAMS IMPACT
Special teams has certainly helped Jewell find success and even steal some victories this fall. Raesean Eaton stole the show last week with a blocked punt with under 90 seconds to play in regulation at Upper Iowa. The junior, who earned GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his performance, returned the block 23 yards to set up the game winning field goal to keep Jewell atop the GLVC standings. Additionally, Frankie Kapetanovich has also been a Special Teams Player of the Week this season while Bleu Renfrow has hit two game winners and is 14th nationally with a field goal percentage of nearly 82%. 

DEFENSE KEEPS DELIVERING
While the Cardinal offense has been hit hard by injuries and other personnel changes that has brought about some inconsistencies at times, the defense has continued to hold the line and put Jewell in a position to put a tally in the win column week after week. The Cardinals are fourth in the GLVC, allowing opponents just 26.3 points per game, while grabbing 11 interceptions. They also rank first in the league in third down (31.4%) and fourth down (37.5%) defense. The work is done by committee as Jewell does not have a player in the top-23 in the GLVC in tackles but have 15 different players who have double-digit takedowns. Additionally, eight different players have a sack, eight have an interception, seven have forced and/or recovered a fumble, and two have blocked a kick. 

A FAMILY TIE
Before Missouri S&T's Layne Ryals signed to kick for the Miners, his family were William Jewell fans. Ryals' older brother Grant played soccer for the Cardinals from 2018-2020 while his future sister-in-law Payton Totzke also played softball for Jewell. 

ON THE CUSP OF HISTORY
The William Jewell football program currently sits at 597 wins all-time, with the first team fielded in 1888. With three more wins, the Cardinals will become the tenth Division II program to reach the 600-win mark. Among the other nine are Pittsburg State, Tuskegee, Hillsdale, Carson-Newman, Central Oklahoma, West Chester, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Northwest Missouri State, and GLVC member, Truman State.