BOLIVAR, Mo. - The William Jewell football team overcame an early deficit to rally for a 27-17 win at Southwest Baptist in the 2026 Great Lakes Valley Conference opener on Saturday night. With the win, the Cardinals move to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in GLVC action and have now won three straight, dating back to November 15, 2025.
Jewell got off to a slow start offensively, falling into a 10-0 hole after 17 minutes of play.
Frankie Kapetanovich got the Cardinals on the board just before the half, nailing a 50-yard field goal, just shy of the program's NCAA era record (52 yards), to make it 10-3 at the intermission.
Derrick Von Hubbard's sack of the SBU quarterback on the opening drive of the second half sparked the Cardinal defense who posted three consecutive stops. Midway through the third quarter the offense got going as
Charlie Loose found
Xavier Winston for an 18-yard touchdown to knot the game at 10-all. On the following drive
Ronnie Thomas, Jr. made a 10-yard run into the end zone to put Jewell on top for the first time, 17-10, headed to the fourth quarter.
Hunter Bailey kept the momentum going, starting the final frame with a three yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 14, capping of a 12 play, 75 yard drive. The Bearcats got seven back but a
Bleu Renfrow 30-yard field made it a two score game with less than four minutes to go. SBU moved quickly, with six plays in just over 90 seconds, but
Kyler Craigg's interception and 17 yard return sealed the victory for Jewell.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Jewell held the GLVC's top offense to 17 points, including just seven in the second half, after the Bearcats entered the game averaging north of 45 points per contest.
- The Cardinals ran for 215 yards, led by Bailey's 148, while holding SBU to just 83 net yards.
- Loose was 18-of-27 for 172 yards passing with one touchdown and two interceptions. The top receiver was Winston who finished with 43 yards on three catches and a score.
- Caden McGhee and Michael Fabris paced the defense with seven tackles a piece with the former having 2.5 for loss.
- Along with Craigg's pick, Jayshawn Richmond also grabbed an interception, his second in as many games.
UP NEXT
Jewell returns home for the first time since week 0 to take on McKendree University for homecoming. Kick off is set for 3 p.m.
