Box Score Liberty, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University football team fell in their GLVC opener to William Jewell 29-26 on Thursday evening in Liberty. The Bearcats now fall to 0-1 (0-1 GLVC) on the season.

The Bearcats started driving early in the first quarter on their way to their first score of the ballgame. Willie Tindal hit Bubba Jenkins with a 38 yard pass, followed by a 36 yard touchdown pass to Nathan Mourik to put the Bearcats up 7-0 with 9:44 left in the first quarter. In the first William Jewell drive of the second quarter, the Bearcats held strong on their own two yardline when Nick Burns picked up his first career interception to prevent the Cardinals from scoring any points. However, on the second Jewell drive of the second quarter the Cardinals used a Bearcat turnover to put six points on the scoreboard, missing the extra point, as SBU held a 7-6 lead.

William Jewell added another touchdown on the following drive, and tacked on a field goal off of another Bearcat turnover, as they took a 15-7 lead with 2:09 left in the half. The Bearcats picked up another big interception with 1:08 left in the half when George Sanders picked off a Jewell pass on the Bearcat 10 yardline, as the Bearcats went into the half down 15-7.

The Bearcats started the second half off strong when Shaun Hutchinson picked up SBU's third interception of the day off of a deflected ball to give SBU the possession in Cardinal territory. The Bearcats drove within the Jewell 30 yardline, but were unable to convert off of the turnover. William Jewell struck next on a 20 yard touchdown run, as the Bearcats found themselves down 22-7 with 2:43 left in the third quarter. On the following kickoff, Anthony Frezzell gave the Bearcats a spark with a 35 kickoff return. Tindal then threw a 47 yard pass to Mourik, and Bubba Jenkins punched in a 3 yard touchdown to pull SBU within nine at 22-13.

SBU continued their comeback trail, striking first in the fourth quarter. After a 40 yard catch-and-run from Kendrick Payne, Tindal hit Scottie Wilson Jr. with a 9 yard touchdown pass to pull SBU within two at 22-20. The Bearcat defense once again came up strong on the next three William Jewell possessions, forcing the ball back to the Bearcats. SBU re-took the lead at 26-22 with 4:09 left in the fourth quarter on a four yard touchdown run from Jenkins set up by passes of 40 and 16 from Tindal to Mourik. However, William Jewell answered right back returning the following kickoff for a touchdown as SBU fell behind 29-26 with 3:55 left in the game. With the Bearcats driving, the Cardinals picked off a deflected pass on the WJC 12, and ran out the clock, as SBU fell 29-26.

Nathan Mourik had a career day for SBU, breaking the GLVC single game receiving yard record when he picked up 219 yards on 11 catches with 1 touchdown. Willie Tindal also had a record setting day, picking up the third most passing yards all-time in a GLVC game with 395 yards on 28-52 with 2 touchdowns. On defense, Derrick Fofanah led the way with 13 tackles, while ViaVia Manuma had a pair of sacks.

The Bearcats will return to the field on Saturday, September 13 when they travel to Lincoln University. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. from Jefferson City, Missouri.