LIBERTY, Mo. – Black Hills State football defeated William Jewell, 31-21 Saturday afternoon, advancing to 2-0 to start the season for the first time since 2016.

Kielar Harpham had himself a three touchdown day, finding the end zone on a punt return and two receptions. He finished the day with four catches for 86 yards, and four punt returns for 108.

Connor Boyd totaled 100 yards on the day, catching three passes, while quarterback Chance Eben completed 11 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns.

On the ground, Matthew Collier led the way for the second straight week, totaling 84 yards on 14 attempts.

BHSU took advantage of their possessions, topping their opposition in yards 459 to 415, despite having shorter time of possession with 16 first downs compared to the Cardinals' 29.

After getting their second defensive stop, the Yellow Jackets opened the scoring with a Harpham 52-yard punt return with 6:57 left in the first quarter to move ahead 7-0.

BHSU played add-on in the second quarter, using a 24-yard field goal from Parks, and an Eben 67-yard touchdown pass to Boyd to extend its lead to 17-0 with 13:24 left in the first half.

On the next drive, The Yellow Jackets made it 24-0 at 8:58 with a 68-yard touchdown pass to Harpham for his second of the day. The Cardinals would score before the half and BHSU took a 24-7 lead into the locker room.

William Jewell found the end zone again out of the half to make it 24-14, but Harpham struck again as the Yellow Jackets answered. A 2-yard touchdown pass from Eben to Harpham moved BHSU to a 31-14 lead at 6:42 in the third.

The Cardinals continued to chip away, finding the end zone again with 8:30 to go in the game to make it a 31-21 Yellow Jacket lead.

At 4:51 in the fourth with William Jewell driving at the BHSU 12, Ryder Blair picked off an errant pass in the end zone for a big takeaway in the final minutes to essentially freeze the game.

The Yellow Jackets used a pair of first downs on their ensuing drive to run out the clock and seal the 31-21 win.

Up Next
The Yellow Jackets hit the road again next week as they open RMAC play at CSU Pueblo, Saturday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m.