TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State plays the middle game of their October road trip, taking on William Jewell on Saturday in Liberty, Mo.
NORTHEASTERN STATE at
WILLIAM JEWELL
Saturday, Oct. 18 -- 3 p.m.
Greene Stadium
First meeting in all-time series
TOP STORYLINES
1 | Following their 52-3 win over Lincoln (Mo.), their largest road triumph since 1970, Northeastern State continues a three-contest road trip by facing William Jewell in a first-time matchup from Greene Stadium. WJC joined the NCAA ranks in 2011 and have been members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) ever since. Notably, William Jewell is the alma mater of former Kansas State head football coach Bill Snyder, who played for the team from 1959-62.
2 | Explosiveness was a key to NSU's dominant win last week. Northeastern averaged 9.96 yards per play in the 49-point victory against the Blue Tigers, their highest average in a single game as NCAA members.
Ramon McKinney Jr. had three of his five longest rushes of the season during Saturday's game in Jefferson City, having a pair of 38-yard sprints before dashing for a 48-yard score in the second half as part of a 172-yard day on the ground.
3 | The defense showcased their toughest performance of the season in last week's win, holding the Blue Tigers to just 178 total yards and three points from Dwight T. Reed Stadium. It marked the fewest yards surrendered to an NCAA opponent since 2006, while it also marked the fewest points allowed in a road game since NSU shut out Ouachita Baptist in 1996, their last season in the NAIA ranks.
4 | Donnie Smith continued his efficient play as Northeastern State's signal caller last week, throwing for 216 yards on 16 completions (13.5 yards per completion) with three touchdowns. Smith became the first NSU quarterback to throw for at least three touchdowns in consecutive games since Cade Yeager in 2017.
5 | Marvelous Owens intercepted his fifth pass of the campaign and returned 24 yards to the end zone for a score in the third quarter as part of the team's 28-0 run to finish the game. Owens is the first NSU player to have five interceptions in a single season since Vernon Jones in 2012, while the RiverHawks have picked off 11 total passes on the year, only two off of their 2024 total of 13.
NSU QUICK HITS
>>
Darrin Chiaverini leads the offense for his second season in Tahlequah. Six games into the season, the RiverHawks have seen gains in points per game (27.9 in 2024, 36.5 in 2025), passing offense (206.2 yards per game in 2024, 281.7 in 2025), total offense (337.7 yards per game in 2024, 428.8 in 2025) and yards per play (5.1 in 2024, 7.1 in 2025).
>> Entering the 2025 season, Northeastern had punted in every game dating back to 2000, while they had been forced to punt at least twice in every game since 2008. In two of the team's last three games, the NSU punt team has stayed on the sideline for the entire contest.
>>
Donnie Smith's last three games have seen him complete 52-of-63 (82.5%) passes for a combined 731 yards and eight touchdowns. His top targets during that span have been tight end
Cam Woods (12 catches, 273 yards, five touchdowns across his last three) and
La'Vontae Shenault (17 catches, 184 yards, one touchdown across games against West Florida and Lincoln).
>> With five games left,
Donnie Smith's quarterback efficiency rating (156.24) is the highest since 2011 and currently sits in third across all single-season efforts in program history.
>>
Ramon McKinney Jr.'s 172 rushing yards marked his second-highest total of the season and his fourth career performance of at least 100 yards on the ground. The true sophomore crossed 1,000 career rushing yards in last week's win, while he added three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) to leave Jefferson City with a career total of 19 (13 rushing, five receiving, one passing).
>> McKinney enters the last five weeks of the regular season with 933 all-purpose yards (155.5 per game). He is on pace to finish second in program history in average all-purpose yards per game, only behind Carlton Booe (158 per game in 1998). Additionally, he is on pace to finish third across program history in total all-purpose yardage across the season, only behind Booe (1,774 in 1999) and Trey McVay (1,845 in 2011).
>>
La'Vontae Shenault ranks sixth in all of Division II football in catches per game (7.4) and is on pace to finish the season with 74 receptions, a total that would rank second across program history behind Trey McVay (82 catches in 2011). Shenault enters the week with 519 receiving yards (103.8 per game) and is on pace to become NSU's first 1,000-yard receiver since 2017 and just their fourth in history.
>>
Cam Woods has reached the end zone in four straight games, catching six touchdown passes across that span. He becomes the first NSU player since Mark Wheeland in 2021 to have touchdown catches in four consecutive contests.
>>
Junior Tanuvasa and
Jeremy Atwell lead the defense as co-defensive coordinators. Both coaches are in their second seasons with the program. Six games into the season, the defense has seen progress in scoring (35.7 points allowed per game in 2024, 23.8 in 2025) and opposing rushing yardage (195.2 per game in 2024, 144.3 in 2025). Meanwhile, the RiverHawks have picked off 11 passes this season, only two off of their entire 2024 total (13).
>>
Kale Brakebill tied with
Ousmane Doumbia for the team lead in tackles (seven) last week, while he blocked a Max Roth punt in the opening half and contributed on a tackle for loss. The blocked punt marked NSU's first in almost a year, dating back to
LaKedrick Holmes blocking a Grayson Miller punt against Central Oklahoma on Oct. 19, 2024.
>>
Kale Charboneau had one of his strongest performances of the season, providing five tackles with two going for a loss of yardage. Additionally, the true freshman from Wagoner, Okla. recovered a fumble inside NSU's ten-yard line to end one of LU's two trips to the red zone last week.
>> For a second straight week, the RiverHawks kept the penalty count low. Just four penalties against NSU were accepted for 44 yards. Across the last two weeks, the RiverHawks have been penalized just seven times for 61 yards.
ON THE AIR
>> Catch live radio coverage of every Northeastern State football game this season on the radio home for NSU football, Lakes Country 102.1 FM. Hear the "Voice of the RiverHawks" Orry Phillips on the call every week. DJ Shawn Solo will serve as the home color analyst for the 2025 season, while Captain
William Morgan will handle all away games. Gameday coverage begins one hour prior to kickoff every week.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
>> William Jewell is its second season under head coach Jason Ambroson, a 2023 inductee into the Missouri Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Ambroson won 172 games across a high school head coaching career that spanned 2001-23 in Missouri, notably winning a state title in 2021 at Smithville.
>> Lindenwood transfer Tyler Kubat leads a passing unit that sits in fifth in yards (1,519) and fourth in touchdowns (15) across the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). Kubat has thrown for seven scores in his last three games.
>> Struggling with the departure of All-Region running back Keaundre McCullough (1,262 rushing yards, 15 rushing TD in '24), the Cardinals have found limited success on the ground. They are seventh in the GLVC in rushing yards (615) and yards per carry (3.4).
>> Nate Barnett and AJ Austene were among the top returning receivers from last season's five-win team. Six games into 2025, Barnett leads the team in catches (19), receiving yards (386) and touchdowns (five), while AJ Austene is second in touchdowns (three) and tied for second in receptions (18).
>> The WJC defense has struggled in GLVC play, surrendering 166 points through four conference matchups, the second-highest total in the league. They also sit in eighth across the nine-team association in yards allowed (1,811) and touchdowns surrendered (20) during GLVC action.
>> Opposing quarterbacks have attacked the Cardinals this season, as the WJC defense has surrendered 14 throwing scores across six games this year, including nine in their last three.
>> Redshirt freshman linebacker Kyler Craigg tied for the team lead in tackles last week with a season-best ten take-downs. He enters the week with 39 on the season, also tying a team best.
>> Derrick Von Hubbard is tied for fifth in the GLVC in tackles for loss (7.5).
