Da'Marion Morris and the rest of the Mary Hardin-Baylor defense did not allow a touchdown in Saturday's win at UW-Whitewater. Photo by Caleb Marek for Mary Hardin-Baylor sports information

By Brian Lester
D3sports.com

Officially, it was an upset. Unranked Mary-Hardin-Baylor’s 35-17 victory over No. 3 UW-Whitewater on the road in one of the toughest places to play in Division III football fits the definition.

Defensive end Te’Ron Brown, however, has a different opinion. on last Saturday's eye-opening victory.

“A lot of people feel it’s an upset, but in my eyes, we planned to do that,” Brown said. “We practiced hard all week. We prepared for it. And we went up there with the mind frame of ‘we are coming out with a win no matter what.’ ”

Safety Da’Marion Morris echoed that feeling.

“It felt good winning it, but we came into it knowing we were going to do that. We were ready. It was not shocking to us,” Morris said.

Maybe not, but it is a big deal, and it’s a back-on-the-map kind of win for a program that has won two national championships but was just 6-4 a year ago.

After all, UW-Whitewater had lost only five regular season non-conference games at home since 2004 before Saturday and just 17 times overall on its home field since 2000 prior to the defeat at the hands of UMHB.

“It was definitely a big game for us, especially not coming into the season ranked,” linebacker Durand Hill said. “We feel it was a big step not only for us, but it put everyone on notice that The Cru is back.”

Larry Harmon, the head coach since 2022, has been with the program for more than 20 years and puts the win over the WarHawks among the greatest of all-time in program history.

“I’ve been here 25 years and this is top five in program history, if not top three,” Harmon said. “This win puts this group in a special echelon of UMHB football.”

Harmon doesn’t fault anyone for not believing in The Cru. And he also points out that this win is huge for the program going forward because of what this kind of win can do for a team.

“We had the pieces come together and dominate a historic program, a great team, and our confidence and belief in each other has skyrocketed,” Harmon said. “Everyone trusts each other at a different level now. We know ourselves better than anyone can know us and care more about each other than anyone else can care about us. And we challenge each other like no one else can.”

UMHB won by forcing four turnovers in the first quarter and five total for the game, including Hill’s interception return for a score that gave The Cru an early 7-0 lead and set the tone. Pressure on the quarterback from Brown set up the pick.

The Cru didn’t allow a single offensive touchdown while Hill and Morris racked up 10 tackles apiece to lead the charge.

“We felt the coaches put us in the best situation possible to go play fast and play loose,” Hill said. “They had us ready to play, and you never know when a game might be your last. You have to go out and give it your all.”

Speaking of all-out effort, Morris said being unranked coming into the game — the Cru are 14th in this week’s D3football.com poll — made the team work that much harder to be ready for the moment.

“It made us grind harder,” Morris said.

Brown agrees there was added motivation. And talk about a shot in the arm from a confidence standpoint.

“We looked at not being ranked as a big foot to the chin,” Brown said. “Winning on the road, in the fashion that we did, and who we did it against, that gives us all the confidence in the world to continue doing what we’ve been doing, and we have more confidence now in what we are doing.”

There is extra pressure to play well, too, especially with only seven Division III games on the Cru’s schedule. UMHB has played one game against an NAIA opponent, suited up to play a football team from a school that may not even exist, and had another similar contest canceled for this weekend. Every countable game means a little more.

“Every D-III opponent is marked, and we know our backs are against the wall with only seven games,” Harmon said. “We really have to perform our best every week in those games.”

This Cru team is ready to build on what it has achieved and has a lot of potential based on how talented and how tight-knit this group is. That bond, in part, was forged a year ago during the six-win season.

“We spent last year going through all our trials and tribulations, and coming into this year, we all had the same mindset,” Brown said. “If you ask me, Saturday wasn’t our best game. And I’m glad it wasn’t. Because when we do play our best game, it’s going to get uglier.”

Hill said the bond of this team runs stretches beyond football.

“It’s deeper than football. We care deeper than that,” Hill said. “When you care that much for each other, you’ll do whatever it takes to help each other be successful.”

The leadership of the team has been instrumental as well, and there is a sense of pride in maintaining the standard that has been set.

“Everyone has pride and everyone came here to keep the standard high,” Harmon said. “What is really cool is the leadership of this team. You can’t only be a coach-led team. You have to be a player-led team if you want to be great. And we’ve got strong player leadership.”

And leaders like Hill, Morris and Brown all understand the work isn’t done yet.

“We have to stay focused and want to peak at the right time,” Brown said. “We just have to keep working, keep grinding and keep sticking it out no matter how hard it gets.”

Morris seconds that.

“We can’t take a step back. We have to keep going forward,” Morris said. “We can’t stop with just beating the No. 3 team. We have to keep moving and working to be even better.”

Harmon believes the sky's the limit.

“I don’t think it’s a pipe dream,” Harmon said. “When you look at our talent, I think we can be one of the teams in January playing in Houston. “That is what they are working really hard for. This win over Whitewater is a trampoline and we’re going to take a big jump and go forward as a team and build on it.”

Time will tell how the remainder of the 2024 season plays out. But one thing is for sure.

“This win puts us out there again,” Hill said. “We weren’t in the Top 25 before, but now you have to watch out for The Cru.”