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| The Cru are finding their way into opposing backfields. Often. Photo by Ronnie Glover, d3photography.com |
By Riley Zayas
for D3sports.com
Linfield quarterback Blake Eaton stood in shotgun formation out of an empty backfield, facing a key third-and-7 in the second quarter. Then a wall of gold overtook him.
Dillan Botts pressured Eaton from the right side. Angelo Jewell came from the left. The pocket collapsed in just seconds, forcing Eaton to step up into a sack by James Wright, who beat his blocker one-on-one and landed a hit two yards behind the line of scrimmage that jarred the ball loose.
Five more sacks from the Crusader defensive front followed on Saturday afternoon as Mary Hardin-Baylor punched its ticket for an east coast flight and a trip to the national quarterfinals for the third time in the last four seasons. Never mind that Linfield’s offensive line allowed just 14 sacks over its previous 11 games. The Cru stopped at nothing in its pursuit into the Wildcat backfield, tallying the most sacks by any Linfield opponent since Bethel in the 2022 playoffs.
“The big thing is to stop the run,” senior defensive tackle Mason Cavness said. “After that, it’s a party in the backfield. As a defensive line, we’re competing with each other to see who can get the most sacks and tackles. Between the four of us, it’s always a competition to see who’s going to be the leader in that game.”
The Cru’s performance on the defensive line at Linfield was only a continuation of a postseason performance that will be worth remembering, whenever it is said and done. The stats themselves jump off the page; in three playoff games, two against offensive lines allowing fewer than 1.3 sacks per game, UMHB has tallied 17.0 sacks and 30 tackles for loss.
In the last two games, monumental wins at Hardin-Simmons and Linfield, The Cru sacked the opposing quarterback 13 times and on 11 more occasions, took down the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage.
“When we're on a roll and doing what we do to opposing offensive linemen, the coaches seem to put their trust in us,” Justin Hines-Moore, who leads UMHB with six sacks, said. “They let us play ball and make plays, rather than trying to keep us in a box.”
The defense serving as a centerpiece for UMHB’s success is nothing new. That is to be expected when both head coaches in the program’s 27-year history were formerly defensive coordinators.
Pete Fredenburg made his mark in big-time college football as a coordinator at Baylor and Louisiana Tech, in addition to one season coaching defensive tackles at LSU, before making his way to Belton as UMHB’s first head coach. And Larry Harmon served as The Cru’s defensive coordinator for 20 seasons before taking the head coaching job in 2022 upon Fredenburg’s retirement.
“We built our defense inside out and we’ve always taken pride in having great tackles, and then ends, and then linebackers, and then the secondary,” Harmon said Monday, reflecting on his time under Fredenburg. “There’s a lot of talented skill kids in Texas, so for us to be able to get great DBs in here is a fun and exciting thing for us. I think it starts there.”
Postseason success never happens in a vacuum. Perhaps a team’s strength becomes more clear in those tight, make-it-or-break-it situations, as seems to have been true for The Cru these last three weeks. But most often, those performances come as the product of a slow build, sometimes kept outside of the limelight for one reason or another.
Entering the fall, there was a strong sense of confidence around the defensive front, in large part because of the notable returners on the line and at linebacker. For a UMHB team looking to avenge last season’s disappointment of missing the playoffs, having returners with significant experience at those positions held great value. And the effects of that showed up throughout the regular season, though it doesn’t compare to what has taken place in these last three weeks.
“It’s really good to see [this success], because I’ve always had the confidence in us,” junior defensive end Te’Ron Brown added. “Especially with the depth, and us being so seasoned. We didn’t make the playoffs last year, which was a learning lesson, but the year before that, we were with a lot of guys from the championship team from ’21. We learned from those guys and it helped us learn how to manage these difficult situations we find ourselves in.”
And by “difficult situations,” Brown isn’t giving a cliche quote. UMHB’s defense, including its front seven, has indeed found itself pressed, pushed, and with the weight of the season seemingly on their shoulders week after week in the fourth quarter. That isn’t to take away from the offense’s consistent production in crunch time — they’ve scored on a drive with less than five minutes left in each of their three playoff wins — but the defense has handled the pressure of holding a lead against a capable, and very determined, offense in the game’s final minutes for three straight weeks now.
And they haven’t surrendered a single point in those stretches.
Against Trinity, linebacker Dorien Hill stepped in front of a pass with the Tigers driving past midfield and into UMHB territory, his interception sealing the 29-22 win. At Hardin-Simmons, Cowboys quarterback Kyle Brown scrambled backwards on second down with less than 80 seconds remaining, only to be hunted down by Cavness for a 17-yard loss, effectively killing much of HSU’s hopes for a last-second, game-winning drive.
Then came this past Saturday in McMinnville. Linfield found the end zone on back-to-back drives, cutting UMHB’s lead from 21-3 to 21-18 in the blink of an eye. With 12:18 left, the Wildcats took possession, ready to swing the game — and the lead — back in their favor. They moved past midfield in just over two minutes, pressing into UMHB territory when they encountered a third-and-1 from the Cru’s 46-yard line.
Luke McNabb took the snap for Linfield, clearly set for a quarterback draw. Hines-Moore promptly delivered UMHB’s response, as the junior lined up the left side of the line, brushed past the Linfield blocker, and wrapped up McNabb from behind, stopping his forward progress. Linfield, now 4 yards behind the line to gain, was left with no choice but to punt. Crisis averted.
“That’s just us being who we are,” Brown said. “When we turn on the film and watch the different teams we’ve played, we want to be the most physical group they’ve seen all year. Us going out there and showing how physical we are, that [creates] a lot of tackles for loss and stops throughout the game.”
Those tackles for loss are often spread out, too, a testament to UMHB’s depth up front. You have the contributions from Brown, Cavness, and Hines-Moore, returners who saw plenty of action in 2023.
But there are others who have also made their presence known, especially in The Cru’s four-quarter playoff battles. Freshman defensive end Gaige Sanders, who made his first appearance against ETBU on Oct. 5, tallied 2.5 TFL over UMHB’s last two victories. Dillan Botts, a sophomore, has been on the field since the season opener at right defensive tackle. James Wright, a graduate student in his first year in Belton, had 3.5 sacks at Linfield.
“If you look across our line, you’ll notice every single guy has their own specialty,” Hines-Moore said. “We get so much production from so many different guys and in different ways. It’s nice to be able to trust those guys coming on and off the field. And it’s probably terrible for the opponent, because that’s eight different schemes you have to scheme up for every guy that’s touching the field.”
Across the board, the technique from UMHB’s defensive front is something Harmon pointed out on Monday as a key to the recent success. Jordan Collins, ETBU’s defensive coordinator in 2023, came in during the spring as the Cru’s defensive ends coach, and his impact on the pass rush technique in particular is noteworthy, considering the frequent pressure UMHB is now getting, even against quality offensive lines. Nick Brace’s work with the defensive tackles has also played a significant role in the defensive line’s success.
“Coach Brace and Coach Collins deserve a lot of credit for that,” Harmon said. “We keep getting better with our D-line and linebacker technique and I think we’re doing a good job of moving our people around to where we’re creating a little confusion on which way they need to slide their line. All of that combined is allowing us to make plays.”
Needless to say, that play-making ability has traveled this postseason — literally. The first two trips were relatively short, both within the Lone Star State. Last week featured a 2,000-mile trek to the Pacific Coast. Now, the Crusaders head 1,500 miles east to Johns Hopkins, going up against another spotlighted defense that has excelled in the last two playoff rounds.
But the traveling hasn’t been a surprise for the Cru, the second-to-last team to receive an at-large bid, and the No. 35 overall seed in the tournament, per NPI. They knew home games weren’t in store for this playoff run, and instead, embraced that dynamic. The moniker, and hashtag, of “Road Dogs” was born, having now become a sort of rallying cry for a team that has defied the odds with its recent string of big-time wins.
“If you look at it, I think a lot of the guys really understand that history repeats itself,” Brown said. “This is very similar to 2004. They guys believe in that, we’re living by it, and us going on the road and going to these tough environments goes to show how much we care for each other and about this program.”
The Cru now heads into a matchup headlined by defense. Johns Hopkins leads the country in red zone defense and allowed just two touchdowns through its playoff wins over Grove City and DePauw. A defensive battle is more than alright with UMHB, who has seen its consistent work, going all the way back to August practices, pay off more than ever in this playoff run.
“We kept our heads down all year and just worked,” Brown said. “Now we’re getting to show the nation the fruits of our labor.”