Abilene, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team gained momentum at the end of the first half before exploding in the second as the Cru rolled to a 37-19 victory over Hardin-Simmons University in an NCAA Division III National Championships First Round game Saturday in Abilene. UMHB improves to 10-1 on the season with the victory and advances to the second round of the postseason for the 12th consecutive year. The loss ends the Cowboys season at 9-2.
UMHB started its first three drives in Hardin-Simmons territory, but came up empty on each of those drives. The game would stay scoreless until Jessie Ramos hauled in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Breton on a fourth-down play with 46 seconds left in the first quarter. That 7-0 Cowboy lead held up until UMHB drove 80 yards in 11 plays and Blake Jackson hit Marcus Wimby with a five-yard scoring strike with 13 seconds to go in the half. The Cru missed the extra point leaving it 7-6 HSU at halftime.
The Cowboys stopped UMHB on the opening drive of the second half, but Ramos fumbled away a punt and the Cru recovered at the Cowboy five-yard line. Jackson scored on a one-yard run on fourth down to give UMHB a 13-7 lead. Baylor Mullins intercepted a Hardin-Simmons pass at the goal line late in the third quarter and walked in for a score to make it 20-7 Cru. UMHB's short kickoff was mishandled by the Cowboys and the Cru again recovered, leading to Jacob O'Neill's 29-yard field goal to make it 23-7 at the end of the third quarter. Breton hit Kerry Sloan with a 15-yard scoring pass to pull Hardin-Simmons to within 23-13, but Duane Thompson raced to a 53-yard touchdown run on the ensuing drive to make it 30-13 UMHB. Jackson added a nine-yard TD run to make it 37-13 Cru with 7:29 left.
HSU drove for Jeremy Harris' 5-yard scoring run with 3:44 left, but UMHB recovered the onside kick attempt and ran out the clock to avenge a 29-26 loss to the Cowboys in the regular season.
UMHB finished with 321 yards of total offense with 163 of those coming on the ground. The Cru defense held HSU to 253 yards of total offense, including just 96 passing. Both teams committed three turnovers in the ball game.
Thompson ran for 115 yards and a touchdown for UMHB and Jackson had 108 total yards and three touchdowns. Wimby caught six passes for 66 yards and Wykeyhe Walker added six grabs for 65 yards. Teidrick Smith had seven total tackles and recorded three sacks. Smith became the UMHB and ASC career leader with 35.5 sacks. Mullins had 10 tackles and two pass break-ups to go with his interception return for a score.
Breton was just 8-27 for 79 yards and two touchdowns for the Cowboys. Ramos was limited to two catches for 23 yards after posting 223 yards in the regular season meeting. Sloan ran for 102 yards on 24 carries for HSU. James Place led the Cowboy defense with 13 total tackles. UMHB has now won all four postseason meetings with the Cowboys.
UMHB will now face Huntingdon in the second round next Saturday. The Hawks (10-1) advanced with a 38-27 win over Hendrix College in the opening round. The site for that game will be announced on Sunday. Be sure to check www.cruathletics.com for site and ticket information.