Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team rallied to put the game away in the fourth quarter as the Cru posted a 43-23 victory over Huntingdon College in an NCAA Division III National Championships Second Round Game Saturday in Belton. UMHB improves to 11-1 with the victory and advances to the NCAA National Quarterfinals for the ninth time in the last 12 seasons. The loss ends the most successful season in Huntingdon football history at 10-2.
The Hawks took the opening kickoff and marched 55 yards in seven plays before Luke Bailey hit Darius Dawsey with a 17-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0 just 2:51 into the game. The Cru defense forced a punt on the next Huntingdon possession and Bryce Wilkerson caught it at midfield, cut toward the UMHB sideline and raced untouched for a 50-yard punt return to tie the game with 8:03 left in the first. The Cru lost a fumble at the Huntingdon one-yard line on the next drive before finally taking the lead with 2:26 left in the period. Zach Anderson floated a pass to a sliding Robbie Seybold in the left corner of the end zone to give the Cru a 14-7 edge at that point. Jacob O'Neill hit a 26-yard field goal to give UMHB a 17-7 advantage nine seconds into the second quarter, but Bailey hit Blake Malter with an 11-yard scoring strike on the next drive and Chase Young hit a 24-yard field goal to cut the lead to 17-16 with 5:42 remaining in the first half. Anderson hit Marcus Wimby on a flea-flicker for a 30-yard touchdown with 3:27 left in the second and O'Neill connected on a 28-yard field goal on the final play of the half to make it 26-16 UMHB at halftime. O'Neill's 43-yard field goal followed a botched Huntingdon snap on a punt for the only scoring of the third quarter as the Cru stretched it to 29-16. Bailey's one-yard scoring plunge capped a 14-play, 70-yard drive for Huntingdon to close the gap to 29-23 with 14:56 to go in the game. Anderson put the game away with a 30-yard touchdown run and a five-yard scoring strike to Wykeyhe Walker to provide the final margin.
UMHB rolled up 499 yards of total offense with 293 of those coming through the air. The Cru turned the ball over three times and was penalized seven times for 66 yards. Huntingdon managed just 293 total yards and turned the ball over twice in a game played in cold, wet and windy conditions.
Anderson finished with 293 passing yards and three touchdowns and added 78 rushing yards and a score on 10 carries. Wimby caught six passes for 132 yards and a score and Walker added six grabs for 49 yards and a TD. Trey Thedford led the UMHB defense with a career-high 17 tackles and Reggie Wilson and Baylor Mullins also both reached double figures in stops. O'Neill set a new UMHB single-season record with his three field goals by pushing his total to 17 makes on the year.
Bailey keyed the Huntingdon offense with 149 yards passing and two touchdowns through the air and 13 rushing yards and a score. John Iwaniec had 73 rushing yards on 23 carries and Vic Jerald added 66 yards on 16 attempts. Nick Haas caught eight passes for 67 yards. Anthony Wood was the leading tackler for the Hawks with nine tackles.
UMHB will now face the winner of the Lindfield-Cortland State second round game. The site for that game will be announced Sunday afternoon.