Not that Mary Hardin-Baylor’s senior quarterback and first-year starter wasn’t excited about the third-ranked Crusaders’ 20-18 victory over their traditional rival, No. 11 Hardin-Simmons.
But after carrying the football 31 times for 162 yards - both career highs - and both UMHB touchdowns in a tight, hard-hitting duel, Saenz simply didn’t have much energy left.
“A little bit,” the 5-11, 180-pound Saenz admitted with a smile when asked if he’d wake up sore today after UMHB’s eighth win over HSU in their last nine meetings. “It was a hell of a game. We knew what was on the line, and we knew they wanted to beat us. We brought it; they brought it.
“When you come here as a freshman,” he added, “the first thing they (UMHB coaches) tell you is, ‘Beat Hardin-Simmons.’ I just wanted to leave it all on the field.”
In a game in which the Crusaders rushed for 358 yards but couldn’t put the Cowboys away until the final minute, Saenz’s effective, decisive running - primarily on option plays - propelled UMHB (4-0 overall, 3-0 American Southwest Conference) to its 24th consecutive league win.
“We’ve known all along that Josh is a good player,” UMHB coach Pete Fredenburg said of Saenz, who showed impressive instincts while running the option and didn’t lose yardage on any carry. “Today he really read the openings and seams well. He was very good. He’s not as fast as some other guys, but he’s pretty strong.”
And Saenz - who estimated that he never had carried the ball more than 20 times in a game at any level - had to be strong against the defense of Hardin-Simmons (4-1, 2-1).
Star tailback Quincy Daniels is possibly out for the season with a knee injury, and UMHB lost leading rusher Matt Hurst to a “stinger” injury with five minutes left in the first half.
Although reserve running backs Roger Sanchez (20 carries, 95 yards) and Billy Abreu (six, 32) stepped in and performed well, it was Saenz who paced the Crusaders.
His 1-yard touchdown sneak put UMHB up 7-0 nine minutes into the game, and his 10-yard scoring scamper to the right side pushed the Crusaders’ lead to 20-6 early in the fourth quarter.
Saenz’s final touchdown proved to be crucial because the Cowboys scored two TDs after that, only to be plagued by their second missed extra point and then a failed two-point pass with 1:57 left.
Hardin-Simmons still had hope of getting the ball back in the final minute, but Saenz kept his legs churning for a first down on fourth-and-1 from the Cowboys’ 36-yard line to seal UMHB’s victory.
“It’s tough. It’s more weight on your shoulders,” Saenz, a McAllen product, said of running the second-half offense without Daniels and Hurst. “But I felt that being the quarterback, I had to lead the team and be the field general.”
After playing for UMHB’s junior varsity in 2005 and getting some varsity time in ’06, Saenz played in all 14 games last season as Josh Welch’s backup and accounted for 641 yards and six scores as the Crusaders reached the NCAA Division III semifinals.
Saenz earned the starting job this year but missed UMHB’s season-opening win over Southern Nazarene (Okla.) because of a suspension. He returned to pass for 321 yards and rush 19 times for 132 yards in blowout victories over Texas Lutheran and McMurry.
Saenz threw only six passes against Hardin-Simmons, completing three for 34 yards with no interceptions. UMHB didn’t fumble in 79 offensive plays, even with Saenz running into the teeth of the Cowboys’ defense time after time as the Crusaders kept the ball for more than 39 minutes.
“After last week when we really couldn’t run the ball (139 yards at McMurry), we wanted to establish the run big-time today,” said Saenz, whose longest run was 13 yards.
Despite the fact that UMHB controlled the ball for two-thirds of the game and defeated its top rival yet again, the Crusaders’ inability to finish several promising drives with touchdowns left the tough, competitive Saenz unsatisfied.
“We can’t go 70 or 80 yards and then have mental mistakes that hurt us,” he said. “We have to overcome those to be national champions.”
gwille@temple-telegram.com
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