With its mojo back following last week’s win, No. 7 Mary Hardin-Baylor made few personnel changes heading into today’s homecoming game against Howard Payne at 2 p.m. at Tiger Field.
Having bounced back from its only loss with a complete performance in last week’s victory over East Texas Baptist, the Crusaders (7-1, 6-0 American Southwest Conference) can clinch their fifth straight trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs with a win over the Yellow Jackets (2-6, 1-5).
“I really felt like the guys responded to the challenge last week and did the things we’ve been known to do,” UMHB coach Pete Fredenburg said. “Plus, this was the first week we’ve had where we weren’t dealing with new injuries after a game. So we’re excited that we’re going to be able to start the same guys.”
That means Bryson Tucker will make his second start at tailback since making the move from weak safety. The speedy junior ran for 138 yards on only 18 carries last week.
Sophomore quarterback Kyle Noack, who played the first half against ETBU, will start again today after his 112 passing yards in the first two quarters were a nice complement to Josh Saenz’s 71 rushing yards in the second half.
The only starting changes expected for the offense are Max Taylor at right tackle and Brian Scott at wide receiver.
“Bryson is very natural at tailback,” Fredenburg said of Tucker, a former high school quarterback at Caldwell. “We’re very, very excited about him. He’ll start again this week, and we think he’ll really add a dimension to our football team.”
Likewise, UMHB plans to stick to the defensive changes it made last week to accommodate Tuckers move to the offense.
Senior Eric Henri will remain at weakside linebacker, with junior John Hamilton taking Henri’s spot in the middle. The only new starter listed this week is freshman cornerback Chris Lambeth.
The Crusaders’ defense, which is yielding only 12 points and 263 yards per game, will face a Yellow Jackets offense that averages only 15 and 274.
On the other side, UMHB’s offense is putting up 34 points and 397 yards per game and will go against an HPU defense that is surrendering 29 and 399.
“Offensively, Howard Payne is like everybody else in that they spread the field and throw it,” Fredenburg said. “They really try to throw it down the field. We have to make sure that we get ourselves prepared to play a team that will give us their best effort."
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
