No. 7 UMHB clinched its fifth straight NCAA Division III playoff appearance and at least a share of its fourth consecutive American Southwest Conference title with a no-two-ways-about-it bludgeoning of Howard Payne on Saturday afternoon at Tiger Field.
The Crusaders (8-1, 7-0 ASC) rolled up 479 yards and limited the Yellow Jackets (2-7, 1-6) to only 100 and just seven first downs en route to a 67-0 victory.
UMHB also posted 254 return yards, forced three turnovers without giving the ball away once and surrendered a meager 29 yards rushing on 28 attempts - all of that despite playing strictly reserves almost the entire second half.
The dismantling was so thorough that the only thing Fredenburg could be upset about was the chilly bath he received via a water cooler with about 80 seconds remaining.
“I was mad about that because it was cold,” a laughing, drenched Fredenburg said. “But we’ll continue to get wet as many times as we need to win like that.”
The Crusaders scored 20 first-quarter points and led 40-0 by intermission, having racked up 271 first-half yards to only 52 for the Yellow Jackets.
HPU was pushed backward through the first two quarters, when its 16 rushing attempts netted minus-10 yards, allowing UMHB to start four of its seven first-half possessions inside Yellow Jackets territory.
“What we could or couldn’t do didn’t have as much bearing on the outcome as what Mary Hardin-Baylor did,” first-year HPU coach Steve Fanara said. “We were just physically outmatched on both sides of the ball today.”
The outcome was sealed by the end of the second quarter when the Crusaders stretched a 26-0 lead to 40-0 with a pair of touchdowns in the final two minutes of the half.
Derrick Williams snared one of three interceptions thrown by HPU quarterbacks to help set up Simon Montelongo’s 1-yard scoring plunge with 2:35 to go before the half.
Then Brenson Bristow sacked Johnathon Haddock at the Yellow Jackets’ 6-yard line to force a punt, and three plays later Kyle Noack hit Brian Scott with an 18-yard touchdown strike with 1:03 remaining.
“After Howard Payne’s first couple of drives, we kind of felt like we had them figured out,” said Bristow, a sophomore end who had a team-high seven tackles. “We had worked more on some blitzes this week and it paid off.”
The TD toss capped an efficient day for Noack, who was 5-of-7 for 108 yards and two scores during his two quarters of action.
“I feel like whoever is in there gives us a great chance to win,” the sophomore quarterback said. “The linemen are playing well, the receivers are playing well and everybody’s coming on.”
As they had done the previous week, the Crusaders went with senior Josh Saenz at quarterback to start the second half, and he added 26 yards and two rushing TDs before giving way to Luke Howard.
“We did that last week just because we wanted to get Kyle some experience,” Fredenburg said of the quarterbacks sharing time. “But this is the second game in a row where it’s worked really well for us.”
In his second start at tailback, Bryson Tucker ran for 89 and a score, and his 81-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the third quarter made it 54-0.
Roger Sanchez added 82 rushing yards and a TD, and Matt Hurst ran for 59. Alan Munoz kicked field goals of 42 and 31 yards, and punter James Crawford was forced into duty only twice.
Bristow fueled a defensive unit that totaled nine tackles for losses and registered interceptions by Williams, Tim Kennedy and Chris Lambeth, whose 52-yard return to the HPU 19 set up UMHB’s first touchdown.
“This feels great because these guys have been through an awful lot with injuries and position changes,” Fredenburg said of the playoff-clinching win. “Guys have given unselfishly and it’s a real tribute to them.”
UMHB, which ran its conference winning streak to 28 games, will try to secure the outright ASC crown - and continue building its postseason momentum - when it travels to Alpine to face Sul Ross State in next Saturday’s regular-season finale.
“We’ve found a grove, and we have guys in the right positions,” Fredenburg said. “I think we’re peaking at the right time.”
