Box Score

No. 2/3 Mary Hardin-Baylor 56, Mississippi College 30
CLINTON, Miss. – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team took control of the game in the fourth quarter and then held on for a 56-30 victory over Mississippi College Saturday in Clinton. The Cru clinches the outright American Southwest Conference Championship with the win. UMHB also finishes a fourth consecutive undefeated season at 10-0 overall and 6-0 in the ASC. Mississippi College finishes the season at 4-6 overall and 4-2 in the ASC.

UMHB took a 7-0 lead when Zach Anderson hit Eric Nelson with a 24-yard touchdown pass on the Cru's second offensive play. Marcus Wimby's one-yard scoring run stretched it to 14-0 and Wimby added a 26-yard run with 12:08 left in the second quarter to put the Cru up 21-0. Jonathon Redd scored on a two-yard plunge to cut it to 21-7, but Michael Carpenter raced 73 yards for a touchdown just two plays later to give UMHB a 28-7 lead. Redd hit Matthew Rubal with touchdown passes of 78 and 17 yards to cut the gap to 28-21 at the half. MC would add a 22-yard Hunter Estess field goal to pull to within 28-24 early in the third. Anderson hooked up with Nelson on a 56-yard scoring strike to push it to 35-24, but Redd hit Stacey Dillard with a one-yard TD toss to close the gap to 35-30. The Cru then took over in the fourth as Jake Bumgardner scored on a two-yard run, Anderson threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Colton Jacob and Glen Gilliam closed out the scoring with a three-yard run to provide the final margin.

The Cru finished with 383 rushing yards and 563 yards of total offense to help overcome three turnovers. The Choctaws rolled up 384 yards of total offense, but threw three interceptions.
Elijah Hudson ran for 103 yards for UMHB and Anderson was 14-20 passing for 180 yards and three scores. Cody Jones led the Cru with nine total tackles and he intercepted two passes.
Redd went 24-of-38 through the air for 250 yards and three scores and he added 79 yards and a score on the ground. Rubal caught three passes for 108 yards and two scores. Jake Weddle posted a game-high 18 tackles to lead the Choctaw defense.

UMHB will now advance to the NCAA Division III National Championships for the 10th straight season and the 12th time in the last 13 years. The Cru has won or shared 11 ASC titles and stretched its regular season winning streak to 42 straight games. UMHB has won 31 consecutive ASC games and 64 of its last 65 league contests. The 32-team field for the NCAA Division III National Championships will be announced in www.NCAA.com at 5:00 p.m. CST, Sunday.

Box Score

East Texas Baptist 34, Sul Ross State 32
ALPINE, Texas – It was all laid on the line in the second half for East Texas Baptist University as they overcame a nine point deficit to come from behind to finish the season the way they started with a win, 34-32, over Sul Ross State University. ETBU outscored Sul Ross State, 14-7, in the fourth quarter and denied a Sul Ross State two-point conversion to come away with their third win of the year.

“I am really proud of how the guys responded and fought today with their fighting spirit and their never say die attitude,” says head coach Joshua Eargle. “It was a great team win today coming from behind when we were down by nine points.  Our kids kept fighting and that’s the type of team we have had all year.”

The season came down to one play on a two-point conversion.  After Sul Ross State scored on a 10-yard run with 1:01 left, they went for two points to tie the game at 34. Sul Ross State quarterback Derrick Bernard tossed a pass to Keyon Lee to the left side of the field but Lee bobbled it some and then tried to make some magic happen. As he turned around to run back toward ETBU’s sideline he was brought down at the 15-yard line but a slew of ETBU defenders denying the tie. ETBU took the ensuing kickoff and ran the clock out to end the game.

Toi Glover and Tyler Bates both led the ETBU offense finishing the season strong. Glover ran for 170 yards on a career-high 40 carries and finishes the season with 1,038 yards rushing. Bates caught two touchdown passes from Jake McClain in the fourth quarter breaking the single season record for touchdown catches at 10. He surpasses Earl Morris (2003) and Jabori Jackson’s (2001) record of nine and also finishes the season with a record 73 receptions.

Jamaine Sherman was held to only one catch for 10-yards today but leaves ETBU with the single season record in yards receiving at 1,080. He also had 61 receptions which would have also broken the single season record.

It was the fourth quarter that was the difference for ETBU as the biggest quarter of the season for them. Down 26-20 headed into the final quarter of the season, Bates caught two straight touchdown passes from McClain at the 13:11 mark and 7:49 mark. The first was a seven-yard pass from McClain to put ETBU up 27-26 after McClain drove the team 82-yards on a 10-play drive.  Just under six minutes later, holding onto the one-point lead, Bates went across the middle as McClain hit him in the numbers with a 34-yard pass for the eight point lead, 34-26.

Sul Ross State answered with just over two minutes on the clock going 80-yards in just 1:10 to pull within two, 34-32. The big play came when Bernard hit Cordrick Mobley on a 45-yard pass to the ETBU 14-yard line. Three plays later Sul Ross State scored before being denied the tying two-point conversion.

Jumping out to a 10-point lead, 10-0, in the first quarter, ETBU’s first touchdown came on a McClain three-yard run led by the biggest NCAA Division III backfield on that play. Offensive linemen Pat Griffin and Landon Boffman lined up as backs and led the way for McClain to the end zone. Just three minutes into the second quarter Bernard ran 28-yards for his first rushing touchdown of the game putting the Lobos up, 16-7. ETBU answered with a six-player 45-yard with 24 of the yards coming from Glover on the ground as he finished with a nine-yard jaunt pulling within two, 16-14, at the half.

Sul Ross State took their biggest lead of nine, 23-14, just over two minutes into the third quarter when Keyon Lee broke several tackles for a 37-yard touchdown run. It was five minutes later that ETBU pulled to within three, 23-20, as Glover picked up his second rushing touchdown of the game. John Jorgenson made a 34-yard field goal with 29 seconds left in the third quarter as Sul Ross State extended their lead to six, 26-20, headed into the fourth quarter. The drive and will to win for ETBU was the difference in the fourth as ETBU outscored Sul Ross State, 14-7.

ETBU finished the day with 379 yards of total offense as 301 of those yards were on the ground. They turned the ball over three times but the defense also had three interceptions on the day. Sul Ross State put up 402 yards of total offense as 268 was on the ground.

Hunter Jameson led the team with eight tackles as David Lee and Drew Benge each had six. Cameron Cloudy collected two interceptions while Christian Johnson picked off one. David Jaynes and Thomas Warren shared a sack on the day.

ETBU’s program is looking forward as several records were broken this season and a youthful team finished out the year with the third win over Sul Ross State.

Box Score

Texas Lutheran 63, Howard Payne 14
SEGUIN, Texas – Howard Payne University cannot overcome a 32-point second half by Texas Lutheran University as the Yellow Jackets fall in their season finale 63-14 Saturday afternoon.
 
Texas Lutheran blocked a Howard Payne punt on the Yellow Jackets first possession. TLU would then score on their first play from scrimmage, a 13-yard run to make it 7-0 Bulldogs.
 
The Yellow Jackets answered back on their next possession taking the ball 75 yards in 16 plays to make it 7-7. Kevin Domingue would get his first touchdown reception of the season with a three-yard pass from Richard Young with 9:09 left in the first quarter.
 
Texas Lutheran scored on their next drive on another 13-yard run to make it 14-7 with 6:33 in the first.
 
Howard Payne would tie it up at 14-14 just a 1:09 later when Malcolm Mitchell caught a 51-yard pass from Richard Young. The freshman quarterback finished the day 24-of-40 for 263 yards and two touchdowns with four interceptions.
 
TLU scored just seconds into the second quarter on a three yard pass. After TLU picked off a HPU pass the Jackets would be able to hold the Bulldogs to a field goal, 24-14 TLU. The Bulldogs would add another score just before the half, a four-yard run to bring the halftime score to 31-14.
 
It would be all Texas Lutheran in the second half as the Bulldogs racked up 423 yards of offense in the half scoring five touchdowns. TLU totaled 669 yards of offense in the game, 349 passing and 320 on the ground.
 
Colby Mica had 10 catches for 97 yards and Zarron Dove had five catches for 74 yards. Dove also had 11 carries for 27 yards.
 
Bo Ross led the HPU defense with a game high 12 tackles followed by Jordan Shaw with 11.
 
Texas Lutheran University finishes their regular season at 9-1 overall and 3-0 in SCAC play. The Yellow Jackets finish the season at 4-6 overall and 2-4 in American Southwest Conference action.
 
Box Score

Louisiana College 46, Hardin-Simmons 34