UMHB Football to Host Hardin-Simmons in Postseason Opener This Saturday

Jon Wallin | Sports Information Director, UMHB

BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team will line up against a familiar foe when the Cru opens the 2018 NCAA Division III National Championships at home this Saturday, November 17th. UMHB will play host to conference rival Hardin-Simmons University for a 12:00 PM kickoff at Crusader Stadium in the 26th overall meeting between the two programs.

UMHB is advancing to the postseason for the 15th straight season and the Cru has one at least one playoff game in each of the last 14 trips. UMHB finished the regular season at 10-0 overall and won its 14th consecutive American Southwest Conference Championship with a 9-0 league mark. The Cru enters the postseason ranked #2 in the country by both the American Football Coaches Association and D3football.com. The Cru is coming off a 50-15 victory over East Texas Baptist in the regular season finale last Saturday and UMHB has now won 32 consecutive regular season games. The Cru is 36-15 all-time in the NCAA Division III National Championships.

Hardin-Simmons is 9-1 overall on the season and the Cowboys went 8-1 in the ASC with the only loss coming against the Cru back on October 6th. HSU is in the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year and the tenth time overall. The Cowboys are 4-9 all-time in the NCAA Division III National Championships and enter Saturday’s game ranked 7th in the nation in both top 25 polls. HSU lost the regular season meeting 26-0 as the Cru snapped the Cowboys streak of 256 straight games with a touchdown. Now comes the challenge of trying to match that performance the second time around.

“They are utilizing some of their personnel in different ways and are a much different team than they were the first time we played,” Cru Head Coach Pete Fredenburg said. “We have to learn from that first game because we certainly can’t just rely on doing the same things we did in that game. Our players have to be better and our coaches have to be better because no one is promised another game at this point of the season. We have to rise to the occasion because this is the type of game you work so hard to be involved in. We are excited to be in the playoffs and are excited to be playing Hardin-Simmons.”

The Cru and Cowboys will be meeting in the First Round of the postseason for the fourth time and this is the fifth overall playoff meeting between the two programs. UMHB and Hardin-Simmons met in the Second Round of the 2004 playoffs and have met in the First Round in 2006, 2008 and 2015 prior to this year’s meeting. The Cru has won each of the previous four postseason meetings.

For more information on parking, traffic flow and game day events, please visit the following link: http://www.umhb.edu/stadium/directions-and-parking. Hardin-Simmons University fans are encouraged to enter the stadium through ticket window #3 at the southeast corner of Crusader Stadium. The winner of Saturday’s game will advance to face the Berry College/Maryville winner in the Second Round.

Saturday’s game will also be broadcast live on KRock101.7 FM and through the station’s web site with the pre-game show starting at 11:30 AM. UMHB will provide live video streaming and live statistics for the game with links to both available by clicking here: www.cruathletics.com. Tickets are still available and the ticket windows are scheduled to open at 10:00 AM on Saturday. Reserved tickets are $12 at the gate, general admission tickets are $10 and student tickets will be $4 at the gate. The stadium gates will open at 10:30 AM on Saturday. Tickets left at Will Call will be available for pickup at any ticket window on game day.