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Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor dominated the first half and never looked back as the Cru rolled to a 52-10 victory over East Texas Baptist Saturday afternoon in Belton. UMHB, ranked eighth in the nation by D3football.com, improves to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Tigers to 2-7 overall and 2-5 in the ASC on the season.
Both defenses looked solid in a scoreless game through the middle of the first quarter before the Cru special teams broke through. Bryson Tucker returned a punt 47 yards for a touchdown, his second career punt return for a score, to give UMHB a 7-0 lead with 6:36 left in the first quarter. It would stay that way into the second quarter before the Cru erupted for three touchdowns. Kyle Noack threw an 11-yard TD pass to Brett McGee at the 13:33 mark to make it 14-0. LiDarral Bailey found Pi'Dadro Davis with a 25-yard TD pass at the 8:57 mark to give UMHB a 21-0 edge and Bailey used his legs for a 19-yard touchdown run at the 2:39 mark to put the Cru up 28-0. Kyle Pope hit a 41-yard field goal with 1:08 remaining in the first half to cut it to 28-3 at the half.
Noack hit Davis with a 59-yard TD pass on the first offensive play of the second half to put the Cru on top 35-3. Tucker would add a five-yard run to make it 42-3 UMHB with 5:05 left in the third. A Cru fumble would give ETBU the ball at the UMHB 18-yard line on the next possession and Seth Hubbard hit Trent Ledkins with an 18-yard TD pass on the next play to cut the lead to 42-10. Noack would hook up with Davis again, this time from 43 yards out to make it 49-10 on the first offensive play of the fourth quarter and Alan Munoz would add a 34-yard field goal to provide the Cru with its final points.
Davis hauled in five passes for 139 yards and he tied a UMHB single-game record with three touchdown receptions. Noack was 4-6 passing for 118 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Bailey was 3-9 through the air for 85 yards and a score and he also ran for 84 yards and a TD on nine carries. Tucker had 117 total yards on rushing and returns and a pair of scores for the Cru. Hubbard was 12-30 passing for 98 yards and a score and Corey George ran for 63 yards on 15 carries for the Tigers.
UMHB's defense held ETBU to 207 yards of total offense and picked off a pair of passes. The Cru rolled up 263 rushing yards and 221 passing yards for 484 yards of total offense. Freddy Williams led the Cru defense with eight total tackles and Jerrad Jefferson added seven more. Rocky Vaclavick and Bronson Shaw both picked off passes for the Cru. Solahudin Muhammad led ETBU with eight tackles and Cody Finch added seven more for the Tigers.
The Cru will now hit the road to take on Howard Payne University next Saturday. UMHB will face the Yellow Jackets in a 2:00 PM kickoff at Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood.
