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Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team has already clinched a berth in the NCAA Division III National Championships and the Cru has also locked up at least a share of the American Southwest Conference Championship. But there will still be a couple of prime goals for the Cru to accomplish when UMHB plays host to Texas Lutheran University for a 1:00 PM kick-off this Saturday at Tiger Field. The Cru can claim an outright ASC title with a victory and finish a season 10-0 for just the second time in the 13-year history of UMHB football. A win over the Bulldogs would also keep the Cru alive in the hunt for a top-seed in the postseason and the chance to play a playoff game at home. UMHB will enter the game with a 9-0 overall record and a 7-0 mark in ASC play. The Bulldogs are a much-improved 4-5 overall and 3-4 in the ASC under first-year head coach Danny Padron. Padron was already familiar with UMHB after his son, Andy, spent four years as a quarterback for the Cru. But Padron also made UMHB one of his first stops after taking the TLU job and he learned even more from the Cru coaching staff this summer.
“We've shared a lot with them and he (Coach Padron) really wanted to know from A to Z what we do,” Cru head coach
Pete Fredenburg said. “It was similar to what Hardin-Simmons did for us when we were first getting started. They are really good coaches and do things right. They are really laying a good foundation and they are going to be someone to contend with as they just keep getting better.”
UMHB has now won at least a share of six straight ASC championships and eight of the last nine league crowns. The Cru has also advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships in seven straight seasons and nine of the last ten years. UMHB is 9-0 to start a season for just the second time in the program's history. The Cru finished the 2002 regular season 10-0 before falling to eventual national runner-up Trinity University 48-38 in an NCAA Division III National Championships First Round game.
Saturday's game will be broadcast on KTEM-AM 1400. The audio broadcast will also be streamed live on the Internet at
www.myktem.com. The UMHB athletic department will also provide a live video stream and live statistics during Saturday's game. You can access those links through the UMHB athletic department web site at www.cruathletics.com.
