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La Crosse, WI – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team dug its way out of an early hole and the Cru scored the game's final 24 points on the way to a 24-19 victory over Wisconsin-La Crosse Saturday afternoon in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The 6
th-ranked Cru is now 1-0 to start the season. The loss drops the Eagles to 0-2 on the season.
After forcing a punt on the game's opening possession, UMHB was driving into UWL territory before a bad pitch gave the ball right back to the Eagles. UWL marched 42 yards in 13 plays before Justin Huinker nailed a 33-yard field goal to make it a 3-0 deficit with 3:45 remaining in the first quarter. The Cru would go three-and-out on its next possession and
Kyle Noack had a pass picked off and returned to the Cru 42-yard line. Lee Lauters would dash 22 yards for a touchdown five plays later and the Eagles would lead 9-0 after missing the extra point. Another Cru interception would lead to a UWL field goal and a 12-0 Eagle lead with 5:11 left in the first half. UMHB would drive to the UWL 20-yard line, but
Alan Munoz was wide right on a 37-yard field goal try and it would stay 12-0 at halftime.
UWL would stretch the lead to 19-0 when Nick Anker hit Kyle Steffen with a 26-yard TD strike on the first Eagle possession of the second half, but then the Cru woke up. UMHB marched 57 yards in six plays and
LiDarral Bailey hit
David Wassermann with a 24-yard TD pass to cut it to 19-7 with 7:56 to go in the third quarter. The Cru would force a three-and-out and
Darius Wilson capped the next drive with a three-yard scoring plunge to pull UMHB to within 19-14. Another three-and-out gave the ball back to UMHB and
Quincy Daniels would give the Cru a 21-19 lead with a four-yard TD run with 14:54 to go in the game. UWL would drive to the Cru 13-yard line and the Eagles lined up for the potential go-ahead field goal, but a bad snap led to a UMHB sack to preserve the Cru lead. UMHB would tack on some insurance with a 35-yard Munoz field goal with 1:51 left and the Cru defense came up big with a stop on the next UWL possession to clinch the victory.
Daniels finished with 144 yards rushing on 27 carries and Wilson added 53 yards and a score on 11 totes. Bailey was 10-15 passing for 138 yards and a score in relief of starter
Kyle Noack.
Ervin Johnson and
Tucker Glaske both caught three passes to lead UMHB. Lauters ran for 96 yards on 25 carries for UWL and Anker was 14-28 passing for 108 yards and a score.
Jerrad Jefferson led the Cru defense with nine tackles and
Ty Dooley added seven in his first collegiate game. Phillip Minja had a game-high 14 tackles to lead the Eagles.
UMHB out gained UWL 389 to 218 in total offense in the victory. The Cru had four turnovers and four crucial penalties that also hurt drives. The 19-point second-half comeback is the largest in the 13-year history of the Cru football program.
The Cru will now hit the road again to open American Southwest Conference play next Saturday. UMHB will travel to Abilene to take on McMurry University in a 6:00 PM kickoff at Wilford Moore Stadium.
