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Belton, TX – Playing a football game over the Thanksgiving weekend has become a tradition for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team and Thanksgiving 2011 will be no different. For the eighth straight year, the Cru will spend the holiday preparing for an NCAA Division III National Championships Second Round game. UMHB will play host to American Southwest Conference rival McMurry University for a 12:00 PM kickoff at Tiger Field. The two teams played a 28-27 thriller in the regular season with UMHB intercepting a War Hawk two-point try in the final minutes to preserve the victory. The Cru enters the game 11-0 and ranked third in the country by the American Football Coaches Association. UMHB is ranked fourth in the nation by D3football.com. The War Hawks are 9-2 overall and are ranked 22
nd in the country by the AFCA and 19
th nationally by D3football.com. While the Cru is in the second round of the postseason for the eighth straight year, McMurry is making its first appearance in the NCAA playoffs. This will be the 14
th overall meeting between the two programs with the Cru holding an 11-2 all-time edge in the series, but Saturday's game will likely write the final chapter in the rivalry with the War Hawks making the move to NCAA Division II next year.
“We have a lot of respect for what they do as a program,” Cru head coach
Pete Fredenburg said. “We know that we are in for a real challenge Saturday, but this is why you play and coach football, for a chance to be in a game like this. I know our players and coaches are excited and it should be a tremendous football game.”
The winner of Saturday's game advances to the quarterfinals to face either Linfield College or Wesley College for the right to advance to the semifinals. UMHB will provide a free live video stream and live statistics for Saturday's game at the following link:
http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/umhb.portal.
Tickets will be on sale Saturday at Tiger Field with the gates opening at 10:30 AM. All reserved tickets are $8. General admission tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for seniors (ages 60 and up) and students (ages 3-college age). There are no complimentary tickets or passes for NCAA postseason contests.
