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McMinnville, Oregon – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team jumped out to a 21-7 lead early in the game but could not hold off Linfield's late rally as the Wildcats hit a 32-yard game-winning field goal on the game's final play as UMHB fell to Linfield 38-35 in an NCAA Quarterfinal Game Saturday in Oregon. The loss ends the Cru's season at 11-2 while the Wildcats improve to 12-0 and advance to the NCAA Semifinals for the fourth time in program history.
UMHB marched 75 yards on the game's opening possession and Duane Thompson scored on a 16-yard run to make it 7-0. A Jon Isom interception set up Blake Jackson's four-yard run to make it 14-0 Cru with 10:56 remaining to go in the first quarter. A short Linfield punt set up Thompson's 23-yard scoring run as UMHB pushed it to 21-0 with 7:51 remaining in the first quarter. Tom Knecht threw touchdown passes of 36 yards to Johnny Carroll and nine yards to Zack Kuzens to cut it to 21-14 with 3:13 to play in the first. Jackson's three-yard TD run after another Isom interception made it 28-14 Cru at the half.
Knect threw scoring passes of one-yard to Carroll and 13-yards to Brian Balsiger in the third quarter to tie the game at 28 at the end of the third quarter. Knecht found Balsiger again, this time from 27-yards out to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 35-28 with 6:58 left in the game. Zach Anderson hit DeNerian Thomas with an 85-yard catch and run to even it at 35-35 with 5:50 to play. The Cru got the ball back on Bryce Wilkerson's interception with under four minutes to go inside the Linfield 30, but turned it back over on a bad snap later in the drive. Linfield drove to the Cru 15-yard line and Michael Metter drilled a 32-yard field goal as time expired to end it.
Anderson threw for 194 yards and a touchdown in his final game for the Cru. Thompson ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and Thomas caught four passes for 112 yards and a score. Trey Thedford had a team-best 10 tackles and Isom added two interceptions and 2.5 tackles for loss. UMHB rolled up 411 yards of total offense, including 182 on the ground.
Knecht threw for 492 yards and five touchdowns for Linfield. Carroll caught 10 passes for 140 yards and two scores and Balsiger added seven grabs for 150 yards and two TD's. Jake Reimer had a team-high nine tackles for the Wildcats. Linfield was held to just 31 rushing yards, but rolled up 523 yards of total offense.
The game also closed out the careers of 17 UMHB seniors. That group posted a 48-5 overall record, won four American Southwest Conference championships and advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships four times during their careers. Linfield has now won all four meetings with UMHB and has ended the Cru's season with three-point defeats in each of the last two years.
