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SHENANDOAH, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team overcame its first deficit of the season and the Cru claimed its second NCAA Division III National Championship with a 24-16 victory over Mount Union in Stagg Bowl XLVI Friday night in Shenandoah, Texas. UMHB also won the title in 2016 to give the program two of the last three national championships.
 
After leading 14-13 at halftime, the Cru drove 48 yards on the opening possession before Anthony Avila kicked a 30-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 17-13. UMHB forced a pair of punts to close out the third period and then marched 80 yards in 12 plays and burned 5:14 off the clock as K.J. Miller broke wide open for a 16-yard scoring pass from Jase Hammack to push the lead to 24-13. The Purple Raiders drove to the Cru four-yard line before UMHB held Mount Union to a 21-yard field goal with 7:06 left in the game. The Cru turned the ball over on downs before forcing the Raiders to do the same on the ensuing possession. After UMHB was forced to punt, the Cru's Khevon Shepard sacked Mount Union quarterback D'Angelo Fulford for an 11-yard loss with just 17 seconds left and the Raiders desperation lateral attempt ended with an illegal forward pass to set off a wild celebration on the UMHB sidelines.
 
Mount Union built a 10-0 lead on Barnett's 41-yard field goal and a one-yard Fulford TD run. Hammack found T.J. Josey with a 36-yard scoring strike to pull UMHB to within 10-7 with 1:27 to go in the opening period. Barnett tacked on a 22-yard field goal to make it 13-7 early in the second quarter. The Cru drove 60 yards in seven plays and Markeith Miller scored on a two-yard run to give UMHB its first lead at 14-13 with just 38 seconds to go in the first half.
 
Josey caught five passes for 79 yards and a TD and he added 21 rushing yards to win Most Outstanding Player Award. Hammack was 11-19 passing for 147 yards and two scores and he added 44 rushing yards. Miller ran for 90 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. De Jackson had a team-high 12 tackles and Jefferson Fritz intercepted his 12^th pass of the year.
 
Fulford was 18-37 for 194 yards but threw an interception and was sacked twice. He added 45 rushing yards. Josh Petruccelli ran for 57 yards and Jared Ruth caught six passes for 46 yards. Trevor Cox and Danny Robinson led the Purple Raiders with 10 tackles apiece.  
 
Both teams finished with 303 total yards. Mount Union threw for 194 of those yards while the Cru had 156 rushing yards. Both teams turned the ball over once. The game was the first Stagg Bowl played in the state of Texas and UMHB was also serving as co-host of the game.
 
UMHB finishes the season at 15-0 to tie the school and conference record for most wins in a season. The win closes out the careers of 20 UMHB seniors, who compiled a 55-3 record in their four seasons on campus. Mount Union finished the season at 14-1 and had its 29-game winning streak snapped.