BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team opened American Southwest Conference action with a 34-14 win over East Texas Baptist University Saturday evening in Belton. UMHB improved to 2-0 on the season while the Tigers evened at 1-1.
 
UMHB opened the game with a five-play, 30-yard drive resulting in a 45-yard field goal from Anthony Avila to put the Cru up by three. ETBU's first offensive play resulted in an 18-yard loss as UMHB's defense held, forcing the Tigers to punt. Jefferson Fritz returns Alek Child's punt 44 yards to put six more points on the board for the Cru. After the PAT, UMHB held a 10-0 lead until the 5:34 mark when Kyle King capped a 67-yard drive with a touchdown punch. UMHB led 17-0 through the majority of the second quarter. UMHB's offense got the ball with 4:24 left in the first half and drove 79 yards for another score. Kyle King rushed for 29 yards in the drive then found Gary Ruckman in the endzone for a 21-yard scoring throw.
 
King connected with Aphonso Thomas in the end zone with 10:05 left in the third to put the Cru ahead by 31. UMHB got the ball back at 6:39 in that quarter and drove 56 yards to ETBU's 14-yardline before the Tigers forced a fumble and returned that for a touchdown, ending UMHB's shutout. Avila kicked in a 38-yarder at the beginning of the fourth quarter for UMHB's final score. ETBU recovered another UMHB fumble and put together a six-play, 28-yard drive to close out the fourth quarter with seven more points.  
 
King threw 6-for-12 for 145 yards and two touchdowns in the win, adding 87 rushing yards on the day. Aphonso Thomas was UMHB's running leader, averaging 3.8 yards per carry with 99 total rushing yards. Brandon Jordan caught a pair of passes for 55 yards while Aaron Sims added another catch for 47 yards. UMHB's offense totaled 353 yards on 66 total plays.
 
Defense was dominant as the Tigers were limited to just 12 first downs in the contest. ETBU had 102 yards on the ground with just 27 in the air. Jacob Mueller led the Cru with 10 tackles (seven solo), three tackles for loss and two sacks. Fritz totaled seven tackles with a forced fumble and fumble recovery while Keith Gipson and Akeem Jackson each added seven tackles. UMHB's defense had three sacks and nine tackles for loss, totaling 52 yards. The Cru secondary broke up five passes with one interception from Jayden Smith.
 
The Cru returns to action on Saturday, September 18^th in the first road game of the season. UMHB will play Southwestern University in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Birchelbach Field in Georgetown.