MCMINNVILLE, Oregon - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team fought off tough weather conditions and a late momentum shift to continue its road in the 2024 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs with a 28-18 win over Linfield University Saturday in McMinnville. The win improved the Cru to 9-3 on the season while the Wildcats ended their 2024 campaign at 10-2.
 
Linfield opened the game with a nine-play, 51-yard drive in the wet, rainy conditions. The Wildcats earned a first-and-10 at the Cru 18-yard line and drove all the way down to the 13 but the Crusader defense held, forcing a field goal. 
 
UMHB drove 16 yards on its next possession but Linfield forced a punt and took over on their 23. The Wildcats made it all the way down to the Cru 34 but a pair of incompletions on third and fourth downs gave UMHB the ball with 1:27 to go in the quarter. The Cru got four plays off in the first frame for 15 yards before Kamerin Ferguson broke loose for 51 yards and a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. 
 
Both teams went three-and-out on their next possessions but Samuel Steffe recovered a fumble on the Wildcats' punt return to give UMHB possession at the Linfield 19. Asa Osbourn rushed for one yard before Jake Wright connected with Ranius Daramola for an 18-yard score, putting UMHB up 14-3. Both teams drove but neither were able to put any more points on the board, ending the first half with the Cru up by 11. 
 
UMHB opened the third quarter with the ball on their 23-yard line. Wright found Osbourn for a seven-yard completion before Osbourn added two more yards on the ground. Osbourn got the ball again on third-and-one and rushed 68 yards for another score, giving the Cru a 21-3 lead. 
 
Linfield took the ball and the momentum from there, driving 73 yards on seven plays to cut the gap back to 11 with 4:06 to play in the third. The Wildcats ended the Cru's next drive with an interception at the 46 and drove all the way to the four at the end of the frame. Luke McNabb punched it in on the first play of the fourth quarter and a two-point conversion completion from Blake Eaton to Jacob Slifka put the Cru ahead by just three with 14:50 to play in the fourth. 
 
Both teams came up empty on their next drives before Linfield started rolling again with 8:02 to play. McNabb completed a pair of passes before a personal foul gave the Wildcats a first down on UMHB's 40. Linfield added 19 more yards before a holding call brought the drive to first-and-20 at the 35. Da'Marion Morris intercepted Eaton's pass on that play and returned it 71 yards, going all the way down to the nine-yard line. 
 
Osbourn rushed for two yards on the ensuing drive before Jake Wright took a quarterback keeper to the far-right corner, putting UMHB on top by 10 with 4:29 to go. The Wildcats started on their own 26 and made it to the 43 before a 10-yard sack from Gaige Sanders and Mason Cavness pushed them back to the 33. Morris caught his second interception of the day on the next play, ending the threat with offense back on the field at the 2:48 mark. 
 
UMHB used just 22 seconds on that drive after a trio of timeouts from Linfield and defense went back out with 2:26 to play. Eaton completed a pass to Caleb Woodcock for 23 yards on the first play before a pass breakup from Durand Hill made it second and 10. Eaton found Connor Wolfe for eight yards before the two-minute timeout stalled the drive again. McNabb rushed for three yards before suffering a six-yard sack, courtesy of James Wright. That play was later ruled intentional grounding and after another incompletion, Wright got another sack, this one for 14 yards on fourth down to seal the game for the Cru. 
 
UMHB totaled 289 yards of offense with 173 on the ground. Osbourn led the Cru with 102 yards on 17 attempts and a score while Kamerin Ferguson added 55. Jake Wright threw for 116 yards on eight completions with A.J. Williams III, Osbourn and Jerry Day, Jr. each tallying two grabs. 
 
Durand Hill led the Cru with nine tackles, eight solo, while Joey Johnson also added seven solo tackles with one tackle for loss. James Wright had a great day on the front line, making seven tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Morris added six tackles with two interceptions and a forced fumble while UMHB totaled six tackles and 11 tackles for loss. 
 
Edwin Lopez was a key factor on the Cru special teams, averaging 39.3 yards per punt on a wet day with a 49-yard long. He was also 4-for-4 on point-after attempts and averaged 55 yards per kickoff. 
 
The win marked the Cru's first win in McMinnville after suffering losses in 2009 and 2015. UMHB returns to action on Saturday, December 14^th in the NCAA Quarterfinals in a noon contest against John's Hopkins University in Baltimore.