By Bradley Melchor, sports editor
The No.12 ranked University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders traveled south to San Antonio Saturday afternoon to face off against the No.4 ranked Trinity Tigers in their second contest of the season.
The Tigers came out of the gate swinging, scoring a touchdown on their first two possessions of the game while holding the Crusaders scoreless for the first quarter, giving the Tigers a 14-0 lead going into the second quarter.
The Cru started off the second period much better than the first, with senior running back Kenneth Cormier Jr. capping off a nine play drive with a three yard rushing touchdown to cut the deficit in half.
Trinity wasted no time in responding however, as they reestablished their 14 point lead with another touchdown on their next possession.
The Crusaders were once again able to cut into the lead with a successful 31 yard field goal from sophomore kicker Jack Bruner.
The UMHB defense held strong over the Tigers next two possessions, and the Cru cut the lead to five when sophomore quarterback Isaac Phe connected with senior running back Kenneth Miller Jr. for an eight yard touchdown to make the score 21-16 heading into the halftime break.
The score remained close for the majority of the third quarter, with neither defense giving up points until the Tigers capitalized off of a block point, as they scored another touchdown to re-extend their lead to 28-16 going into the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, while the Crusaders defense was able to prevent the Tigers from scoring for the majority of the fourth quarter, the Crusaders could not cut into the Tigers lead and were held scoreless in the fourth quarter. Trinity punctuated their victory with one final touchdown with less than a minute remaining in the game, extending their lead to 35-16, the final score of the game.
After the game Coach Harmon spoke to us and said, “I’m proud of the effort levels the team showed, they came in and fought hard. We put ourselves in good positions and made some plays but ultimately a couple mistakes can be very costly against teams like Trinity. We know what we’re capable of and now we just need to believe in ourselves and the results will come.”
The Crusaders will look to bounce back and capture their first win of the new season when they host the No.8 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday at 12 p.m at Crusader Stadium.
