True To The Cru managing editor Riley Zayas contributed this recent feature to D3football.com on the upcoming second round playoff matchup between UMHB and Trinity and the connections between the two opponents. For the second straight year, the Top 10 programs will battle in the postseason. Below is an excerpt of the full-length feature. To read the full article, visit the link below.
Jerheme Urban isn’t one for moral victories. Or dwelling on last year’s results. He’s not going to hang his hat on a game played almost exactly a year ago. Because he doesn’t have to.
On Nov. 20, 2021, Trinity (Texas) made its first appearance in the postseason since 2011, having won the Southern Athletic Association title outright under Urban, a former NFL wide receiver who, as a player under Trinity coach Steve Mohr, led the Tigers to what remains their only Stagg Bowl appearance, in 2002. For four quarters, Urban’s squad challenged heavily favored UMHB in Belton, before a late touchdown from the Crusaders sealed a 13-3 win for the hosts, who would win their next four games by a margin of 172-62.
Trinity gained national notice for how well it battled the eventual national champion, holding an explosive offense mostly dormant. And that performance brought about additional expectations heading into 2022. It was the result some pointed to when explaining the reason for Trinity’s top 10 ranking to open the season. But no longer is that narrow loss the shining point on its resume. Trinity beat then-No. 8 Wheaton in a week two overtime thriller and strong SAA rivals in Berry and Birmingham-Southern, running through the regular season with a flawless 10-0 mark.
“It was a great step for the program, to win the conference title outright, but I’ll be honest, we really just hammer the here and now,” Urban said Tuesday. “I’m not a moral victory type of guy. We don’t want to be known for who we lose to.”
As fate would have it, Trinity will get another shot at UMHB, when the two Lone Star state powers battle in Saturday’s second round in San Antonio. But whether it be UMHB or not, whether the narrative of a rematch and revenge is at play, Trinity comes off its first playoff win in program history in two decades with a rather stoic mentality.
“I think the cool thing to look at is how much work has gone in since the clock struck zero back in Belton last year,” Trinity quarterback Tucker Horn. “There’s been so much planning, so many throw sessions and lift sessions. A lot of things have gone into the process of getting back to this point.
“We’re not looking ahead, we’re not looking at the past. We’re just trying to go 1-0. Every week presents its own individual set of opportunities.”
One hundred and sixty miles north, up I-35, through the state’s capital of Austin, and into the heart of central Texas, Aphonso Thomas is also thinking about the opportunities before him, those of UMHB, and the senior class he is a part of. No team still standing in these playoffs have more players involved in a Stagg Bowl than UMHB does, with 30 returners from last year’s squad that won the national title in convincing fashion.
