Postgame Analysis: UMHB Football scores twice in final five minutes to defeat ETBU, 42-28, in ASC opener

Photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru/LukeZayasMedia

BELTON — Isaac Phe and the UMHB offense trotted onto the field with just under 11 minutes left. 

Their determined mentality was evident. In this pivotal ASC opener against ETBU, The Cru went to halftime with a comfortable 27-14 lead, only for the Tigers to come roaring back. ETBU found the end zone with 2:21 in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to six. Moments before the Crusader offense stepped back onto the field, 86 yards standing between them and the goal line, ETBU had scored again, as quarterback Kaden Brown threaded the needle, perfectly-placing a 12-yard pass to Christian Walker between a pair of UMHB defenders. 

For the first time, ETBU held the lead. UMHB trailed 28-27. And The Cru hadn’t scored since Christopher Gacayan pulled down a high pass from Phe in the back left corner of the end zone with 1:24 in the second quarter. 

“I felt like we fell asleep in the second half,” Phe said after the final horn sounded on The Cru’s 42-28 victory. “Us seeing them take the lead there really woke us up. All the leaders on the offense, everyone on the offense, we were just saying, ‘We need to bow our necks. We’ve got to score here.’”

They answered the call. It wasn’t flashy-–the longest play of the 85-yard drive went for 18 yards—but it got the job done. Over the course of 15 plays, 11 on the ground and four through the air, UMHB methodically wore down the ETBU defense. There was little the Tigers could do to stall the offensive machine. 

“They were afraid of the big-play capability, so they were willing to give up five, six yards a run,” UMHB head coach Larry Harmon said afterward. “We stayed patient and wore them out.”

Kamerin Ferguson, Asa Osbourn, and Daunte Blake kept churning up yardage on running plays, never losing any ground. Behind an ever-improving offensive line, the run game was kicked into high gear on Saturday, accounting for a season-best 244 yards. By the time Blake carried the ball down to the ETBU 21-yard line, a four-yard gain, UMHB was well within striking distance. Offensive coordinator Andy Padron dialed up three straight passing plays, with the third giving UMHB back the lead. And the Crusaders never let go of it. 

On 2nd down and 7, Phe dropped back, avoiding the blitzing ETBU defense, and fired a pass to a diving AJ Williams III. The coverage from Tiger cornerback Andrae Gibson was tight, but Phe saw enough daylight. From 17 yards out, the sophomore quarterback put the ball where only Williams could reach it. 

“We had one-on-one coverage,” Phe noted. “AJ is a very good contested pass catcher. So I took a chance with him.” 

The touchdown—along with the two-point conversion on a run up the middle from Phe—put UMHB back in control, leading 35-28 with 4:17 to go. And it wasn’t just Williams who made the play happen. A key block from Ferguson on a blitzing ETBU linebacker was just as crucial, giving Phe time to find Williams en route to the end zone. 

“If Kam doesn’t do his job, if the O-Line doesn’t do its job, we’re not scoring on that specific play right there,” Phe added. 

A roar went up from the UMHB crowd when Williams secured the ball in the end zone. And it was only the beginning of a momentum-shifting turn of events. 

ETBU, ready to issue a counter, brought its offense back onto the field, seeking a game-tying drive in the final four minutes. But after a false start penalty that backed them up to their own 20-yard line, and a short pass that resulted in a three-yard loss, Brown took off running on 2nd & 18. He was five yards behind the line of scrimmage when the ball came loose, knocked out by UMHB’s Daniel Keith. Keith jumped on the ball on the Tigers’ 12-yard line, setting up Blake’s rushing touchdown one play later. In a matter of minutes, UMHB went from trailing by a point to leading by 14. 

ETBU’s attempt at a second-half comeback had done enough to give the Tigers a brief lead. But it wasn’t going to give them the win. 

“To have things not go your way, make some bad mistakes, and still be able to come back and find a way to get it done, you can’t help but be better next week because of it,” Harmon said. 

Next week sees Hardin-Simmons come to Belton. The nation’s seventh-ranked team. UMHB’s biggest, and longest-standing rival. A team that took down 12th-ranked Endicott on Saturday, 35-27. 

With that matchup ahead, Saturday’s performance was all the more notable. ETBU entered with the No. 1 offense in the country, averaging 599 yards per game. Sure, the Tigers’ numbers were somewhat inflated as a result of facing inferior competition, but there was no question about their explosive potential. ETBU’s first scoring play against The Cru spanned 78 yards on a pass from Brown to Trayjen Llanas-Wilcox. Their second? A 50-yard strike from Brown to Zay Thomas. And their fourth, the one that put ETBU in front, was set up by Jordan Woodard’s 60-yard run to the Cru’s 14-yard line. It was an outstanding carry up the middle that saw Woodard race into the open field, cut to his right and sprint down the sideline before Da’marion Morris pushed him out of bounds. 

But for much of the game, UMHB contained the high-powered attack of the Tigers. The Cru put consistent pressure on Brown, forced a number of negative-yardage running plays, and sacked Brown three times. Saturday was the first time this season that ETBU rushed for fewer than 200 yards—the Tigers had 117—and the Tigers’ 366 yards of total offense, while still a solid number, was considerably lower than its previous three performances. 

“We thought we had to not let them run it, where all they could do was throw it,” Harmon said of the defensive approach. “It was just ‘bend, don’t break,’ because they force you to defend the entire field, vertically and horizontally.”

Brown displayed his mobility multiple times against The Cru, throwing on the run as he scrambled out of the pocket. But he was under duress for much of the contest, not an ideal situation for a quarterback against a defense that tallied five interceptions two weeks prior. The pressure from UMHB’s defensive front paid dividends, forcing mistimed passes and stopping the run. 

“The Mary Hardin-Baylor defense has always prided ourselves on our front seven,” linebacker Johnny Smith-Rider, who had two tackles, noted. “That first game [against Bethel] was a little punch in the face. But since then, we’ve gotten back to our true selves.”

The same could be said for UMHB’s ability to simply run the ball. If there was one weak point against UW-Whitewater, it was in the rushing attack. No Crusader except for Ferguson had more than 13 positive rushing yards. And 96 of Ferguson’s 112 yards came on a touchdown run in the third quarter. 

The situation was far different on Saturday. Ferguson ran for 100 yards. Osbourn had 88. And Blake finished with 60. The last time UMHB rushed for more than 240 yards was against McMurry on Sept. 23, 2023. 

“Talking about what we needed to do as a team, we had to be able to control the clock,” Harmon said. “We had to be able to run the football to help the defense keep [ETBU’s] offense off the field.”

UMHB utilized an option pitch on several running plays, including Osbourn’s 18-yard gain on the go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Phe would take the snap, run to his right, and read the ETBU defensive end, who was responsible for making the tackle. Because UMHB also runs a passing play to the tight end out of the same formation, ETBU’s right side end was left in limbo, often trying to decipher the play coming at him. 

In those split-second moments with Phe carrying the ball and a running back flanked to his right, the right side end had to choose whether to go at either Phe or the running back. It created a situation in which UMHB had a 2-on-1 advantage, allowing Phe to pitch the ball to his running back as the ETBU defender closed in. Of all the schemes and running plays UMHB used against the Tigers, that proved effective multiple times, including in a couple of crucial third-down situations. 

“I’m running out and attacking [the right-side end] and playing off what he does,” Phe said. “We have fast enough running backs to get outside and [make the play when I pitch it].” 

And that seemed to be UMHB’s key offensively. Not much felt forced. The Cru took what the defense gave them, stringing together four drives of 50 yards or more. It started with Jerry Cephus’ over-the-shoulder catch on Isaac Phe’s first pass of the game and continued through the first half and into the second, with UMHB working the clock, running the ball, and taking advantage of passing opportunities when they presented themselves. Phe finished 17-of-27 for 212 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. 

The same was true, to some extent, for the defense. After forcing eight turnovers at Whitewater, UMHB found itself with a trio of fumble recoveries—two in the first half and one in the second. Two of the three led to touchdowns in a perfect example of good defense translating to positive offense. 

“Starting conference play, it was a big confidence booster,” Phe said of the win. 

Harmon agreed. 

“This is exactly what we needed with Hardin-Simmons coming to town next week.”