BELTON — An oak tree. That was the analogy UMHB head coach Larry Harmon used when talking about his hard-nosed, playoff-tested squad on Monday morning. And it was a fitting comparison.
It seems that no team still standing amongst the eight national quarterfinalists has gone through as many highs and lows over the course of this past season as UMHB. They opened the season with a disappointing loss at NAIA Bethel (TN), but bounced back in Week 3 with one of the most noteworthy regular season wins in recent program history. They fought through a unique double-round robin ASC schedule, and two frustrating losses to Hardin-Simmons, which at the time seemed as though it could be the final broken straw in UMHB’s quest for a playoff berth. But there they were, listed 11th amongst the 12 at-large teams in the playoff field hours after defeating Howard Payne in convincing fashion on the final day of the regular season. And since then, it’s seemingly been full steam ahead, a postseason run for the history books that has earned the attention of the Division III community nationwide.
“We’ve been through the storm and weathered it, so we feel like we’ve got a pretty strong base to build on,” Harmon told the media earlier in the week. “We feel like we’re that big ol’ oak tree that, through the process of growing, has survived all of the hardships; wind, storms, and rain. We’re just going to continue to keep growing.”
The growth has been evident to those who have watched the last three Saturdays unfold. All have been tight wins, none with a margin of more than 10 points. In the case of the last two, against Hardin-Simmons and Linfield, the wins have come against Top 15 nationally-ranked opponents with high playoff expectations. Comparing, for example, the first meeting against Hardin-Simmons on Oct. 12 to the 17-13 win two weeks ago in Abilene feels like night and day. A shift has occurred, it seems. There’s no question that the talent was there in the first meeting against HSU, but the approach and energy has made significant steps forward.
“Every week we’re getting better,” Harmon said. “What’s fun is that we have a lot more energy at practice now than we did six weeks ago.
“Our kids are a bunch of sponges right now. They’re coming in asking, ‘What about this? What about that?’ They’re really paying attention to the little details that are important to get a pre-snap read and pre-snap knowledge of what you’re going to do. So in that aspect, we’re starting to gel pretty good. I’m excited about the direction we’re going. But we haven’t played our best game.”
They’ll have a chance to take yet another step in that direction in Baltimore on Saturday afternoon. After flying 2,500 miles to the West Coast for a 28-18 third-round win over Linfield, The Cru is now aiming at a coast-to-coast sweep, going 1,500 miles to the eastern shore, facing Johns Hopkins (11-1) at 12 p.m. ET in the national quarterfinals. The winner then moves on to a Dec. 21 duel against either Mount Union or Salisbury, with a spot in the Stagg Bowl at stake.
The JHU matchup presents a differing storyline to the “past history” conversation that has been at play in each of The Cru’s last three playoff contests. UMHB had faced Trinity in each of the previous three seasons before matching up with the Tigers in the first round. The history of battles with Hardin-Simmons goes without saying; it’s written throughout the pages of UMHB’s program record books. And Linfield in the third round brought back old memories of Stagg Bowl runs in 2016 and 2021.
But JHU? The Blue Jays are entirely new. Never have the two met on the gridiron, despite each acheiving considerable success through the past decade. Since the start of the 2010 season, the Blue Jays are 141-22, and in 2018, JHU went all the way to the national semifinals, falling to Mount Union. Just last season, the Blue Jays won 12 straight games, before Randolph-Macon tripped them up in the quarterfinal round.
“It creates some excitement, but there’s also some anxiety,” Harmon said Monday, when asked about the dynamic of facing a brand-new opponent in such a key stage of the season. “We worked late last night and we came in awful early this morning, just to try to figure out who these guys are and what they’re about.”
It isn’t an entirely new situation for Harmon and his staff. In 2022, UMHB hosted Bethel (MN) in the national quarterfinals at Crusader Stadium, as The Cru scored 24 of the final 31 points to win, 41-28. That marked the first time in program history UMHB had faced Bethel.
In many respects, UMHB and JHU seem to match up similarly. Both rely heavily on their exceptional defenses, with each ranking in the Top 60 nationally in total defensive yardage and in the Top 40 in rushing defense. Neither has allowed more than 20 points per game this season, with UMHB at 19.1 (17.7 PPG in the playoffs) and JHU at 11.3, which ranks third in Division III. 11 of the Blue Jays’ 12 opponents this season have been held at least 10 points below their scoring average, as the JHU defense limited nine of its opponents to 13 points or less, most recently holding DePauw to just nine points in last week’s 14-9 victory.
Points should be hard to come by in this one, not unlike UMHB’s three previous playoff victories. The Cru is more than prepared to execute on both sides of the ball in tight, late-game situations.
“As far as last week’s game, after watching the film, we definitely had our mistakes that we need to get corrected,” Harmon said. “But we’re playing with a lot of confidence right now, we’re playing very physical, and we’re playing incredibly hard. We feel like we’re pretty battle-tested so close games, momentum swings, tough game situations, aren’t bothering us.”
All-Region Honorees
Five Crusaders were selected to D3football.com’s All-Region 3 team on Wednesday afternoon, highlighted by First-Team selections for Durand Hill and Mason Cavness. Hill, a linebacker who leads The Cru in tackles (93) and ranked first in the ASC in regular season interceptions (3), earned his third-straight First Team All-Region selection. Cavness, a defensive tackle, has 12.5 tackles for loss thus far, 3.5 of which have come in the playoffs. It marks Cavness’ first All-Region honor.
Joining the two stalwart defenders on the list of All-Region standouts were offensive linemen Kyle Wente and Eric Teutsch. Wente, a Second Team selection, and Teutsch, a Third Team selection, each recorded grades of 90% or better. Wente had 11 pancake blocks in nine regular season games, and Teutsch, who played in eight games, added seven pancake blocks.
Samuel Steffe was the third member of UMHB’s defense to earn recognition, as the cornerback was named to the Third Team. A transfer from D2 Southwest Baptst, Steffe made an immediate impact, with two regular season interceptions and 22 solo tackles.
Read more on UMHB’s All-Region selections in Wednesday’s story from the UMHB Athletics Department.
Follow the Action
Saturday’s contest will be streamed live from Baltimore at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN+ (requires subscription). Ward Whites (play-by-play) and Jordan Cox (color commentary) will have the radio broadcast locally on KMIL 105.1 FM and on cruathletics.com/listen.
Good Luck Cru!!!
We’re proud of your tremendous growth and stellar effort!