Against a relentless run game, defensive pressure, No. 6 UMHB falls to No. 16 UW-Whitewater, 26-6

Photo by Luke Zayas/@lukezayas_photography

BELTON — In sixth-ranked UMHB’s Week 1 win over Bethel, the third quarter turned the tide in favor of the Crusaders, a pair of 70-yard touchdowns pushing them in front for good as the defense buckled down. But on Saturday, with national attention on their Top 25 duel with No. 16 UW-Whitewater, the third quarter instead turned out to be precisely what broke them.

In an ode to UW-Whitewater teams of old, the Warhawks ran the ball at a methodical pace in the 15 minutes coming out of halftime, a finely-tuned machine in no hurry, yet relentless in their approach. Against a worn-down Crusader defensive front, UWW continually cut through the line and into the open field, slowly diminishing UMHB’s hopes of a second-half comeback.

Their first drive of the third quarter spanned 6:04, going 70 yards to the end zone in 11 plays. Their second stretched even further, an 80-yard touchdown drive that took 5:36 off the clock in 10 plays. And in between, there wasn’t much of a chance for any sort of counter from The Cru. UMHB held possession for all of 2:27, going only 25 yards in five plays before punting it back to the Warhawks.

What had been a one-score game at the half—UWW leading, 13-6—turned into a lopsided result. The visitors from the Midwest shut out UMHB in the final two quarters, winning decisively, 26-6. It marks the fewest points scored in a game by The Cru since the 2017 Stagg Bowl, a 12-0 shutout by Mount Union.

“We played about as bad as you can play in the first half and only be down 7,” UMHB head coach Larry Harmon noted postgame. “I thought we were in a good place, and I thought we made some adjustments. But what never came back was our energy.

“Credit to [UW-Whitewater]. They had a great game plan, they really brought it to us, and we weren’t up to the challenge. We have to figure out why and get it fixed for next week.”

In nearly every category, UWW held an advantage. Eight more first downs. Four fewer penalties. A 22% better conversion rate on third down. But none was as glaring as the disparity in the run game. The Warhawk offense, primarily behind the hard-nosed running of tailback Brian Stanton and dual-threat quarterback Justin Klinkner, averaged 5.1 yards per carry, churning up 255 yards and 15 first downs on the ground. UMHB managed just 60 yards and 2.9 yards per carry. And that was with The Cru running the ball 30 fewer times.

Those numbers point back to the underlying factor in UWW’s third-straight win inside Crusader Stadium: the battle on the line. Physicality and strength, traditionally the difference in past meetings between these longtime powerhouses, once again controlled the storyline. UWW’s offensive line paved the way for its run game, clearing lanes for its ballcarriers to surge ahead and break tackles for steady gains. Four different Warhawks had at least one carry for 13 yards or more, including Stanton’s 28-yard pick up to spark UWW’s first touchdown drive of the afternoon.

On the other side, UWW’s defensive front made certain its presence was felt up front, sacking quarterback Kirkland Michaux twice and limiting UMHB’s production on the ground. The Cru’s longest rushing gain went for just 12 yards.

“We want to play the game the right way,” UWW head coach Jace Rindahl, who is 2-1 as a head coach against UMHB, said afterwards. “We believe that’s physical. We believe that’s relentless. We believe that’s smart, disciplined, poised. I think teams that can control the line of scrimmage and protect the football are usually playing a lot of games at the end of the year. That’s what we try to do. That’s what we coach every day.”

Harmon expressed a similar sentiment when talking through the performance. UWW’s dominance at the line of scrimmage set the Warhawks up to wrestle away more and more control as the game unfolded.

“We lost the trench war on both sides of the ball the whole day,” Harmon said. “We were dominated up front on both sides of the football. And then we had it compounded by hurting ourselves in critical situations, like jumping offsides. We beat ourselves.”

UWW took its first lead with 8:43 in the first quarter, just under two minutes after forcing a second UMHB punt. Each of the Cru’s first two drives ended after just three plays, and UWW’s opening drive lasted only slightly longer, with four plays amassing 16 yards. But the Warhawk offense took charge in its second opportunity, which began just 41 yards from the end zone after a short punt. Stanton ran for 28 yards and into the red zone, setting up Klinkner’s seven-yard touchdown pass on third down just three plays later.

The Warhawks led from that point until the final whistle, though they didn’t get back into the end zone for the remainder of the first half, forced to settle for a pair of short field goals from Seth Adams on their next two trips deep into Crusader territory.

Those two stands by the UMHB defense were an optimistic sign. Even as the offense struggled moving the ball, The Cru answered when their backs were to the wall. Early in the second quarter, UWW marched fairly quickly to the UMHB 2-yard line, and faced 3rd-and-goal. But when Klinkner tried to run it across the goal line himself, he was met with a force, driven back for a two-yard loss. On UWW’s very next drive, the Warhawks reached the UMHB 17-yard line, but came away with only a field goal thanks to a leaping third-down pass breakup by Samuel Steffe.

It was in the middle of those two red zone defensive stands that the Crusader offense also found a rhythm for what turned out to be the only time in the afternoon. Down 10-0,

Michaux followed Kamerin Ferguson’s 12-yard run with four straight completions in a convincing five-play, 75-yard drive that also included what will undoubtedly go down as one of UMHB’s best catches of the 2025 season.

Exactly one play after hitting Myller Royals for a 21-yard completion, sophomore receiver Luke Vidal sprinted down the sideline, creating a bit of distance between him and UWW defensive back Carter Sessa. Michaux lofted the ball towards the end zone, and as it spiraled down, Sessa lunged backwards, deflecting it with his left hand. It was enough to alter the ball’s trajectory, but not to keep it out of Vidal’s hands. Vidal stayed fixated on the ball, juggling it with his left hand before pulling down the 32-yard touchdown pass in a SportsCenter-worthy catch that garnered a roar from the home crowd with 5:49 left in the second quarter.

Are you kidding me Luke Vidal?! #UMHB #gocru #sportscentertop10 @SportsCenter pic.twitter.com/CU3Gne3OWm
— Shahji Adam (@ShahjiAdam) September 20, 2025

But that momentum proved to be short-lived. The Cru’s next four drives resulted in a pair of punts and two turnovers on downs, with the offense tallying just 85 yards through the second half. Michaux and Seth Mouser combined to complete just 7-of-14 passes for 48 yards in that span.

That output contrasted with UWW’s 212-yard second-half showing tells the story of the final two quarters on both sides of the ball. The Warhawks’ physicality seemed amplified as the minutes ticked away, and despite finding themselves in 12 third-down situations over the third and fourth quarters, UWW stuck to what it did best: running the football. Largely because of Klinkler’s running ability from his spot at quarterback, the Warhawks converted on six of those 12 and were also 2-of-3 on fourth downs in that span. That included a crucial first down on UWW’s 80-yard touchdown drive in the third, as Klinkner faked a handoff on 4th & 1, and instead took it upfield himself for a 16-yard gain. That fourth-down conversion ended up giving way to Tyler Vasey’s 28-yard touchdown catch three plays later, giving UWW its 26-6 lead.

That sequence represented UWW’s offensive advantage in the second half. They threw it only when they wanted to, but were never in a situation where they had to, thanks to the consistency of the run game. That dynamic created a balance that proved difficult for UMHB to defend, creating long drives that chewed up the clock and kept the Crusader defense on the field while the offense stayed stuck on the sideline.

“They’re a lot more difficult than what they used to be,” Harmon said of matching up with UWW’s offense. “They’ve got zone going both ways out of pistol [formation], which they’ve never had before. They did a nice job. They know what they’re doing, and they know what they’re looking for. They made great adjustments. When we adjusted, they adjusted.”

So where does UMHB go from here? That will be the burning question for this next week leading into The Cru’s trip to Division II Mars Hill University (NC) on Sept. 27. Last season, the 35-17 win over UW-Whitewater kept UMHB in the at-large bid conversation for the national playoffs, even after finishing second to Hardin-Simmons in the ASC standings. But The Cru won’t have that same luxury this season, and Harmon made that point clear in his postgame message.

“We know what we’ve got to do,” Harmon said, acknowledging that the loss adds a bit of urgency heading into ASC play on Oct. 4. “We better get this thing righted pretty quick or it’s going to go south.”

Senior running back Asa Osbourn, who ran for a team-high 24 yards on nine carries, spoke to that mentality as well. “Is this a wake-up call?”, he was asked shortly afterwards.

“This is a wake-up call, but it’s going to be the only wake-up call,” Osbourn responded. “We’re going to be set from here on out.”