Photo courtesy of ETBU Athletics
Three games down, seven to go. And six will be in American Southwest Conference play. The first of those six for No. 21 UMHB (1-2) comes on Saturday in Marshall, Texas, where The Cru squares off against East Texas Baptist (4-0) in a 1 p.m. kickoff.
The non-conference contests have been important for several reasons; an opportunity to face high-caliber competition, build depth, and learn some hard lessons, to just name a few. But the conference schedule is where everything needs to come together. The easiest way to secure a playoff bid is by winning the ASC outright, and that’s exactly what the Crusaders have their sights set on heading into their second straight week on the road.
But ETBU stands in the way. This is a program led by third-year head coach Calvin Ruzicka, who has progressively gotten the Tigers back to a place where they enter the conference opener with a perfect 4-0 record in tow. They’ve got a balanced offense capable of explosive plays, a defense with several experienced playmakers, and a team that walks into its third home game with confidence.
And such is this matchup summarized in a few sentences. ETBU is looking to keep its unblemished record intact, while UMHB aims to get back in the win column for the first time since Sept. 6. Adding higher stakes to Saturday’s duel is the element of conference play, and the anticipation that brings.
So, what should you know about UMHB’s first ASC opponent of 2025? Glad you asked. Here’s a look at the ETBU Tigers.
The Tigers are 4-0, but still looking for their first big win
Make no mistake about it, a 4-0 start is a tremendous step forward for this program under Ruzicka. It’s the first time since 2016, when current UTEP head coach Scotty Walden was leading the program, that the Tigers have opened a campaign with four consecutive victories. In those four wins, ETBU averaged 37.3 points and surrendered just 15.5 to its opponents, with three of the wins coming by 17 points or more.
But for as notable as ETBU carrying a perfect record into the ASC opener is, context is needed. Not all wins are built the same, and it’s why the Tigers remain on the prowl for their first true resume-building victory in what could be a special season in Marshall.
To this point, they’ve beaten Lyon, Oklahoma Panhandle State, Centenary, and Texas Lutheran, none of whom currently hold a winning record. Together, the quartet is a combined 3-10 in 2025. And while beating TLU on the road, 24-21, may initially turn some heads considering the Bulldogs were a playoff team last fall, the reality is that TLU isn’t the same team. The Bulldogs haven’t had veteran quarterback Caden Bosanko since Week 1, forcing true freshman Reece Deitrick to start under center, and are 0-3 at home after going 5-0 at home in 2024.
All of that context makes this one against UMHB mean that much more. It’s a chance for ETBU to prove itself against a Top 25 opponent at home, and an opportunity to add some validity to the 4-0 start. Nationally, just 12 teams are 4-0 heading into Saturday, but you can only put so much stock into the record when those wins have come against a weak non-conference slate. This is an impressive team with plenty of momentum, but it’s also a hungry team with plenty more to prove.
ETBU keeps it on the ground and churns up plenty of positive yardage doing so
When ETBU faced off against UMHB twice last season, the strength of the Tiger offense was in the playmaking capability of freshman quarterback Kaden Brown, the eventual ASC Co-Offensive Player of the Year who transferred to FBS Louisiana Tech in the spring. With Brown’s dual-threat skill set and several experienced receivers on the outside of the formation, ETBU threw the ball to the tune of 273.7 yards per game.
But that’s not the case in 2025.
This version of the Tiger offense relies on the run game, and more specifically, junior running back Paul Woodard. A fixture in the ASC since his freshman year in 2023, to say the Freeport, Texas product has gotten off to a quick start this fall would be an understatement. Through four games, Woodard has four 100-yard rushing performances, including a season-best 169 yards on 22 carries this past Saturday in the narrow win at TLU.
With still six regular season games to go, he sits at 596 yards, a mark that is the fourth-best in Division III and on pace to challenge the program’s single-season record of 1,677, set by RoShawn Johnson in 2003. Of his 69 carries this season, 68 have gone for positive yardage, with Woodard averaging an astounding 8.6 yards/carry as the Tigers’ primary tailback. That average ranks fifth in Division III.
And it’s not just Woodard that UMHB will be tasked with slowing down. He averages 17.25 carries/game, but to this point, ETBU’s offense has averaged 41.0 rushing attempts/game, meaning there are still nearly 24 more carries coming from other ballcarriers. Those have been primarily taken by senior Jordan Woodard—a former UMHB RB who played in five games for The Cru in 2023—and freshman Bryson Linnear. Jordan Woodard averages 5.7 yards/carry and has 39 rushing attempts this season for 224 yards, while Linnear is already closing in on 200 yards (187 yds), despite having just 15 carries this fall. That backfield trio makes ETBU’s ground game especially dangerous; the Tigers have rushed for at least 270 yards in three of their four games, including 481 in the season-opening win over Lyon.
The nation’s leader in sacks lines up on ETBU’s defense
Again, you can’t base everything off ETBU’s stats through its first four games, but there is no doubt that 6-foot-7, 232-pound defensive end Dominick Williams is a legitimate wrecking ball up front, both when it comes to stopping the run and putting pressure on the quarterback. The senior defensive end has more sacks than any other player in college football to this point—yes, that includes FBS, FCS, D2, NAIA, and D3—with 8.0 through four games, with seven of those eight being recorded as solo sacks.
That stat alone tells you all you need to know. Williams has the speed and strength to cause havoc in the backfield, and has done so with consistency in the early part of this season. Over the last three weeks in wins over OPSU, Centenary, and TLU, the Houston native has tallied at least 3.5 tackles for loss in every game, bringing his season total to 12.0. Only one other player in Division III has more tackles for loss than Williams, and none have set the opponent back as many yards as Williams has, with his 12.0 TFL leading to 69 yards lost.
But none of this should come as a surprise to those who have been around the ASC for the last few years. Since a breakout sophomore campaign in which he tallied 10.5 tackles for loss, there’s been little doubt that Williams is at the forefront of the conversation as far as the conference’s best defensive linemen go. An All-ASC defensive end in each of the previous two seasons, and a D3football.com All-Region honoree last fall, Williams appears to be well on his way to an All-America campaign in his final year with the Tigers.
The youngest coordinator in Division III is at the helm of ETBU’s offense
When offensive coordinator Ryan Smith left Marshall in mid-January to take the head coaching job at Grapevine High School, it left a void on ETBU’s staff. Rather than going outside of the program for its next OC, Ruzicka stayed internal, promoting 22-year old Jeb Spinney to the role.
Consequently, it made Spinney the youngest coordinator in Division III (as far as we’re aware) entering the 2025 season, as he follows in the footsteps of former ETBU head coach Scotty Walden, who was just 23 when he took the reins of the Tiger offense in 2013.
But Spinney has tenure on this ETBU coaching staff, having spent the last four years with the program as he worked towards his degree, graduating in December 2024. In 2021 and 2022, the Haughton, Louisiana native worked with the linebackers, before switching to offense in 2023 and 2024, working with the team’s running backs and linebackers.
That experience has proven to be valuable, and it’s also obvious Spinney is a rising talent in coaching, especially if his first four games as ETBU’s OC are any indication. The Tigers rank No. 1 in the ASC in total offense (480.3 YPG), rushing offense (313.5 YPG), first downs (21.5/game), and red zone TDs (11 on 20 trips to the red zone).
“Being a part of ETBU the past seven years, I wanted to find an offensive coordinator that was Tiger Football,” Ruzicka said when Spinney’s hiring was announced on January 29. “Someone who knew ETBU, our offensive identity, the desire to develop relationships with the players and staff, and what it meant to be East Texas Tough. Jeb Spinney is that person.”
The Tigers start a true freshman under center
One of the things that has made Spinney’s play-calling and offensive schemes impressive through the first month of the season is the fact that ETBU starting quarterback Shai Markajani is one of the youngest starters on the offense. The San Antonio native won the starting job, and standing at 6-foot-6, 216 pounds, he’s certainly an imposing presence in the pocket.
But his inexperience is also a factor, especially when going up against more veteran defenses. As mentioned above, most of ETBU’s offensive production has come on the ground so far, though the passing game isn’t at all absent from the gameplan. The Tigers average 22.25 passing attempts per game, with Markajani having thrown for at least 140 yards in three of ETBU’s four games.
Thus far, it’s been a mixed bag of sorts for the freshman QB, who has 7 passing TDs and 676 yards, but has also thrown 5 interceptions, including four over the last two weeks. Even last week’s win over TLU was a microcosm of that, as Markajani completed just six passes for a season-low 137 yards, but also completed a 69-yard TD pass on ETBU’s first drive—the Tigers’ longest passing play of the season to this point. Only a week earlier, he was 20-of-29 passing for 214 yards—both season-highs—but that also came with throwing three interceptions.
The extent to which Markajani is used in the passing game has differed from week-to-week, seemingly based on the approach of the defense. Regardless, his performance will be one to watch in the ASC opener on Saturday, especially going up against the toughest defense he has faced as ETBU’s starter.
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