Photo of UMHB RB Asa Osbourn by Luke Zayas/@lukezayas_photography
MARSHALL, Texas — No. 21 UMHB came into the second half on Saturday afternoon in desperate need of a spark.
Trailing ETBU, 28-21, in the ASC opener, The Cru had struggled to contain the Tigers through much of the first two quarters. A run-heavy team through its first four games, ETBU instead went to the air, challenging—and winning—one-on-one matchups downfield as the Tigers threw for 204 yards in the first half alone. A pair of costly turnovers by the Crusader offense didn’t help things. Neither did UMHB’s final offensive drive ending with receiver Luke Vidal tackled inbounds, a mere three yards from the goal line, as the clock ran out on a potential game-tying drive.
But in just two drives, all of that changed. The seven-point deficit became a seven-point lead, the defense found its rhythm again, and ETBU’s upset threat was soon dismissed. The Cru shut down the Tiger offense in the second half while putting together three touchdown drives of its own, en route to a much-needed 42-28 road win in East Texas.
With its first win since Sept. 6, The Cru (2-2, 1-0 ASC) both snapped a two-game losing skid and won its conference opener for the 26th consecutive season, simultaneously dealing ETBU (4-1, 0-1 ASC) its first loss of 2025. The win sets up a Top 25 showdown in Abilene on Oct. 11, as the ASC’s two first-place teams—UMHB and Hardin-Simmons—face off for the first time this fall.
ETBU’s explosive plays off turnovers headlined the first half
The Tiger offense opened the game with a 13-play, 78-yard touchdown drive, capped by Keegan Davis’ 1-yard rushing score for a 7-0 lead. One quarter later, Shai Markajani’s 38-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Chambers closed an eight-play, 65-yard drive, giving ETBU a 21-14 advantage. Both were prime examples of ETBU’s offensive capability, as the Tigers used their run game while mixing in mid-level completions, primarily to Chambers.
But between those two drives were a pair of key momentum swings that ultimately shaped the storyline of the first half.
One possession after tying the score at 7-7 on Kamerin Ferguson’s 8-yard rushing touchdown, UMHB’s offense stepped back on the field in search of its first lead. But instead of scoring again, Ferguson fumbled on the ETBU 46-yard line, with the loose ball recovered just shy of midfield by ETBU safety Mason Stancliff. It took almost no time for the Tigers to capitalize on the takeaway, with Markajani dropping back on ETBU’s first play, immediately finding Chase Walker running free on a seam route up the middle of the field. The senior receiver made an over-the-shoulder catch and ran the last 15 yards to the end zone, giving the Tigers a 54-yard touchdown reception that put them back in the lead, 14-7.
That sort of turnover-to-touchdown swing happened again late in the second quarter in yet another tied-game situation. Running a two-minute offense with an opportunity to take the lead, UMHB quarterback Kirkland Michaux completed passes of 12 and 13 yards to Vidal and Will McClintock before misfiring on a pass that was intercepted by ETBU’s Cole Confessore. One play later, ETBU broke the 21-21 tie, as Markajani showcased his arm strength, lofting a deep 53-yard pass over the heads of two Crusader defensive backs and into the hands of Chambers in the end zone.
By the time ETBU headed to halftime, 14 of the Tigers’ 28 points, and 107 of their 204 passing yards, had come on the two plays immediately following UMHB’s turnovers.
The tide turned in the third quarter
Against both UW-Whitewater and Mars Hill, the third quarter proved to be notable, and not in a good way, as the UWW and MHU offenses pulled away in the 15 minutes coming out of the halftime intermission. But on Saturday, it was UMHB’s offense that found traction in that juncture, and the Crusaders wasted no time in doing so.
With Seth Mouser—No. 2 on the depth chart entering the game—inserted at quarterback, The Cru used a pair of solid completions and a heavy dose of running to score on consecutive drives for the first time this season, eventually taking a 35-28 lead with 3:54 left in the quarter.
The shift in momentum started with the defense, however, and fortitude from the Crusader defensive line. ETBU, holding a 28-21 lead, opened the second half with the ball and marched down to the UMHB 31-yard line in just seven plays. But it was there that The Cru held their ground. Izeal Jones and Devon Freitag held Paul Woodard—the ASC’s leading rusher coming into Saturday—to a 2-yard gain on first down, followed by Lynford Noriega’s tackle for loss on second down. With an empty backfield on third down, Markajani felt the pressure of the UMHB pass rush, and made a hurried throw that fell incomplete. That sequence led to a missed 48-yard field goal that put the ball back in the hands of UMHB’s offense, and more importantly, kept ETBU from adding to its lead.
The very next play saw UMHB running back Asa Osbourn pick up 32 yards, sparking a key six-play, 69-yard scoring drive that culminated with Seth Mouser’s 13-yard touchdown pass to B.J. Stewart.
Now in a 28-28 tie, ETBU again drove its way deep into UMHB territory, but for the second-straight time, the Crusaders refused to fold. Facing 4th & 1 from the UMHB 22-yard line, the Tigers gambled, keeping the offense on the field and handing it off to Davis. But he was driven back by Te’Ron Brown and Trevor Tamplin, stopped two yards behind the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs.
This time, UMHB crossed the goal line in just three plays, with a pair of solid rushing gains from Osbourn as the bookends. In between, Mouser found Vidal on a crossing route over the middle, and the speedy sophomore did the rest, running for nearly 50 yards after the catch. Vidal’s 67-yard catch set up Osbourn’s 5-yard rushing touchdown, as The Cru stormed back to go in front, completely altering the game’s outlook from that point on. UMHB scored on its next drive with Osbourn again carrying the ball across the goal line, permanently extending the lead to 14.
Over those two drives, Mouser was 2-for-2 passing for 80 yards, while Osbourn picked up 61 yards on five carries, an average of 12.2 yards/attempt.
Behind Ferguson and Osbourn, the run game found consistent success
In each of the previous two weeks, UMHB had considerable difficulty running the ball, held to just 60 yards on 21 carries (2.9 yards/attempt) against UW-Whitewater and only 42 yards on 29 carries (1.4 yards/attempt) at Mars Hill. Heading into Saturday’s ASC opener, the backfield’s total rushing production for the season sat at 246 yards…over 12 quarters of football.
But in four quarters against ETBU, The Cru exceeded that total, rushing for 284 yards on a season-high 41 carries. The last time UMHB ran for over 280 yards in a game? Oct. 7, 2023 in a win at Texas Lutheran (294 yds). Of UMHB’s six touchdowns, four came on the ground, with three from Osbourn, who ran for a career-high 130 yards on 16 carries. Ferguson added 100 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown of his own, as ETBU struggled to hold back the Crusader rushing attack.
This was an ETBU defense that came into Saturday averaging 9.0 tackles for loss per game, a mark that ranked No. 8 in the country. But of the five non-quarterbacks who carried the ball for The Cru, not one was tackled behind the line of scrimmage at any point, and that consistent positive yardage slowly wore down ETBU’s defensive front.
The run game proved to be a centerpiece in all six of UMHB’s scoring drives, and in each of the four quarters, The Cru averaged no less than 5.0 yards per carry. That was highlighted by a 9.8 yards/carry average in the 14-point third quarter, as the run game accounted for nine of UMHB’s 12 offensive plays, tallying 88 yards.
ETBU was limited to a season-low 123 rushing yards
On the other side, ETBU’s rushing attack had been the focal point of the Tiger offense in its 4-0 start, averaging 312.5 yards per game. But unlike UMHB’s backfield, the Tigers were quiet on the ground for much of the day, and once the Crusader secondary adjusted to ETBU’s passing game, the explosive plays through the air that stole the spotlight in the first half went away rather quickly.
In the end, that dynamic resulted in ETBU being held scoreless in the second half, throwing for just 68 yards and running for 58. But the run game never truly found much traction against UMHB’s front seven. Their longest gain on the ground went for only 13 yards on a carry by Paul Woodard and an offense that was averaging 7.6 yards/rush managed just 3.4 against The Cru.
Individually, The Cru keyed in on Woodard, who had run for over 100 yards in each of the Tigers’ first four games. While Woodard remained ETBU’s leading rusher on Saturday, picking up 73 yards on 20 carries, UMHB held him well below his season average of 148.3. Without Woodard’s consistent gains, ETBU was unable to rely on its run game in the way it had in previous weeks, and it impacted the offense’s ability to sustain drives, especially once the explosive passing plays diminished in the second half.
| Box Score | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| UMHB | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
| ETBU | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
Stat Leaders
UMHB
Passing: Kirkland Michaux (15/24, 195 yds, TD, INT), Seth Mouser (5/8, 93 yds, TD, INT)
Rushing: Asa Osbourn (16 carries, 130 yds, 3 TD), Kamerin Ferguson (15 carries, 100 yds, TD)
Receiving: Luke Vidal (6 receptions, 101 yds), B.J. Stewart (7 receptions, 98 yds)
Tackles: Izeal Jones (13 tackles, 5 solo, 0.5 TFL), Samuel Steffe (7 tackles, 5 solo)
Interceptions: Samuel Steffe (6:10 4th quarter, first of the season)
ETBU
Passing: Shai Markajani (12/22, 270 yds, 3 TD, INT)
Rushing: Paul Woodard (20 carries, 73 yds), Jordan Woodard (13 carries, 47 yds)
Receiving: Kobe Chambers (4 receptions, 126 yds, 2 TD), Chase Walker (2 receptions, 81 yds, TD)
Tackles: Dominick Williams (10 tackles, 5 solo, 1.0 sack), Mason Stancliff (8 tackles, 0.5 TFL)
Interceptions: Cole Confessore (1:28 2nd quarter, 7:37 4th quarter)
Up Next
UMHB hits the road for the third consecutive week, facing 10th-ranked Hardin-Simmons at Shelton Stadium in Abilene. The Cowboys are 4-0, coming off a dominant 69-14 win over Howard Payne on Saturday in their ASC opener. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT in Abilene, as UMHB seeks its first regular season win over HSU since 2022.
