Photo by Luke Zayas/@lukezayas_photography
BELTON — After a momentary pause, American Southwest Conference action is back on the docket for UMHB this week.
The Cru played its final non-conference contest a week ago, hosting NAIA Texas Wesleyan in a 28-19 victory in which they led by as many as 22 points in the second half. It raised UMHB’s overall record to 3-3, as Larry Harmon’s squad now turns its attention back towards the all-important conference slate.
And up next on that slate is Howard Payne, the lone conference opponent that the Crusaders have not yet faced. In Round 1 of the ASC’s double round-robin league schedule, UMHB has already checked off trips to ETBU and Hardin-Simmons—going 1-1 in that stretch—and now gets three straight ASC home games to follow, starting this Saturday.
HPU comes into the week with identical records to UMHB—3-3 overall, 1-1 in the ASC—and on the heels of an open date that followed a statement-making 36-18 home win over ETBU, the Yellow Jackets aren’t a team to overlook. With a stellar senior running back, a new head coach, and an improved defense, HPU is riding momentum as the second half of the regular season is already well underway.
Now it will be up to UMHB to answer that intensity, just as The Cru did against a Texas Wesleyan squad that came to Belton having won its last three. In a must-win situation with playoff hopes on the line, the Crusaders have an opportunity to build more momentum of their own in front of a home crowd for the fourth time in 2025.
So what should you know about the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets? Glad you asked. Here’s a look at UMHB’s Week 7 opponent.
Blessing Ngene is the centerpiece of this offense
Most who have spent time around the ASC for the last half-decade or so will remember when HPU was an “air-raid” style offense with quarterback Landon McKinney regularly throwing for 350+ yards and Gus Charles making acrobatic catches downfield for sizable gains. In fact, during UMHB’s 2021 Stagg Bowl season, HPU was one of only two teams to take a double-digit lead against The Cru, initially going up 14-0 on TD passes of 70 and 35 yards from McKinney.
But that’s no longer the case in Brownwood. This is a run-first team now, and the heart and soul of the offense lines up at running back. Blessing Ngene, in his second year with Yellow Jackets, has been the go-to option for the HPU offense, rushing for 10 touchdowns through six games, a mark that ranks 12th in Division III. The Katy, Texas native comes into Saturday’s matchup averaging 92.3 rushing yards per game, a significant uptick from the 33.2 yards/game he averaged over eight contests in 2024. The difference? The offensive line appears to be improved this season, paving the way for the 5’10, 180-pound tailback. Ngene has developed as a more efficient runner as well. But it helps that he is also getting the ball in his hands a lot more. As HPU’s leading rusher in 2024, Ngene carried the ball an average of 8.5 times per game. In 2025? He’s averaging 16.8 carries per game. It should be no surprise then, that Ngene has been the main catalyst for the Yellow Jacket offense, a dynamic that was highlighted in HPU’s 36-18 win over ETBU two weeks ago. Against the Tigers, HPU QBs Bryce Still and Glendon Casas-Willis combined for just 15 passing attempts while Ngene carried the ball a season-high 25 times. The senior running back picked up 113 yards—his third-straight 100-yard day—and scored three TDs as the Yellow Jackets cruised to a key conference win.
Ngene doesn’t rely on breaking big gains to be effective on the ground—in three of HPU’s six games his longest carry has been no more than 14 yards. But he is consistent, averaging 5.5 yards per carry, and has a total of just 11 negative yards this season. It also should be noted that while he and HPU don’t necessarily rely on the long gains, Ngene is certainly capable of bursting through a seam and moving the ball 30+ yards on a single play. In HPU’s ASC opener, Ngene ran for a 67-yard TD against Hardin-Simmons; his longest carry of the season.
The offensive line has shown improvement
I mentioned above that the offensive line appears to be improved compared to last season, and Ngene’s rushing production has been proof of that. But what else points towards improvement? Pass protection.
In 2024, HPU’s O-Line surrendered 32.0 sacks in nine countable games, an average of 3.55 sacks/game. Through six games this season, that average has lowered immensely, to 1.5 sacks/game. And that’s with having already played Hardin-Simmons, Texas Lutheran, and McMurry, all of whom have experienced defensive fronts. Opposing defenses aren’t getting to the quarterback anywhere close to the rate at which they were last season, and while some of that is a shift towards the run game and away from the pass game, the pass protection does appear to be much more consistent.
It helps that three starters returned up front for HPU, in tackle Cutter Smith, center Dominik Reed, and tackle Behn Marin. Javier Mendez and Jaxon Shamlin have also stepped in at the two guard positions as returners who were on the roster in 2024 but did not start.
Consistency up front will only help the rest of the offense moving forwards, especially if freshman Bryce Still starts again at quarterback. Having a clean pocket and time to go through his progressions in what would be only his second career start has enormous value for a young quarterback. Combined with the importance of the run game for this offense, the Yellow Jackets’ ability to put together drives starts in the trenches with the play of its O-Line.
The HPU defense on 3rd and 4th down
Third down conversion rate. This is a padlock stat for the Yellow Jacket defense: they force plenty of third downs, and have no problem following through with stops. Through six games, five of HPU’s opponents have posted a third-down conversion rate below 50%, with Hardin-Simmons (11-of-15) being the lone exception. Against Pacific, Texas Lutheran, McMurry, Wayland Baptist, and ETBU, the Yellow Jacket defense has forced an average of 15.4 third downs per game. And of those 15.4, HPU surrendered first downs on just 4.2 of those third-down plays, with those five opponents converting on 32.8% of their third downs. On the season, HPU ranks No. 2 in the ASC in defensive third-down conversion percentage (36.6%), and is coming off a solid performance against ETBU in which the potent Tiger offense managed to go just 3-of-13 on third downs.
But it goes one step further. Because not only do the Yellow Jackets force third downs and put together stops in those crucial situations, but if an offense opts to stay on the field after one of those third-down stops, HPU’s defense has proven it is pretty effective there too. The Yellow Jackets have faced more fourth downs than any other ASC defense this season (25), yet rank No. 2 in the league in defensive fourth-down conversions, with opponents moving the chains just 44% of the time. In fact, no opponent besides HSU has been better than 50% on fourth down against the Yellow Jackets, despite the fact that those five offenses ran at least four fourth-down plays in each contest against HPU.
To look back at the ETBU win, for as big as the third down consistency was, it was the fourth downs that flipped the game in favor of HPU. The Yellow Jackets faced four fourth-down plays in the 36-18 win, but came up with three stops, scoring 10 points off ETBU’s three turnovers on downs.
Senior CBs Carr, Bookman, highlight HPU’s secondary
Part of those third and fourth-down stops have been a credit to HPU’s passing defense. While the Yellow Jackets allow 250 passing yards per game—the most in the ASC—quarterbacks have completed just 51.8% of their passes against HPU this season, the lowest completion percentage of any ASC defense (by comparison, UMHB’s opponents have posted a 60.4% completion percentage).
A primary reason for that? The presence of HPU’s senior tandem at the two cornerback positions, Kadarius Carr and KD Bookman. Carr and Bookman each have six pass breakups, tied for the second-most in the ASC this season.
Both are lockdown defenders on the perimeter as third-year contributors for the Yellow Jackets, and will be key in HPU’s defensive scheme against UMHB. In addition to their pass breakups, Carr has a team-high two fumble recoveries while Bookman is one of three HPU defenders with an interception this season.
Over their three seasons on HPU’s defense, Carr and Bookman have each faced UMHB on three occasions (once in 2023, twice in 2024). In those contests, Bookman recorded five pass breakups, six solo tackles, and 10 total tackles, and Carr tallied eight solo tackles, nine total tackles, an interception, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble.
Gipson pacing the sidelines in Year 1
For the third time in the last five seasons, Howard Payne has a new head coach at the helm, as Coby Gipson was hired in February after second-year coach Kevin Bachtel announced his decision to take the head coaching job at Edgewood High School in East Texas. While HPU has seen several of its head and assistant football coaches go from Brownwood to Division I in recent years—from Jason Bachtel (Houston Christian) to Braxton Harris (Campbell)—Gipson took the opposite route, returning to Brownwood after a half-decade spent coaching in FCS.
I say “returning” because Gipson was HPU’s offensive coordinator in 2017 and 2018, coinciding with Harris’ first two seasons as head coach. That came before Gipson briefly took a position on ETBU’s coaching staff in 2019, where he worked with the Tiger defensive line, which ranked second in the ASC in total sacks. He then moved to Lamar in 2020, and while in Beaumont, coached the running backs for two seasons before leading the receivers group for his final three, while also serving as an assistant head coach and the Cardinals’ recruiting coordinator.
“Coby has been an integral part of the resurgence of Lamar Football,” Lamar head coach Peter Rossomando said, upon Gipson’s hiring in Brownwood. “He is a top-notch recruiter, an excellent football coach, and a terrific Christian man. Howard Payne got a great one.”
Gipson’s track record in Texas extends beyond his stint at Howard Payne eight seasons ago. Before his first stop in Brownwood, he led the program at Bishop Gorman High School (Tyler, Texas) for five years, taking the Crusaders to the 2014 TAPPS state semifinals while adding two more playoff appearances in that span. Notably, he helped develop Judah Bell into a three-star recruit while at Bishop Gorman, with Bell ultimately playing 25 games over three seasons at SMU from 2018-2020.
Gipson is the third first-year head coach UMHB will face in 2025, with Bethel’s Chris Springer and Mars Hill’s Kevin Barnette also being in Year 1 at their respective programs.
UMHB kicks off at 1 p.m. CT from Crusader Stadium on Saturday. Stay tuned on TrueToTheCru.com, and on our social media accounts (@TrueToTheCru on Facebook, X, and Instagram) for updates and coverage.
