FB tops Wesley in national quarterfinals

12/01/07

 RB Jarvis Thrasher stiff-arms a would-be Wesley tackler on the way to an 83-yard run in UMHB's National Quarterfinal win over the Wolverines

Dover, DE- The third time was a charm for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team and now the Cru is headed back to the NCAA Division III National Semifinals for the second time in the program's history. UMHB broke open a tight game with a dominating third quarter performance to post a 27-10 victory over Wesley College in an NCAA National Quarterfinal game Saturday in Dover, Delaware. The two teams were meeting in the playoffs for the third straight year and the Wolverines had ended UMHB's season in each of the past two meetings,

The Cru took a 7-0 lead after a Wesley College fumble on the Wolverines' opening possession of the game. UMHB covered 25 yards in seven plays, capped by a one-yard Josh Welch TD plunge. Wesley cut it to 7-3 on a 28-yard Colin Blugis field goal with 27 seconds remaining in the first quarter. UMHB answered with a 30-yard Joel Munoz field goal, following a 12-play, 55-yard drive to put the Cru up 10-3 at halftime. The Cru forced a Wesley punt on the opening possession of the second half and took over on the UMHB 10-yard line. One play later, Jarvis Thrasher erupted for an 83-yard run to set the Cru up at the Wolverine four-yard line. Welch found Adam Aguilera with a four-yard TD pass two plays later to make it 17-3 UMHB. The Cru stretched the lead to 24-3 with a 30-yard TD run from Quincy Daniels at the 3:50 mark of the third quarter. Another Wesley fumble gave the ball back to UMHB, but the Cru had to punt. Wesley then put together its best drive of the day on the ensuing possession as Jason Schatz hit Jon Lanouette with a 20-yard touchdown pass to pull the Wolverines to within 24-10. UMHB once again answered the Wesley score, this time with a 26-yard Munoz field goal to make it 27-10 with 10:31 left to play. UMHB forced a Wolverine punt on the next Wesley series and then held the Wolverines on four plays from the Cru 11-yard line to get the ball back on downs with 2:50 left in the game. Wesley's final drive ended with a Brett Parker interception for the Cru and UMHB took a knee on the game's final play to clinch the victory.

Thrasher finished with 138 yards on 20 carries for UMHB. He broke Justin Bryson's UMHB and American Southwest Conference single-season rushing record by pushing his season total to 1,883 yards. Daniels finished with 79 yards and a TD on 18 carries and fullback Adrian Turner added a season-high 50 yards on 10 totes. Welch finished with 74 passing yards and a rushing TD and a passing touchdown. Parker had his first career reception with a 35-yard grab and James Robinson added a crucial 33-yarder to keep a Cru drive alive in the fourth quarter. Eric Henri led the Cru defense with 11 tackles and Jerrell Freeman added seven stops. Freeman broke Preston Meyer's UMHB career tackle record with his first tackle of the game and became the first player in Cru football history to go over 300 career tackles. UMHB rolled up 363 yards of total offense and controlled the ball for 36:38. Wesley finished with 357 yards of offense, but turned the ball over five times and rushed for just 101 yards, 147 below its season average. Schatz was just 17-35 passing for 256 yards and a TD. Michael Clarke caught seven passes for 141 yards and Mike Pennewell ran for a team-high 56 yards on 15 carries for the Wolverines.

UMHB will now travel to Whitewater, Wisconsin next Saturday, December 8th, at 12:00 PM Central Time in a National Semifinal game with a berth in Stagg Bowl XXV on the line. The Warhawks (12-1) beat the Cru 41-14 in Whitewater back on October 27th in a regular season meeting between the two teams. UMHB improved to 12-1 on the year with Saturday's victory and moved to within one win of the school's single-season record for victories set in 2004. Wesley College's season ends with an 11-2 record.