Mary Hardin-Baylor avenges last year’s loss

SHENANDOAH, Texas — After falling to Mount Union last year in the Division III championship game, Mary HardinBaylor not only wanted to get back to the title game — and beat the Purple Raiders.

Jase Hammack threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns, Markeith Miller rushed for 90 yards and a score and Mary Hardin-Baylor won its second title in three years, beating Mount Union 24-16 Friday night.

Hammack rebounded after losing a fumble in the first that led to the Purple Raiders' lone touchdown by completing 11 of 19 passes and rallying the Crusaders (15-0) from a 10-0 deficit. T.J. Josey caught five passes for 78 yards and a touchdown for Mary Hardin-Baylor, which lost to the Raiders (14-1) 12-0 last year in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.

“The goal since the beginning of fall camp was to get back here and have a shot at Mount Union just because of the way last year ended,” Mary Hardin-Baylor coach Pete Fredenburg said. “I think it says an awful lot about these players and coaches that kept pushing and kept driving.”

D'Angelo Fulford was 18 of 37 for 194 yards and rushed for 45 yards, and had a 1-yard touchdown run to put Mount Union up 10-0 - the first time the Crusaders have trailed this season — with 3 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter. Josh Petruccelli added 57 rushing yards and Justin Hill caught five passes for 71 yards for the Raiders. Both teams finished with 303 yards.

“I thought we were fortunate to get some points on the board early,” Mount Union coach Vince Kehres said. “They have a great defense. Nobody's scoring a lot of points on that defense. They executed pretty well down the stretch, and we couldn't quite finish a couple of plays.”