Belton, TX - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team battled back from an early deficit and put the game away with a dominant second-half running game as the 4th-ranked Cru posted a 52-23 victory over 11th-ranked Trinity University in an NCAA Division III National Championships First Round game Saturday.

UMHB improves to 10-1 on the season and posts its third straight win over the Tigers. Trinity's season ends with a 9-2 overall record.

UMHB grabbed a 7-0 lead on the game's opening possession when Josh Welch dashed 22 yards on a quarterback keeper. Trinity cut it to 7-3 on Peter Licalzi's 40-yard field goal on the Tigers opening possession. Trinity took a 10-7 lead when Blake Barmore hit Caleb Urban with an eight-yard TD pass on the next TU drive with eight seconds left in the first half. UMHB's Jerrell Freeman forced a Trinity fumble on the opening series of the second half and Elliot Barcak recovered for the Cru at the TU 28-yard line. Welch hit Cole Smith with a 28-yard TD pass on the next play to put UMHB up 14-10. Jarvis Thrasher added a seven-yard TD run with 5:00 left in the second quarter and the Cru led 21-10 at halftime. Trinity got a 19-yard TD strike from Barmore to Riley Curry on the opening drive of the second half and pulled to within 21-16. UMHB's Joel Munoz hit 25-yard field goal with 7:58 left in the third quarter to make it a 24-16 Cru. UMHB stretched the lead to 38-16 with Quincy Daniels' 33-yard TD run and Thrasher 26-yard scamper. The Tigers cut the lead to 38-23 with Barmore's 36-yard pass to Chris Coleman with 22 seconds left in the third quarter, but the Cru pulled away with Thrasher's 48-yard TD run and an eight-yard TD pass from Welch to James Robinson with 7:43 remaining in the game.

UMHB rolled up 457 yards rushing and added 35 passing yards for 492 yards of total offense. Trinity finished with 464 yards passing, but UMHB held the Tigers to -45 yards rushing and forced three turnovers. The Cru also sacked Barmore eight times.

Thrasher finished with 205 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries and he tied the American Southwest Conference single-season record with 23 rushing touchdowns. Daniels added 153 yards and a score on 15 carries. Welch ran for 52 yards and added 35 yards passing for two touchdowns. Barmore was 34-60 passing for 458 yards and three scores. Curry caught eight passes for 95 yards and Coleman added seven catches for 115 yards. Jeremy Salinas led the UMHB defense with 10 total tackles as he filled in for injured starting middle linebacker Eric Henri. Jerrell Freeman added eight tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble for the Cru. Philip Kownslar topped the Trinity defense with 13 tackles and Bryan Marynowitz added 10 stops for the Tigers.

-Courtesy University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Sports Information Department