NCAA Bracket

MCMINNVILLE, Oregon – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor defeated Linfield University 28-18 in the NCAA DIII Football Playoffs Third Round in McMinnville on Saturday, December 7^th.

Linfield got on the board on the first drive of the game with a 29-yard field goal. UMHB took a 7-3 lead on the first play of the second quarter with a 51-yard rush from Kamerin Ferguson. The Cru increased the margin to 11 on their next drive with a pass from Jake Wright to Ranius Daramola for an 18-yard touchdown at the 12:25 mark.

UMHB continued to push forward in the second half as Asa Osbourn took it to the endzone on a 68-yard rush to go up 21-3 with 14:00 on the clock in the third. Linfield answered back with a three-yard rushing touchdown at the 9:52 mark. The Wildcats regained the ball on an interception at their 23-yard line before taking the ball down the field to close the quarter on the Cru our-yard line.

Linfield cut the gap to three on the first play of the final quarter with a four-yard rush followed by a successful two-point conversion. With 5:20 remaining, Da’Marion Morris recorded an interception on the UMHB 10-yard line with a 71-yard return to put the Cru back in the red zone. Two plays later, Jake Wright used a seven-yard rush to take a 28-18 lead.

The UMHB defense secured the game from there with a second interception from Morris followed by a pair of sacks for 20 total yards of loss on the Wildcats’ final drive. The Cru then entered victory formation to claim the 28-10 win.

Jake Wright threw for 116 yards going 8-16 with a 36-yard long. Asa Osbourn led in rushing with 102 yards on 17 attempts with a 68-yard long. AJ Williams led in receiving yards with 53 total yards on two catches.

Defensively, Durand Hill led the Cru in tackles with nine total and eight solo. James Wright had a team-high 3.5 tackles for a loss of 24 yards followed by Te’Ron Brown with three for 13 yards.

UMHB advances to the NCAA quarterfinals to take on John Hopkins in Baltimore on Saturday, December 14^th.