UMHB ends Linfield Football's quest for 2021 NCAA title in Belton, Texas
Dec. 4, 2021 from Linfield Sports Info
BELTON, Texas – Linfield quarterback Wyatt Smith passed for 442 yards and three touchdowns but the No. 7 Wildcats were outscored 49-24 by second-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor Saturday in a highly anticipated quarterfinal matchup of NCAA Division III unbeatens at Crusader Stadium.
Champion of the Northwest Conference, Linfield (11-1), saw its quest for a national championship derailed by the Cru in the playoffs for the third time since 2016.
UMHB (13-0) advances to the Division III semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 11, against Wisconsin-Whitewater. The game site will be announced Sunday by the NCAA.
Smith, a Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist, had an exceptional afternoon passing, completing 42 of 51 throws without an interception. But he was sacked five times by the UMHB defense, including two each by Khevon Shepard and Sante Parker.
Wildcats receiver Joel Valadez caught 13 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns and Connor Morton had seven receptions out of the backfield. Linfield's running game was held to 30 net yards on 24 attempts.
UMHB quarterback Kyle King also posted a career day behind center, passing for 345 yards and six touchdowns. Brandon Jordan pulled in three of those scores while Benton Martin caught two TDs and K.J. Miller had the other.
Linfield drew first blood, capping its opening possession with a 21-yard field goal by Andrew Starkel. The Wildcats had marched 14 plays to the UMHB 4-yard line, but three straight running plays netted just a single yard, forcing the Wildcats to settle for the chip-shot field goal.
The Cru answered five minutes later, connecting on a 58-yard halfback option pass from Miller to Jordan.
The Wildcats again marched deep inside Cru territory, but the UMHB defense tightened and Starkel's 31-yard field goal try on fourth down was no good, leaving the score at 7-3.
Midway through the second quarter, Jordan pulled in his second TD catch from King from 11 yards out, capping a 13-play, 80-yard drive and pushing the Crusader lead to 14-3.
Linfield advanced as far as the UMHB 25, but a Devon Murray's fumble after a catch was recovered by Jefferson Fritz. Five plays later, following King's 57-yard bomb to Martin, the Cru led comfortably, 21-3.
Smith kept the Wildcats within striking distance, finding Connor McNabb on a 70-yard catch-and-run. Starkel's extra point made it 21-10 in favor of the hosts.
Jordan and King hooked up once more before intermission, this time from 20 yards away, to take a commanding 18-point advantage.
Linfield forced UMHB to put on its opening drive of the second half, and Smith and the Wildcats marched 65 yards to the end zone in six plays. Valadez corralled Smith's pass at the 30 and raced to the goal line, pulling the 'Cats to within 28-17.
King passed for two more scores in a three-minute span midway through the third quarter, first a 15-yarder to Miller followed by a 41-yard rainbow to Jordan, extending the Cru's lead to 42-17.
Smith drew the Wildcats to within 42-24, hitting Valadez for a 10-yard score with 12:37 remaining.
The Cru added the icing on the cake as King hit tight end Gary Ruckman for a 4-yard score with 3:05 left.
With three scoring passes on Saturday, Smith became Linfield's all-time leader in touchdown passes (111), moving in front of former Wildcats All-American Brett Elliott's long-standing record of 110. Smith also eclipsed the career mark for touchdowns responsible (120), moving ahead of Sam Riddle's standing record of 118.
In his final game as a Wildcat, senior safety Tyler Bergeron made eight tackles, including five unassisted. Ben Baxter added seven stops and Travis Swanson was credited with six.
'CAT SCRATCH -- Temperature at kickoff was 71 degrees . . . Linfield outgained UMHB 442-403 but went 5 for 16 on third down. . . the Wildcats forced no defensive turnovers and allowed the Cru to rush for 135 yards. . . Smith's 42 pass completions was also a career-best and stand as the second-highest single-game completions total in program history.
