When No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor takes to the turf at Mount Union Stadium today for its noon semifinal game against No. 1 Mount Union, it won?t be intimidated.
Unlike Christopher Newport, Johns Hopkins and Widener before them this postseason, the Crusaders from Belton, Texas, have a past history with the Purple Raiders and can see a positive in it.
Mary Hardin-Baylor is the last team to defeat the 10-time national champions at home, in the playoffs. They did it in this round in 2004, in spectacular fashion, a ?Hail Mary? delivering a 38-35 victory.
?Obviously, everyone down here knows we have gone there and beaten them,? said Pete Fredenburg, the Crusaders? only coach in their 15-year history. ?You know it can be done.?
That knowledge helps a team. But not one has turned the trick since then, a
28-game playoff span, and Fredenburg said it?s pretty obvious why.
?After you watch them on film, you know how difficult it can be (to beat them),? he said. ?I did not see any weaknesses. But our guys are competitors too, and we are looking forward to the challenge.?
Mary Hardin-Baylor still has never won a Division III national championship in football. It went on to lose that 2004 Stagg Bowl to Linfield 28-21.
That?s about the only honor to have eluded it. It?s had a national defensive player of the year in Jerrell Freeman, now the leading tackler for the Indianapolis Colts. The Crusaders have had a D3Football.com All-America player
12 years running, and Fredenburg has been the South Region Coach of the Year seven times.
This week, quarterback LiDarral
Bailey and linebacker Javicz Jones were named South Region Player of the Year on offense and defense, respectively. Jones earned his second consecutive POY honor. He did it by picking off seven passes and making 125 tackles.
?Our defense is good,? Fredenburg said. ?We've got a great linebacker who makes a lot of plays.?
Bailey makes a ton of plays. He is the nation?s second-rated quarterback, trailing only Mount Union?s Kevin Burke in efficiency, and has thrown 30 touchdowns against three interceptions. His looping shovel pass for a touchdown late in the Crusaders? 32-20 win over
Wesley last week was D3Football?s play of the week.
?I thought ? it has always been about ? having a chance to be successful,? said Fredenburg. ?A lot of pieces had to fall in place for us to be successful. LiDarral was one of those pieces.
?Right now, we feel LiDarral and the running backs and the wide receivers we have are really doing a nice job. And you can't do it without a good offensive line. I feel like we're playing well on offense.?
Senior offensive linemen Sam Maxie and Michael Coles also earned first-team South Region honors. Safety Mike Maldonado received second-team honors and running back Elijah Hudson and tight end Tyler Coker made the third team.
Coker, Maxie and Coles will be counted on to give Bailey time to throw and make some holes for Hudson and Darius Wilson against a Mount Union defense that is tops against the run and overall defense.
?We are primarily a running team,? Fredenburg said of his option offense. ?Obviously (Mount Union) being No. 1 defensively means they're a pretty strong group.
?But we're going to see what we can do. It will be a huge challenge to move the ball against them.?
The Crusaders know it will be tough. They also know it can be done.
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