MARSHALL, Texas – McMurry University head coach Lance Hinson begins his second season at the helm on Saturday evening when his team travels to East Texas Baptist University. Kickoff at Ornelas Stadium is slated for 7 p.m.
 
Hinson's crew will head into its season lid-lifter with a young roster, which still garnered plenty of experience last season when many of the players were freshmen. In all, McM welcomed back 60 returning players, eight starters each returning for offense and defense. But the War Hawks' youthfulness shows up when looking at the probable two-deep lineup, where no less than 26 of the players are either freshmen or sophomores.
 
While there may be some open auditions as some of the 75-plus new faces to the roster vie for playing time, the common ground is that the War Hawks are eager to face someone not wearing a maroon and white jersey for a change. McM did not scrimmage another school, opting for a pair of intersquad games, instead.
 
"It's always nice to get to game week," Hinson said as the pre-season workouts drew to a close. "We've been in camp for several weeks now and we're ready to hit somebody other than ourselves. We got through camp relatively healthy and (the players) are just anxious to get out there and play."
 
On offense, junior quarterback Matthew McHugh is back after suffering a knee injury that forced him out of the last three games of 2014. McHugh was on a tear before going down (after a highly-questionable hit by Tarleton State). At the time of his injury, McHugh was 121-of-220 (55%) for 1,686 yards and 15 aerial touchdowns.
 
As far as targets go, McHugh will no doubt miss all-time receiving yardage recordholder Jeret Smith – who was signed professionally by Kansas City – but will still have plenty options remaining in 2015.  The trio of David McHugh (Matthew's twin brother), Emmanuel Mulumba and Charles Agugua combined for 60 catches and 716 yards last season. David McHugh and Agugua are seniors, while Mulumba is a sophomore.
 
In the backfield, local Abilene product Paxton Grayer is back for his senior campaign. Grayer enters 2015 ranked No. 10 on McM's all-time rushing list with 1,741 yards. Grayer proved he is a double threat in 2014, rushing for 416 yards and catching 29 passes for 234 yards, as well.
 
"Paxton is one of, if not the, best running backs in NCAA Division III," Hinson asserts.
 
Up front, McMurry has three o-line starters back in the fold.  Senior all-NCCAA guard Derek Baldeschwiler (6-4, 290), senior center Art Schoonover (6-2,l 250) and junior tackle Brendon Brinkmann (6-7, 280) comprise the trio. Schoonover is a three-year starter and fourth-year letterman for the War Hawks.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, the War Hawks will enter Saturday's opener with a strong core group, headed by senior all-NCCAA and all-Lone Star Conference defensive lineman Calvin Middlebrooks. Middlebrooks had 55 tackles and an interception in 2014.
 
Senior nose tackle Demonte Byrd and junior linebacker Chase Franklin are also back. Each had 36 tackles last season.
 
In the secondary, four of five starters will assume their spots again in 2015. Senior Desmond Guy (74 tackles), junior Ryan Williams (a team leading 75 tackles), junior Decorian Johnson (52 tackles) and sophomore Ryan McBeth (16 tackles) make up the quartet of vets. Johnson and Williams were all-NCCAA honorees in 2014.
 
Guy was honored by the NCCAA for his kick returns. Senior Tyreace House – a starting linebacker in 2014 – was also a dangerous kick return threat last year. House will be moving to the offensive side of the ball this season, as a running back and wide receiver.
 
David McHugh is once again expected to handle punter duties, after averaging 35.5 yards per punt last year. Sophomore [placekicker Joey Silva also returns, after going 19-for-25 on PAT kicks as a freshman.
 
The 2015 schedule should also work more in the War Hawks favor, than did playing the NCAA II Lone Start slate last season
 
"We're really excited about the schedule," Hinson reflected.  "We feel it's challenging; although last year in the Lone Star was fun and exciting. We got to see a lot of really neat places and some very talented athletes and some really big stadiums. We're looking forward to getting back to where McMurry was supposed to be the whole time."
 
When McM tees it up against East Texas Baptist, it will be the 14th meeting between the schools, with the Tigers holding a 10-3 edge.  The teams first met in 1948 – a 35-0 McM win – and the teams did not meet again for 52 years. When the series did resume in 2000, ETBU won eight-consecutive meetings. The teams last squared off in 2011, with the War Hawks taking a 63-31 decision.
 
The game can be heard locally in Abilene on KSLI 1280 AM, with David Bacon and Max Preston calling the action. The pre-game show begins at 6:40 p.m. Fans can also listen live via the internet by going to 1280KSLI.com.  Other gameday links can be found on the War Hawks' web site:  www.mcmurrysports.com.