ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University Football wraps up its regular season on Saturday with its toughest test to date, hosting No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
The War Hawks (2-6, 2-6 ASC) will honor 10 seniors participating in the last game of their career. Eight of the seniors will be playing in perhaps their final game, one will be coaching and another will be coming back for a true sendoff after missing his senior season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 postponement. Senior Day festivities take place 25 minutes prior to kickoff.
McMurry's adversary is the second-ranked UMHB Crusaders, who clinched at least a share of the American Southwest Conference Championship with a 59-14 win over Howard Payne last week. The Cru also rank atop the NCAA Division III Region III Rankings with a 9-0 record.
This preview is presented by First Financial Bank.
FOLLOW THE GAME:
Saturday's game will have live video and live stats via the McMurry Sports Network and are available
at this link. The Senior Day ceremony will also be streamed.
All McMurry Football radio broadcasts will exclusively air on Lonestar 1280 AM (KSLI). Fans can listen on the radio, on the web or on the Lonestar 1280 app – available free on your mobile app store and accessible anywhere, anytime with cell phone service.
Long time play-by-play announcer David Bacon will have the call and will be joined by color analyst John Blackwell. Bacon will have a pregame interview with Coach
Jordan Neal and has lined up Coach
Jay Rees of McMurry's golf program as his halftime guest.
Broadcasts will begin 20 minutes before each game.
All streaming, listening, live stat pages, rosters, spectator information, statistics and more will be available on our game day page each week
at this link.
GAME DAY PROTOCOL:
Wilford Moore Stadium is open at full capacity for Saturday. Masks are expected and physical distancing is encouraged where possible. Guidelines are subject to change based on the current standing of COVID-19 and the safety of the community.
General admission tickets are $5 and will be sold at both gates. Children 12 and under receive free admission, as well as students, faculty and staff.
The gate for visiting fans is on the east side, while the main gate for home fans is on the west side.
For more information on Saturday's protocols,
click here.
THE SENIORS
McMurry Football will honor the following seniors prior to Saturday's game:
THE SERIES
UMHB leads the all-time series with a 15-2 record, with McMurry winning the first two games of the series in 1998 and 1999. Since then, UMHB has won 15 in a row and has been ranked in the national top-five in nine of the last 10 meetings.
McMurry and UMHB have one postseason meeting, coming in 2011. UMHB eliminated the War Hawks in the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs with a 49-20 win that season.
THE STANDINGS:
UMHB (9-0, 8-0) sits atop the American Southwest Conference standings and can clinch the outright ASC championship with a win on Saturday. Hardin-Simmons (8-1, 7-1) retains its Top 10 ranking with five straight wins and remains one game back. Both teams appear in the NCAA DIII Region III rankings with UMHB in first and HSU in fourth.
Belhaven and Howard Payne are behind them with a 5-3 record in conference play, followed by ETBU at 4-4. Southwestern and TLU are 3-5 in the conference, McMurry and Sul Ross State are tied at 2-6 and Austin College rounds out the standings at 1-7.
This week's conference schedule:
- Texas Lutheran at No. 8 Hardin-Simmons
- Sul Ross State at Southwestern
- No. 2 UMHB at McMurry
- Belhaven at East Texas Baptist
- Austin College at Howard Payne
SCOUTING THE WAR HAWKS:
McMurry ranks in the top half of the conference on both sides of the ball, scoring 26.6 points per game to rank fifth and allowing 27.6 points per game to rank fourth.
Defensively, senior
Josh Smith is running away with the conference lead for tackles at an outstanding 9.4 per game. Smith has 75 total tackles this season, including 38 over his last three games against Texas Lutheran, Sul Ross State and Belhaven. He has 372 career tackles to rank second on McMurry's all-time list and needs seven to tie Chris Joseph's record of 379 set in 1986.
Behind Smith, junior safety
Ke'Shaun Jnofinn ranks second in the ASC with 7.1 tackles per game. He is tied with ETBU's Joey Johnson and UMHB's Jacob Mueller among the conference leaders.
Junior
Devin Nixon leads the team with 8.0 tackles for loss – including 2.0 last week at Belhaven – six hurries, one sack, two forced fumbles and one fumble returned for a touchdown. Freshman defensive lineman
Adonte Wilkerson has ascended into the regular starting rotation and ranks right behind him with 7.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks, while totaling three quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.
In the secondary,
Coryell Fillmore ranks among the conference leaders with three interceptions and 30 return yards. In McMurry's last home game vs. Sul Ross State, Fillmore picked off two passes against Sul Ross State.
Junior
Jared Mendoza leads the conference in field goals made with eight so far. He needs one more to tie Mark Oberholtzer (1996) for the single-season McMurry record. Mendoza made four FGs in a win over Southwestern to earn D3football.com National Team of the Week honors. The four kicks also set a new single-game school record.
On the offensive side of the ball, senior
Kameron Session has emerged as the team's lead back with 79.7 yards per game, totaling 105 carries for 558 yards on the season. Session ranks third in the league in rushing per game. Junior
Dee Robinson remains in the mix with heavy red zone work, toting the ball 86 times for 358 yards and seven touchdowns. Robinson and Session are seventh and eighth in ASC all-purpose yards, respectively.
The War Hawks continue to roll with sophomore quarterback
Dexter Wyble, who has 100 completions on 165 passes for 1,303 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. He is one of the top five yardage passers in the league despite starting only six games so far.
SCOUTING THE CRU:
UMHB ranks atop the conference and fifth in the nation in both scoring offense and scoring defense with 52.3 points per game and 9.11 points allowed per game. The Cru also lead the ASC in total offense and total defense, both rushing offense and defense, and passing defense.
Aphonso Thomas is the team's leading rusher, ranking just one spot ahead of Session on the ASC leaderboard with 83.6 rushing yards per game. He also has eight rushing touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Ryan Redding led the Cru in last week's 59-14 win with 307 passing yards and two touchdowns, while adding two scores on the ground on 98 yards. Kyle King has been the team's leader in passing with 1,310 passing yards, 21 TDs and just one interception.
KJ Miller is the team's leading receiver and return specialist, totaling 36 receptions for 527 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 75.3 receiving yards per game. He leads the ASC with 29.1 punt return yards per game, including one touchdown return.
All-American Jefferson Fritz is the team's cornerstone defender, winning ASC Defensive Player of the Year in the spring. He has 37 tackles, six pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Jacob Mueller leads the team with 64 tackles and 13 tackles for loss, including 3.5 sacks. Keith Gipson leads the ASC with four interceptions while adding three PBUs.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTABLES:
Click here to view this week's McMurry Football press conference presented by First Financial Bank.
Today's press conference featured Coach
Jordan Neal, senior tight end
Reagan Sullivan and senior linebacker
Josh Smith.
