Huntingdon falls in playoff battle with 10th-ranked Crusaders

BELTON, Texas – The Huntingdon football team faced its toughest challenge of the season on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.

The Hawks battled perennial power Mary Hardin-Baylor into the fourth quarter before the 10th-ranked Crusaders pulled ahead for a 43-23 win. This was the 27th playoff win for Mary Hardin-Baylor since the program began in 1998.

The Crusaders (11-1) advance to the Division III quarterfinals for the ninth time since 2004.

"We have a lot of respect for what Mary Hardin-Baylor has done and I told our guys before the game, this is what we want to be," Huntingdon head coach Mike Turk said. "They're a model of consistency in Division III and that's where we want to be. There is no way you're going to get to that level unless you have an opportunity to line up against teams like this. I'm disappointed that we didn't get it done today, but I'm proud of how our guys played today and all season."

In a game in which the Hawks were held well below their season averages in rushing and passing, the Hawks (10-2) took advantage of their opportunities and only trailed by six points early in the fourth quarter. Huntingdon never trailed by more than 13 points until the final five minutes of the game.

"We had a tremendous amount of respect for Huntingdon," Mary Hardin-Baylor head coach Pete Fredenburg said. "They are very well coached and they executed their offense very well. Coach Turk is a class act."

Junior quarterback Luke Bailey had a hand in all three of the Hawks' touchdowns. Bailey connected with Darius Dawsey for a 17-yard touchdown to open the scoring and give Huntingdon a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game.

The Crusaders answered with 17 straight points to close the first quarter and open the second quarter. Trailing 17-7, Bailey found Blake Malter for an 11-yard touchdown strike early in the second quarter.

Chase Young's extra point was blocked, but the freshman kicked a 24-yard field goal with 5:42 left in the second quarter to make it a one-point game, 17-16. The Crusaders led 26-16 at halftime and extended their lead to 29-16 with 12:04 left in the third quarter.

Four seconds into the fourth quarter, Bailey scored on a 1-yard run to pull the Hawks within six points, 29-23. The Crusaders scored two touchdowns in the final 10:07 to close out the game.

"Being able to go through this and play as well as we did, it opened some eyes on the team," Bailey said. "This is the first time we've been this far and that is going to be motivation for us as we move forward in the offseason."

Bailey finished with 149 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception on a 16-of-27 day. He finished the season with a school-record 28 passing touchdowns. He will enter his senior season with 51 career passing touchdowns, three short of Zach Golson's school record of 54.

Junior running back John Iwaniec finished with 73 yards rushing on 23 carries and sophomore Vic Jerald added 66 yards on 16 carries. Iwaniec ends the season with 983 yards rushing, the second most in a season by a Hawk. His 15 rushing touchdowns are two short of Trevor Manuel's single-season record.

As a team, the ground game set a Huntingdon record this season with 2,936 rushing yards and tied the school record with 33 rushing touchdowns.

Junior Nick Haas led the receivers with eight catches for 67 yards on Saturday and finished the season with 54 receptions for 823 yards and nine touchdowns. Haas is tied for second in the Huntingdon record book for receptions in a season and touchdown receptions in a season.

Young, who was 63-for-65 on extra points during his freshman season, set a new Huntingdon and USA South record for extra points made. His seven field goals this season were one short of the Huntingdon record.

Defensively, Anthony Wood led the Hawks with nine tackles and Anthony White and Jake Green each had seven tackles. White also had a forced fumble and five passes broken up. Senior Brendon Brown had one interception.

With 154 career solo tackles and 234 career total tackles, White ends his career ranked second in Huntingdon history in solo tackles and third in total tackles. Green's 141 career solo tackles rank fourth and his 200 total tackles are sixth.

Saturday's loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Hawks. The winning streak was tied for the longest in Hawks' history. The game also ended the most successful season in the 13-year history of Huntingdon football. It was a season that saw the Hawks win their first conference title, set a school-record for wins in a season, advance to the playoffs for just the second time and win the program's first playoff game.

"It's hard to put into words what this senior class has been able to accomplish," Turk said. "Their freshman year was 2012, when we needed to win our last game to make the playoffs and we lost. In 2013, our first year in the USA South, and in 2014, we were so close but we couldn't get it done.

"This year, they decided we were going to get it done. They put this team on their backs. The young guys have done what they needed to do and pulled their weight, but this senior class set the tone. They took ownership of this team."

The senior class ends its four years with a 29-11 record. The mark is tied with the 2011 senior class for the best four-year record in Huntingdon history.

"Being on this team is one of the best things that has ever happened to me," senior defensive back Brendon Brown said. "This team is a family. Everything we did this year, we did as a team and as a family. When were down in games, we never fought or argued, we kept playing and never thought we were out of it. I love this team, my coaches and this school."