The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team dominated the first half and the Cru rolled to a 91-7 victory over Albright College in the season opener Saturday in Reading, Pennsylvania. UMHB is 1-0 to start the season. The Lions drop to 0-2 on the year.
UMHB opened the scoring with Markeith Miller’s three-yard TD run with 7:13 left in the first quarter. Jase Hammack hit Aaron Sims with a 71-yard touchdown pass on the next possession and added a 61-yard scoring pass to K.J. Miller to stretch it to 20-0 at the end of the first quarter. Markeith Miller would added rushing scores on the next four UMHB drives and Austin Garza closed out the first-half scoring with a 40-yard field goal to put the Cru up 51-0 at halftime.
Derek Sides returned an onside kickoff attempt for a 45-yard touchdown to open the second half. Miller followed with his sixth rushing touchdown and Marquis Duncan tacked on a three-yard scoring run to stretch the lead 71-0. Albright scored its only TD to cut it to 71-7, but DeNerian Thomas scored on a 54-yard run, K.J. Miller returned a punt 65 yards for a score and Isaiah Shepherd added an eight-yard TD run to push it out to the final margin.
UMHB rolled up 659 yards of total offense with 293 coming on the ground and 366 through the air. The Lions were held to 59 passing yards and 140 yards of total offense. The Cru defense also forced five turnovers and recorded five sacks.
Miller ran for 97 yards and set a UMHB single-game record with the six rushing TD’s. Hammack was 7-12 passing for 270 yards and two scores and Luke Poorman was 5-7 for 96 yards through the air. Sims finished with three catches for 76 yards for the Cru. Jacob Zuber led the UMHB defense with eight tackles in his first collegiate game and Jefferson Fritz had two of the team’s four interceptions in the contest.
UMHB set a new school single-game record with the 91 points and the 84-point margin of victory ties the school record. The Cru was coached by acting Head Coach Larry Harmon with Head Coach Pete Fredenburg serving the opening game of a school-mandated three-game suspension. UMHB will return to action with the start of American Southwest Conference play next Saturday. The Cru will travel to Alpine to take on Sul Ross State (0-1) in a 6 pm kickoff at Jackson Field.
