CANTON, OHIO — The American Southwest Conference champion Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders made their fourth Stagg Bowl appearance in five years and throttled top-ranked North Central, 57-24, to win their second NCAA Division III football national championship since 2018.

Brownwood graduate Tommy Bowden, a junior, recorded seven tackles in the Stagg Bowl and finished with 16 on the season. Khyren Deal, a fellow Brownwood graduate, tallied 14 tackles for the year as a freshman.

The Crusaders (15-0) led just 19-17 at the half, but took a firm grasp on the championship with a pair of third-quarter touchdown runs from Aphonso Thomas. That sparked a scoring outburst in which UMHB rolled over North Central, 38-7, in the second half.

Quarterback Kyle King performed royally for UMHB at quarterback, completing 22 of 29 passes for 436 yards and three scores. And that effort came against a North Central defense that came in allowing only 235 yards and 11 points per game. King’s yardage total set a new single-game school record. King’s receivers consistently made big plays against the North Central secondary. K.J. Miller caught nine passes for 149 yards and a touchdown, while Brenton Martin joined Miller in triple figures with 170 yards on nine grabs. Brandon Jordan and Aaron Sims also caught TD passes from King.

UMHB’s defense also performed beautifully, especially in shutting down North Central (14-1) in the second half. Mikkah Hackett pocketed 10 tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery for the Crusaders and was named the Stagg Bowl’s Most Outstanding Player.

The Crusaders picked off North Central’s Luke Lehnen three times in all, as Jefferson Fritz also nabbed a pick for UMHB.

Tommy Bowden’s younger brother Major, who played football at Brownwood through his freshman year, on Friday led China Spring to the Class 4A Division II state championship with a 31-7 victory over Gilmer.

* Some information in this article courtesy of wacotrib.com