SAN ANTONIO – The stage is set this Saturday for No. 5/6 Trinity University Football to host No. 9/10 Hardin-Simmons University for a Noon kickoff in its first NCAA III playoff contest since 2011 following the program's ninth undefeated regular-season campaign since 1994, and third Southern Athletic Association title of the last four seasons.

The Tigers (10-0, 7-0 SAA) collected their second shutout in league play for the 2022 campaign in last week's 38-0 victory over University of the South in San Antonio, the third straight victory of 20 or more points and seventh such win this season overall.

Trinity will make a repeat appearance in the NCAA III championship bracket for the first time since 2005, the final year of a nine-year string of postseason bids that included back-to-back national semifinal appearances in 1998 and 1999 along with the 2002 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl appearance.

NCAA III Rankings: Holding Steady in Both Polls

The final regular-season national polls conducted by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and D3football.com both kept Trinity right where it was the week before, ranked fifth and sixth nationally by the respective polls.

All of the top eight teams in this week's AFCA poll remained in the same order with North Central College (IL) receiving all but three first-place nods from the nation's coaches, followed by University of Mount Union (OH), University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Linfield University (OR) ahead of the Tigers in the top five.

The D3football.com poll saw St. Johns University (MN) swap places with Linfield for fourth and fifth ahead of Trinity's sixth position, while the top three mirrored the AFCA though with all 25 first-place votes awarded to the top-ranked Cardinals.

Weekly Honors: BJ Stewart claims SAA, D3football.com laurels for pair of return TDs

A pair of punt-return touchdowns, which tied a program-record, from 75 and 57 yards out led to the second time sophomore receiver BJ Stewart (Shreveport, La. / Woodlawn) collected both the SAA Special Teams Player of the Week honor and the return-specialist spot in the D3football.com Team of the Week. Stewart racked up 141 yards in three returns in the swift takedown of Sewanee on Saturday.

Circling Back on the Record Book

With the victory seemingly in hand, up 21-0 through the first 11 minutes of Saturday's Senior Day affair, many of the milestone notes from before the battle of SAA Tigers remain at-large though with slightly smaller deficits as Trinity rotated through the roster early on against Sewanee.

Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) inched closer to a pair of key milestones last week. Horn sits one touchdown pass away from tying Dan DesPlaines (2001-04) at 60 for his career, which would tie for third-most all-time at Trinity, and 77 yards away from his second top-ten season for passing yardage in his career.

Horn also remained well-within striking distance of his own school record for completion percentage in a season, just two-tenths of a percent off his high mark of 68.1 percent from the 2021 campaign.
Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) is now 25 receiving yards away from becoming the 24th player in school history to reach 700 yards in a season, while reaching the 800-mark would vault him all the way into a group 16 players historically.

Blake Lin's (Tyler, Texas / All Saints) perfect five-for-five on extra-points last weekend moved him straight into a tie for fourth all-time at 46 made PATs this season. An even 50 for the year would put him in a three-way tie for second.

The next rushing touchdown for Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) would move him into a tie for ninth all-time with nine scores this season, a 10th would make him the ninth in school history to reach double-digits in a season.

Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) needs just nine more tackles to become the 24th player in school history with 200 or more in a career.

Preview

The Tigers have faced Hardin-Simmons 33 times prior to Saturday's postseason matchup, in a series that dates all the way back to 1919 though only seven times since 1990. Trinity has twice faced the Cowboys in the NCAA III postseason, in back-to-back seasons between 1999 and 2000, with the host of each matchup claiming victory.

Hardin-Simmons enters Saturday's contest 9-1 overall as the American Southwest Conference runner-up with a 7-1 record in league play, falling to Mary Hardin-Baylor at home on September 24.
Trinity enters the 32-team NCAA III bracket with one of the highest-ranked defenses in the nation statistically, ranking third in rushing defense (46.2 yards per game), fifth in red zone defense (.526) and seventh in total defense (205.3 ypg), holding opposing offenses to seven points or fewer in five contests this season.

Seven Tigers have at least five tackles for loss this season, including Charles Gilbert (Chandler, Ariz. / Basha) who has amassed 3.5 of his 7.5 this season in the last two weeks. The middle linebacking duo of Harmel and James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal) lead the way in tackles overall at 55 and 53, respectively.

On top of a Horn-led passing game that has combined for 2,802 yards and 27 touchdowns this season is a rushing attack that accounted for 142.7 yards per game this season through the backfield committee of Grigsby, Justin Carmouche (Cypress, Texas / Cy-Ranch) and Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil). Grigsby and Carmouche are each averaging well-over five yards per carry this season and have combined for 13 touchdowns.

Despite needing Merrifield for just one 13-yard catch last week, the senior wideout still paces the receiver room with 675 yards and six scores on 43 catches. Stewart and Caleb Crawford (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) have both hit the 400-yard mark this season in support with three and five receiving touchdowns, respectively.

Stewart is also the only player in NCAA III with three touchdowns via punt return this season, and is one of only four players in the 2022 NCAA III championship chase with more than one. The sophomore has nine all-purpose touchdowns this season between his five receiving, three from punt returns and his kickoff return touchdown against Texas Lutheran University on September 17.
Trinity's stout defense will be tested by the nation's ninth-best scoring offense as Hardin-Simmons averages 45.4 points per game this season while the offense will be up against a top-25 defense in takeaways which has led the Cowboys to 13th in NCAA III for turnover margin this season. However, the Tigers are also facing a bottom-20 team in NCAA III in penalties (81) and penalty yardage (805) this season, categories Trinity ranks well-better than the national average.

Around the Bracket…

If the Tigers advance past the Cowboys this Saturday, Trinity will remain in line to host the winner of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Huntingdon College (AL) which will be played simultaneously at Crusader Stadium in Belton, Texas. Both squads will enter the matchup 9-1 this season, with both losses coming in one-possession games to University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Linfield, respectively, in strong non-conference contests.