SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity football team won its first NCAA III Playoff game since 2002 last week, advancing to face off against No. 3 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in a rematch of last season's First Round NCAA Playoff game.

The Tigers (11-0) earned a 14-7 win over Hardin-Simmons University to move into the second round of the postseason tournament, scoring two second-half touchdowns that included the game-winning score with just over two minutes left in the game. It was the fourth game this season that was decided by seven points or less, and it was the sixth straight game that the Tiger defense allowed less than 300 yards of total offense.

Trinity's first-round victory in the NCAA III Playoffs snaps a streak of seven consecutive losses in the postseason, dating back to the 2002 NCAA III Semifinals against St. John's University (MN). That was also the last time that Trinity hosted multiple rounds of the tournament, as well as the only time that the Tigers reached the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.

Honors and Awards: All-SAA and Academic All-District
Trinity featured prominently among the 2022 honorees released by the Southern Athletic Association this week, sporting 22 different players receiving accolades. The Tigers also had six players earn Academic All-District honors – five of which also earned All-SAA distinction.

Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) was the SAA Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season and was also Academic All-District for the first time in his career. Trey King (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) was also a 1st Team All-SAA selection who also made the Academic All-District Team, while Carson Byrd (Waco, Texas / Midway) and Eli Gehman (Cedar Park, Texas / Leander) added Academic All-District to their All-SAA Honorable Mention awards this year. Cole Monago (Houston, Texas / Klein Cain) was also selected to the Academic All-District Team for the first time in his career.

Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) is a three-time Academic All-District Selection, having also won the honor in the Spring 2021 season and last year's Fall 2021 season as well. Gore also earned Second Team All-SAA honors for the second time in his career.

BJ Stewart (Shreveport, La. / Woodlawn) was named the SAA Special Teams Player of the Year and was a Second Team selection as a wide receiver.
Check out the full story: All-SAA.

Records and Milestones
Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton), who was among this year's First Team All-SAA selections, recorded his 200th career tackle last week, becoming the 24th player in school history to reach the milestone. Five more stops puts him in the top 20 in school history for a career.

Horn is approaching 6,000 passing yards with the Tigers and would become just the fourth player to achieve that total. He is already in the top five in nearly every passing category in Trinity history, including third in career passing touchdowns, with 61. Horn is the current record-holder for career completion percentage and is second all-time in passing efficiency.

Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandergrift) became the 19th player in school history to catch 100 or more passes in a career, following his six-catch, 110-yard game that included the game-winning touchdown last weekend. He is also just 65 yards from becoming the 17th player to eclipse 1,500 receiving yards in a career.

Blake Lin (Tyler, Texas / All Saints) is having one of the top seasons in school history for a placekicker, needing just two more PATs to tie for third all-time for a single season. He has connected on 96% (48-50) of his tries, which is the third-best percentage in school history for one year. Two more field goals would also make him the seventh player ever to kick 10 in one season.

Preview: No. 5 Trinity and No. 3 UMHB
Another Top-10 in-state matchup looms for Trinity as they will face off against Mary Hardin-Baylor for the 11th time ever on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers won the first four meetings, but the Cru have won six consecutive games in the series – including last year's 13-3 NCAA III Playoff victory.

These two programs have met in the postseason six times since 2001, though this will mark the first meeting that wasn't in the First Round. Trinity won NCAA III Playoff meetings in 2001 and 2002, while Mary Hardin-Baylor has advanced against Trinity in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2021.

This week's matchup will feature strength on strength when UMHB's offense is on the field. The Cru are the ninth-ranked team in NCAA III in total offense, averaging nearly 490 yards per game. Trinity's defense, however, is the best part of its game this season as the Tigers enter the weekend as the sixth-best team in the country, allowing just 206.5 yards per game to the opposition.

Both teams pass for right around 270 yards per game this year, though Mary Hardin-Baylor also rushes for well over 200 yards per game. The Tigers are fifth in the nation against the run on defense, though, giving up just 53.2 yards per game on the ground.

The game will also line up the nation's fifth-ranked scoring offense against the eighth-ranked scoring defense. The Cru is scoring just over 45 points per game this year, while the Tigers give up less than 10 points per game defensively.

On the Horizon: NCAA Quarterfinals (Dec. 3)
The winner of this Lone Star Showdown moves on to the NCAA III Quarterfinals against either No. 13/20 Bethel University (9-2) or No. 4/5 Linfield University (10-0). Linfield defeated Pomona-Pitzer 51-24 in its NCAA First Round game, while Bethel held off No. 15 Wheaton College (IL) 34-32 on the road.