SAN ANTONIO – Trinity's fifth-ranked football team was eliminated in the Second Round of the NCAA Playoffs in a 24-17 loss to third-ranked University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers suffered their first defeat of the season, falling to 11-1 and exiting the postseason at the hands of UMHB for the second straight season. The Crusaders improved to 11-1 on the year and will play in next week's NCAA Quarterfinals.

Trinity drove inside the UMHB 40 yard line on the final drive in a bid to tie the game, but the Crusaders had three sacks on the drive – including sacks on two of the final three plays of the game.

Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) threw for 282 yards and a pair of touchdowns, completing 26-for-38 through the air. He also would have been the game's leading rusher with over 40 yards gained, but was sacked six times total and ended up with negative yardage on the day.

Trey King (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) led Trinity with a career-high 12 tackles, while Mac Douglas (Fairhope, Ala. / Bayside Academy) finished with 10 stops and a fumble recovery.
Justin Carmouche (Cypress, Texas / Cy-Ranch) had a pair of long kickoff returns in the game, finishing with 139 all-purpose yards that included 109 yards in returns. BJ Stewart (Shreveport, La. / Woodlawn) led the Tigers with 78 yards receiving on six catches, with nearly half of his yards coming after the catch.

The Rundown
Trinity opened the game with a huge play from Carmouche, who took the opening kickoff back 61 yards to set up the Tigers at the UMHB 38 yard line. The Crusaders defense held, though, and Trinity's fourth-and-short pass attempt fell incomplete and the visitors took over.

Both teams traded three-and-out drives that ended with punts of 45+ yards as both teams played the field position battle. Mary Hardin-Baylor drove near midfield on a six-play drive that ended near the seven-minute mark of the first quarter, then was able to pin Trinity at its own 15 with another punt.

Another three-and-out for Trinity, combined with a 15-yard punt return, set Mary Hardin-Baylor up at Trinity's 33 yard line. The Crusaders took advantage of the short field with the game's first score just five plays later, taking a 7-0 lead.

Trinity continued to struggle offensively, though the defense did its part by forcing a turnover on the second play of UMHB's next drive. The Tigers took over in UMHB territory and went for it on fourth-and-short again at the 39 yard line, but the Crusaders defense held again and took over early in the second quarter. UMHB drove to the Trinity five yard line, but a penalty knocked them back and eventually forced a 31-yard field goal to make it a 10-0 lead. That lead held up the rest of the quarter as neither team was able to do much offensively after that initial drive.

The second-half kickoff was an 86-yard touchdown by Mary Hardin-Baylor, though it was called back for a penalty and the Crusaders set up at their own 40 yard line to start the third quarter. The determined visitors immediately turned a short reception into a 60-yard touchdown to take a 17-0 lead less than a minute into the half.

Those two plays also woke up the Trinity offense, though, as the Tigers put together their best drive of the day to that point, covering 80 yards in eight plays to cut it to a 17-7 lead. Horn threw for 76 yards to lead the Tigers down the field, eclipsing the team's first-half total of 59 yards of offense in just one drive. In the end, Horn found Cole Monago (Houston, Texas / Klein Cain) for a 33-yard score down the right sideline.

The flurry of scoring continued as Mary Hardin-Baylor answered quickly, finishing off an 84-yard drive with a 45-yard touchdown to take a 24-7 lead with 7:48 left in the third quarter.
Trinity followed with its longest drive of the game as Horn stayed hot. The drive covered 14 plays and drained more than six minutes off the clock. After moving deep into UMHB territory for a first-and-goal, Horn scrambled from inside the five and found Matthew Kovacevich (Friendswood, Texas / Friendswood) for a short touchdown – or so it seemed. Instead, Horn was called for an illegal forward pass and Trinity eventually settled for a 23-yard field goal from Blake Lin (Tyler, Texas / All Saints) to make it a 24-10 game with 1:21 left in the third.

Mary Hardin-Baylor's next drive spilled into the fourth quarter and moved inside Trinity's 35 yard line. The Crusaders faked a punt on fourth-and-long, but the Tiger defense was ready and got the stop with a tackle for loss in the backfield. Trinity's offense took advantage just three plays later, keyed by a 36-yard pass play from Horn to Stewart. Kovacevich scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Horn after that, cutting the lead to just 24-17 with more than 11 minutes left in the game.

After a three-and-out by UMHB, Trinity took over at their own 35 yard line. The Tigers moved near midfield when the Crusaders stripped the ball out of Horn's hands for a turnover. The Crusaders drive stalled at the Trinity 20 and a field goal attempt from 37 yards sailed wide left, keeping it a 24-17 game with 6:01 to play.

Trinity had to use its second timeout early in the next drive, which meant that the Tigers had to assume it would be their last chance to tie the game. The drive lasted 14 plays as Trinity converted two third downs and a fourth down to keep it going. After reaching the UMHB 25 yard line, Horn was sacked for a 14-yard loss that forced Trinity to use its final timeout with 22 seconds left. An incomplete pass stopped the clock one final time, then Horn was sacked for a short loss and the Tigers couldn't stop the clock – or get off another play, as time expired.

Numbers to Note
Monago finished with five receptions for 64 yards, while Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandergrift) pulled in five catches for 63 yards.

Eli Gehman (Cedar Park, Texas / Leander) had a busy day with five punts for 195 yards (39.0 yards/punt), including two kicks inside the 20 yard line, and a long of 49 yards.

Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) finished with nine tackles, while fellow linebacker James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal) and defensive lineman Harris Good (Ft. Worth, Texas / Paschal) had six stops each. Good and Douglas combined for Trinity's only sack of the game.