Postseason Football in Central Texas
With two successful regular seasons now in the books, two very dominant football programs now set their eyes on the postseason.
The UMHB Crusaders and Temple Wildcats handled their business in the regular season in order to ensure postseason berths. The UMHB Crusaders have been the team everyone has been chasing in Division 3 all year long. They have been the #1 team in the nation in both the D3football.com and AFCA Coaches Polls since winning the 2016 Division III National Championship.
Even after a close call this past Saturday against East Texas Baptist University with a 31-21 win, the Crusaders are prepared to attempt to repeat as national champions. The Crusaders are 10-0, and 9-0 in their American Southwest Conference games this year. This is UMHB's 13th American Southwest Conference title in a row.
The Temple Wildcats are entering the postseason in a very familiar spot from last year. This non-district portion of the schedule saw the Wildcats finishing with 2-2 record, just as they did in 2016. Also, Temple took off with four wins in a row to start district play to set up a showdown against College Station for the District 18-5A crown.
Very similar to 2016, it was a highly contested game, and would leave the same amount of heartbreak. The Temple Wildcats lost 26-20 in overtime to the College Station Cougars, and lost in regulation last year 17-16 to the Cougars.
Temple is hoping to use that last loss as a catalyst as they did last year, and propel themselves to the state championship again. Hopefully, if the Wildcats are able to reach that point again, there will be a different outcome for the Wildcats than of recent history. The Wildcats have been to the state championship two out of the last three years, and have been dealt heartbreaking losses.
With both of these teams in similar positions from last year, they definitely need support from us Central Texans in order to get back to their respective mountaintops.
The Temple Wildcats begin their journey to the state championship this coming Friday against a familar foe, Corsicana. The Wildcats took on the Tigers in the first round of last year's playoffs, and won easily 34-10.
The UMHB Crusaders will be playing a new foe in the first round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs, Chapman University. The Chapman Panthers out of Orange, California, are out of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and won their conference title with a 6-0 record in their conference.
The Wildcats and Crusaders will both be kicking off their first round games this week in Central Texas. The Wildcats will be playing the Corsicana Tigers at Waco ISD Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Friday November 17th. UMHB will be kicking off at 12;00 p.m. at Crusader Stadium against the Chapman Panthers. The Crusaders have clinched home field advantage throughout the NCAA Division III Playoffs.
Both teams need you to fill the stands, and come show your support for them. If you are unable to attend these games in person, you can stay tuned in with the KRock 101.7 broadcast of the games.
The Temple Wildcats broadcast will begin with the pregame show at 7:00 p.m., and kickoff at 7:30 p.m.. The UMHB Crusaders broadcast will begin at 11:30 a.m. with the pregame show, and kickoff at 12:00 p.m.. You can also stream these games from krock1017fm.com, and also from the KRock 101.7 mobile app which you can download from your respective app stores.