MARSHALL, Texas – A championship chapter was written on Saturday in the Josh Eargle era as he coached the East Texas Baptist University football team to their first American Southwest Conference championship since 2003. With a 27-21 victory over #8 Hardin-Simmons University (8-1, 3-1), ETBU is now guaranteed a share of the ASC championship as they move to 7-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play.
"I can't put his win and game into words," says head coach Joshua Eargle. "I'm so proud of these young men and their by-in and their belief in one another and their love for one another and the by-in to family and being more than just being a teammate but being a brother."
Staying perfect in the ASC at 4-0, ETBU is the lone undefeated team at the top of the standings now. ETBU last claimed an ASC Championship in 2003 when they also shared it with Hardin-Simmons and Mary Hardin-Baylor.
It took a defensive effort and a strong ground game to grind out the six-point win over the eighth-ranked team in the nation. ETBU recorded six sacks and 16 tackles-for-loss for negative-72 yards. The offense finished the day with 209 yards on 64 carries.
"This team fought for four quarters. We got up early and then we get down and they go into halftime behind and they come back and get gritty and that's just been our team all year as they don't lose belief in one another," says Eargle.
Kendall Roberson once again carried a majority of the ground game with an ETBU single game record 50 carries for 193 yards. The 50 carries surpasses David Rogenmoser's 42 from 2004 against Sul Ross State University. Roberson also added three rushing touchdowns moving his season total to 22 which leads the NCAA Division III.
It was a team effort on defense all-around as three players had 10 or more tackles. C.J. Johnson had a career day with 12 tackles (8 solo), three sacks (-31 yards), and four tackles-for-loss (-33 yards). Garrett Gibson added 10 tackles with three tackles-for-loss while Sam Williams add 10 tackles too. Xavier Davis and Andre Welch each collected a sack and Gibson and Tremell Scott shared a sack.
It was the second possession of the first quarter that ETBU took advantage of the ground game going 84 yards on 19 plays. Of the 19 plays, 17 were rushes as Jourdan McNeill jumped in from one-yard out for the 7-0 lead with 4:45 on the clock. HSU went three-and-out on the next series with a botched punt attempt to set ETBU up on the 20-yard line. Three plays later, Roberson rolled in from 11-yards out for his first of three touchdowns of the day making it 14-0 at the 2:55 mark.
HSU took over the second half scoring all 21-points to regain the momentum. Their first three possessions of the second quarter ended with touchdowns. They cut ETBU's lead to eight on a missed 2-point conversion on a five-yard run at the 12:25 mark. Almost four minutes later, they tied the game at 14 on a 73-yard touchdown pass at the 8:42 mark and then with 5:28 left in the half HSU took the lead, 21-14 on a two-yard run.
Holding the ball seven times in the second half, HSU had to punt five times and turned the ball over on downs twice.
Roberson took over the game in the third quarter driving ETBU 43-yards to tie the game at 21 on a three-yard run. After an 11-yard HSU punt to their 43-yard line, Roberson rushed seven straight times for the touchdown. Each team exchanged the ball until ETBU received it back with 4:59 to go in the third quarter. Taking the ball at the ETBU 28-yard line, Josh Warbington led the team 72 yards on eight rushes and three passes for the go-ahead touchdown. All eight rushes were to Roberson as he finished off the day with a three-yard run for his third touchdown. Cody Gandy and Tyler Bates each had a reception as Gandy's was a key 26-yard catch on a second-and-seven.
ETBU's bend but don't break defense dug in deep in the fourth quarter not allowing HSU to find the goal line. HSU drove to ETBU"s 33-yard line on their longest drive of the fourth quarter but couldn't get any closer than that. Two straight sacks by Davis and then Johnson pushed HSU back to their own 47-yard line bringing up a 4th-and-26 where they punted it off to ETBU.
Going three-and-out on ETBU's next possession, HSU had one last chance to take the lead. With decent field position at the ETBU 40-yard line, HSU's offense was denied turning the ball over on downs after four plays. They had 3rd-and-four at the ETBU 34-yard line when Johnson and Desmond Oliver sacked the quarterback for a two-yard loss. The quarterback then threw an incomplete pass on 4th-and-six and ETBU took over on downs with 1:22 left in the game. Two straight rushes from Roberson for 15 yards gave ETBU a first down as they ran out the clock for the biggest win in Ornelas Stadium in 12 years.
Warbington finished the game going 13-of-16 for 74 yards as Tyler Bates had 32 yards receiving. HSU, who had the best defense in the ASC only allowing 14 points per game, gave up 27 points to ETBU. HSU threw for 204 yards and rushed for 85.
With the win, ETBU is the only undefeated team in the ASC. They will travel to Belton, Texas, on Saturday, November 14, to face Mary Hardin-Baylor to take the outright ASC Championship. They face the Crusaders at 1:00 p.m.