The 2021 Mary Hardin–Baylor Crusaders football team represented the University of Mary Hardin–Baylor as a member of the American Southwest Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division III football season. Led by 23rd-year head coach Pete Fredenburg, the Crusaders compiled an overall record of 15–0 with a mark of 9–0 in conference play, winning the ASC title.

Mary Hardin–Baylor beat in the first round, in the second round, in the quarterfinals, and in the semifinals before playing in the 2021 Stagg Bowl where they played and won 57–24 to secure the school's second-overall and first-non vacated title. Mary Hardin–Baylor played home games at Crusader Stadium in Belton, Texas.

Preseason ASC media poll ASC media poll 1 Mary Hardin–Baylor 196 (17) 2 Hardin–Simmons 179 (2) 3 East Texas Baptist 153 (1) 4 Texas Lutheran 140 5 Belhaven 115 6 Howard Payne 95 7 McMurry 69 8 Austin 62 9 Southwestern 54 10 Sul Ross 41

Schedule

Rankings

Regular season Simpson

Statistics SIMMHB First downs 9 27 Total yards 146 601 Rushing yards -9 330 Passing yards 155 271 Turnovers 3 1 Time of possession 29:08 29:42 Team Category Player StatisticsSimpson Passing Seth Howard 11/25, 155 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Hunter Ogle 10 rushes, 19 yards Receiving Reed Worth 5 receptions, 83 yards, TDMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 14/19, 201 yards, 2 TD Rushing Kenneth Cormier 12 rushes, 69 yards, TD Receiving Brandon Jordan 5 receptions, 116 yards, 2 TD

East Texas Baptist

Statistics ETBMHB First downs 12 21 Total yards 205 353 Rushing yards 102 208 Passing yards 103 145 Turnovers 2 2 Time of possession 28:07 31:53 Team Category Player StatisticsEast Texas Baptist Passing Troy Yowman 10/24, 75 yards Rushing Cornelius Merchant 11 rushes, 96 yards Receiving Tariq Gray 4 receptions, 81 yardsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 6/12, 145 yards, 2 TD Rushing Aphonso Thomas 26 rushes, 99 yards Receiving Brandon Jordan 2 receptions, 55 yards

At Southwestern (TX)

Statistics MHBSW First downs 25 7 Total yards 569 145 Rushing yards 277 68 Passing yards 292 77 Turnovers 2 4 Time of possession 37:05 22:55 Team Category Player StatisticsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 11/18, 246 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Tommy Bowden 2 rushes, 91 yards, TD Receiving K. J. Miller 7 receptions, 139 yards, 2 TDSouthwestern Passing Landry Gilpin 6/13, 56 yards, 2 INT Rushing Jaquon Marion 11 rushes, 27 yards Receiving Ethan Powell 2 receptions, 40 yards

No. 7 Hardin–Simmons

Statistics HSUMHB First downs 19 23 Total yards 382 435 Rushing yards 220 202 Passing yards 162 233 Turnovers 1 2 Time of possession 31:01 28:59 Team Category Player StatisticsHardin–Simmons Passing Kyle Jones 19/33, 162 yards, TD, INT Rushing Myles Featherson 8 rushes, 94 yards, TD Receiving Gatlin Martin 4 receptions, 48 yardsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 17/25, 233 yards, 5 TD Rushing Kenneth Cormier 13 rushes, 90 yards Receiving Brandon Jordan 6 receptions, 126 yards, 2 TD

At Austin

Statistics MHBAC First downs 26 8 Total yards 480 117 Rushing yards 297 89 Passing yards 183 28 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 27:22 32:38 Team Category Player StatisticsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 8/10, 141 yards, 2 TD Rushing Aphonso Thomas 9 rushes, 63 yards, TD Receiving Brenton Martin 3 receptions, 61 yards, 2 TDAustin Passing Tyler James 7/15, 28 yards Rushing Maurice Reed 7 rushes, 31 yards Receiving Maurice Reed 3 receptions, 17 yards

Texas Lutheran

Statistics TLUMHB First downs 9 25 Total yards 124 455 Rushing yards 69 253 Passing yards 55 202 Turnovers 3 2 Time of possession 33:17 26:43 Team Category Player StatisticsTexas Lutheran Passing Seth Cosme 8/15, 55 yards, INT Rushing Seth Cosme 17 rushes, 40 yards Receiving Roland Bland Jr. 2 receptions, 22 yardsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 16/25, 180 yards, 4 TD Rushing Aphonso Thomas 12 rushes, 136 yards, TD Receiving K. J. Miller 6 receptions, 92 yards, 2 TD

At Sul Ross

Statistics MHBSRS First downs 26 7 Total yards 573 219 Rushing yards 208 42 Passing yards 365 177 Turnovers 2 2 Time of possession 20:58 39:02 Team Category Player StatisticsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Ryan Redding 10/13, 201 yards, 3 TD Rushing Aphonso Thomas 14 rushes, 86 yards, TD Receiving Benton Martin 5 receptions, 106 yards, 2 TDSul Ross Passing T. J. Deshields 5/16, 173 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Ozias Wright 12 rushes, 20 yards Receiving Vicente Luevano 2 receptions, 85 yards, TD

Belhaven

Statistics BELMHB First downs 16 16 Total yards 237 291 Rushing yards 100 177 Passing yards 137 114 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 39:01 20:59 Team Category Player StatisticsBelhaven Passing Mayowa Asagunla 15/27, 137 yards, INT Rushing Mayowa Asagunla 18 rushes, 63 yards Receiving Michael Simpson 6 receptions, 73 yardsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Ryan Redding 8/20, 114 yards Rushing Aphonso Thomas 11 rushes, 61 yards, 2 TD Receiving Brenton Martin 4 receptions, 57 yards

Howard Payne

Statistics HPUMHB First downs 15 32 Total yards 333 616 Rushing yards 71 268 Passing yards 262 348 Turnovers 3 0 Time of possession 26:33 33:27 Team Category Player StatisticsHoward Payne Passing Nick Infante 14/29, 147 yards, 3 INT Rushing Nick Infante 11 rushes, 33 yards Receiving Jake Parker 3 receptions, 129 yards, 2 TDMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Ryan Redding 21/28, 307 yards, 2 TD Rushing Ryan Redding 12 rushes, 98 yards, 2 TD Receiving K. J. Miller 12 receptions, 165 yards

At McMurry

Statistics MHBMCM First downs 29 11 Total yards 546 180 Rushing yards 300 86 Passing yards 246 94 Turnovers 0 2 Time of possession 28:35 30:28 Team Category Player StatisticsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 9/17, 154 yards, 3 TD Rushing Kenneth Cormier 15 rushes, 88 yards, 2 TD Receiving K. J. Miller 4 receptions, 67 yards, TDMcMurry Passing Dexter Wyble 13/29, 94 yards Rushing Dee Robinson 7 rushes, 49 yards Receiving Zachary Wood 2 receptions, 31 yards

NCAA Division III playoffs No. 16 Trinity (TX) (First Round)

Statistics TRNMHB First downs 10 15 Total yards 212 307 Rushing yards 22 179 Passing yards 190 128 Turnovers 2 2 Time of possession 28:11 31:49 Team Category Player StatisticsTrinity Passing Tucker Horn 20/40, 190 yards, 2 INT Rushing Winston Hutchinson 16 rushes, 26 yards Receiving Ryan Merrifield 5 receptions, 58 yardsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 10/22, 128 yards, INT Rushing Aphonso Thomas 26 rushes, 118 yards, TD Receiving Brenton Martin 3 receptions, 60 yards

No. 19 Birmingham–Southern (Second Round)

Statistics BSCMHB First downs 10 21 Total yards 243 450 Rushing yards 101 199 Passing yards 142 251 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 26:35 33:25 Team Category Player StatisticsBirmingham–Southern Passing Trey Patterson 11/23, 142 yards, INT Rushing Robert Shufford 10 rushes, 60 yards Receiving Race Marin 3 receptions, 56 yardsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Ryan Redding 14/23, 251 yards, 3 TD Rushing Kenneth Cormier 16 rushes, 65 yards, 2 TD Receiving Brandon Jordan 3 receptions, 101 yards, TD

No. 7 Linfield (Quarterfinal)

Statistics LINMHB First downs 22 24 Total yards 472 538 Rushing yards 30 135 Passing yards 442 403 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 32:11 27:49 Team Category Player StatisticsLinfield Passing Wyatt Smith 42/51, 442 yards, 3 TD Rushing Connor McNabb 11 rushes, 48 yards Receiving Joel Valadez 13 receptions, 121 yards, 2 TDMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 24/32, 345 yards, 6 TD Rushing Aphonso Thomas 9 rushes, 60 yards Receiving Brandon Jordan 7 receptions, 136 yards, 3 TD

At No. 3 Wisconsin–Whitewater (Semifinal)

Statistics MHBUWW First downs 17 16 Total yards 378 271 Rushing yards 69 64 Passing yards 309 207 Turnovers 0 2 Time of possession 30:20 29:40 Team Category Player StatisticsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 22/33, 309 yards, 2 TD Rushing Aphonso Thomas 26 rushes, 79 yards Receiving Brandon Jordan 11 receptions, 164 yards, 2 TDWisconsin–Whitewater Passing Max Meylor 23/32, 207 yards, TD, INT Rushing Alex Peete 20 rushes, 43 yards Receiving Tyler Holte 6 receptions, 91 yards, TD

Vs. No. 1 North Central (IL) (Stagg Bowl)

Statistics MHBNCC First downs 28 18 Total yards 596 287 Rushing yards 133 85 Passing yards 463 202 Turnovers 2 4 Time of possession 28:48 31:12 Team Category Player StatisticsMary Hardin–Baylor Passing Kyle King 22/29, 436 yards, 3 TD Rushing Aphonso Thomas 13 rushes, 65 yards, 2 TD Receiving Brenton Martin 9 receptions, 196 yards, TDNorth Central Passing Luke Lehnen 18/27, 202 yards, TD, 3 INT Rushing Ethan Greenfield 25 rushes, 124 yards, TD Receiving Andrew Kamienski 8 receptions, 115 yards

Personnel

References