Given the luxury of playing at home, UW-Whitewater must get past Mary Hardin-Baylor again to reach Stagg Bowl

The last time Mary Hardin-Baylor played at UW-Whitewater, the unsuspecting Crusaders learned what it’s like to play on the frozen tundra this time of year.

“The last memory I have of Whitewater is it was a heartbreaking loss but a great experience,” said Pete Fredenburg, the only head coach in the 23-year history of his school’s Division III program in central Texas. “I remember the field was iced over. We were in awe of the surroundings.”

The Warhawks won that December 2007 game, 16-7, with temperatures in the teens, then captured their first Stagg Bowl title the following week with a 31-21 victory over perennial finalist Mount Union. This time, Whitewater and Mary Hardin-Baylor are facing off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Perkins Stadium in the national semifinals, with North Central (Illinois) playing Mount Union (Ohio) on the other side of the bracket.

In somewhat controversial scheduling, No. 1-ranked North Central, the defending champion from 2019 – there was no Division III football last year because of the pandemic – is being sent to Alliance, Ohio, to play Mount Union, ranked No. 4; while the No. 2 Crusaders (13-0) go on the road to play the No. 3 Warhawks.

Whitewater whipped Mary Hardin-Baylor on the road, 26-7, in the 2019 quarterfinals before eventually getting thumped by North Central, 41-14, in the Stagg Bowl. But the Warhawks certainly asked no questions when being awarded a home game this time around.

“As much as I love going to Texas, there’s nothing like home sweet home,” said Whitewater coach Kevin Bullis, whose team has stomped the opposition by a combined score of 165-28 in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

“It’s strange. This is going to be our 10th game at home this season. I don’t know if that’s ever happened here. It’s pretty special to be here. Obviously, we love playing at home.”

Crusaders have lethal passing game

To get to the second Stagg Bowl under Bullis and hopefully win for the first time since 2014 under Lance Leipold, the Warhawks (13-0) will have to control the prolific passing game of the Crusaders, who have used two quarterbacks during the postseason. It was Kyle King’s turn in a 49-24 thumping of Linfield in the quarterfinals and he passed for 345 yards and six touchdowns.

“He played a phenomenal game,” Fredenburg said. “Whatever motivation he had (after Ryan Redding started the previous week), he certainly played well. That might be one of the best offensive performances that we’ve ever had.

“It goes without saying that our quarterbacks have been outstanding throwing the ball. We have wonderful receivers.”

Facing great quarterback play is nothing new for the Warhawks. In their 52-21 quarterfinal victory over Central (Iowa), they tried to control Blaine Hawkins, who established an NCAA record for all divisions with 63 touchdown passes in 13 games this season.

Hawkins completed 27 of 44 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns against Whitewater but was picked off twice and sacked six times while facing constant pressure from the Warhawks’ defensive front.

“We were pretty confident that Central was going to hang their hat on being able to throw the ball,” Bullis said. “They had done that in their previous game against Wheaton (434 passing yards, four TDs in a 30-28 victory).

“That preparation is great for your DBs, whether it’s playing man coverage or zone. The thing that makes it a little bit apples and oranges is the formations and tempo and route concepts will be a little different. But there’s no doubt that it is helpful to us in just general preparation for the pass game.

“We better not give (King) much time. The thing Kyle does really well is his ability to put the ball into a small window. It’s beautiful. That to me is something that’s special. It’s strength of arm and consistency of technique, and it’s poise. He does a good job of moving himself when he needs to. We cannot let him be comfortable on Saturday.”

Warhawks have dual-threat offense

Whitewater has a supreme passing threat of its own in senior quarterback Max Meylor, who has had a remarkable year. Meylor has completed 216 of 306 passes (70.6%) for 2,950 yards and 35 touchdowns, with only two interceptions. His favorite target has been wideout Ryan Wisniewski, who has pulled in 60 passes for 1,036 yards and 13 touchdowns.

“The thing with Max is his efficiency,” Bullis said. “He is so efficient; he is so consistent. You’re like borderline flabbergasted if he has an incompletion. That’s a credit to him and that O-line, and that wide receiver corps.

“He puts the ball on the spot. He is consistent with it; that rapport with that wide receiver corps is there. That’s the cool thing you can see now. Mary Hardin-Baylor has that, too.”

Unlike Central, which had minus-19 yards rushing in the quarterfinals, the Warhawks have a balanced attack featuring senior Alex Peete, one of the best running backs in the country. Peete has rushed for 1,403 yards and leads all Division III players with 28 touchdowns, including three through the air.

“I think he’s the critical piece to their offense,” Fredenburg said. “He’s a great running back. We had fits with him back in ’19 and I know we will again this year. It’s going to be a big task for us to slow him down. I don’t think you can stop him, but hopefully we can slow him down some.

“The offensive line at Whitewater is always big and physical and strong. Our defensive line has a big job ahead of them to match up with them. That’s a huge challenge that Whitewater presents. They’re not only big but physical and are good athletes. They present a real issue.”

Though Peete carried the ball 32 times for 181 yards and three touchdowns in the quarterfinal win over Central, Bullis has tried to manage his workload whenever possible. Peete has carried the ball only 223 times, an average of just over 17 per game.

“Alex is so vital to us,” Bullis said. “He probably could have had more yards this season, but we were careful with him to not give him too many carries. We wanted to be smart with him. That’s what you’re seeing with him in the playoffs now with him being the primary running back for us.

“He wanted to develop his physicality as a runner and also develop his burst. That’s something we’ve seen on film – his ability to make that burst and get that extra 20 (yards). He’s a very motivated young man. And you need to talk about that offensive line. It has developed up to this point through the pandemic; that group has been together now for two years.”

Revenge will be a factor for both teams

With no games played in 2020, the Warhawks have been sitting on that four-touchdown loss to North Central in the Stagg Bowl for nearly two years. They’d love to get another shot at the Cardinals but wouldn’t quarrel with a 10th title game matchup vs. Mount Union, an overtime winner against Muhlenberg in the quarterfinals.

But first things first. Bullis knows the Crusaders are still smarting over that home loss in the quarterfinals in 2019 and will be motivated to respond in kind despite leaving the relative warmth of Texas behind.

“I know Coach Fredenburg’s crew is going to come up here and play some damn good football, whether it’s 6 degrees or 30 degrees or 55 degrees,” Bullis said. “I doubt it’s going to be 55 degrees.

“People talk about our tradition of playing Mount Union but, goodness gracious, there’s our tradition of playing Mary Hardin-Baylor, also. It’s always a dogfight and I’m talking about 20 years of it with Coach (Bob) Berezowitz and Coach Fredenburg competing. He’s been the constant in this.

“My hat’s off to (Fredenburg) for building that program from the ground up, and my admiration and respect for him. We talked on the phone (Sunday) and it put a smile on my face. There’s nothing like getting a chance to see him and compete against his team because you know it’s going to be a fantastic game on Saturday.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Whitewater must contain Crusaders' passing to reach the Stagg Bowl