BELTON, Texas — Southwestern surrendered 17 unanswered points in the first quarter of a 52-7 loss to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB) Crusaders. 

Mary Hardin-Baylor opened the game with a seven-play, 43-yard drive ending in a 42-yard field goal. The Southwestern offense stalled in a three-and-out opening drive, setting up a 30-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Bowden to K.J. Miller. 

After another Southwestern three-and-out possession, the Pirate defense appeared to capture some momentum when Jules Williams intercepted Bowden at the Southwestern nine-yard line, but the Pirates fumbled, and Jayden Smith returned it three yards for the defensive touchdown. 

The Pirate defense created another opportunity on the Crusaders' first possession of the second quarter, sacking Bowden and forcing a fumble that Jay Hannath recovered. This time, Southwestern capitalized with a 57-yard touchdown by Austin Castilleja from Landry Gilpin.  

Mary Hardin-Baylor answered immediately with a five-play, 64-yard drive capped off by a Kyle King five-yard touchdown run for a 24-7 lead at the half. 

The Crusaders scored four unanswered touchdowns in the second half to put the game away, scoring on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Brenton Martin, a 20-yard pass from King to Brandon Jordan, a two-yard King run, and a 10-yard pass from Ryan Redding to Jordan. 

Southwestern totaled just 146 yards of total offense, surrendering 465. The Pirates punted nine times, threw one interception, and lost two fumbles. Gilpin completed 4-of-13 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown. Castilleja had two receptions for 72 yards. 

Bowden led UMHB with 207 total yards, passing for 97 with two touchdowns and running for 112. King completed 7-of-8 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. He also had nine carries for 37 yards and two touchdowns. 

With the loss, Southwestern drops to 0-2 on the season, and Mary Hardin-Baylor remains undefeated at 2-0. Southwestern will return to action on Saturday, March 13, for a road game against Louisiana College.