The Opening Kickoff
Hardin-Simmons will travel to familiar foe Trinity for a noon kickoff on ESPN+. HSU is 9-1 on the season and won the American Southwest Conference for the third straight year. HSU won the automatic bid over Mary Hardin-Baylor by virtue of head-to-head point difference, as the two teams split the regular season. This marks the fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs. HSU has been to the playoffs on 13 occasions since joining Division III as an eligible member in 1997. The Cowboys are 4-13 all-time in the playoffs and have lost 12 straight games. The last win came for the Cowboys on Dec. 2, 2000, against Trinity. This will be the fourth meeting all-time between Hardin-Simmons and Trinity in the playoffs. The Tigers have won the three games played in San Antonio (1999, 2022 and 2023). HSU won the game in Abilene in 2000. Trinity received a pool C bid into the playoffs out of the Southern Athletic Association. They lost to Berry to finish second in the league. The Tigers have won five straight games heading into the matchup. Trinity finished at No. 11 in the final NPI ranking and the Cowboys are No. 12. HSU is the lowest-seeded team that must play on the road, the next lowest is No. 15 Endicott. 
 
Up Next
The winner of Saturday's game will play the winner of the Berry-LaGrange game in the third round. If Berry wins, they will host that game. If LaGrange wins, then the winner of Trinity and Hardin-Simmons will be the higher seed and would host that game.
 
Broadcast
All NCAA playoff games are broadcast on ESPN+ and require a subscription. In the first round last week, there were technical difficulties at five of the eight sites. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done about that on our end. The home team and ultimately the NCAA are responsible for all postseason playoff broadcast rights.
 
In The Polls
Hardin-Simmons dropped to No. 14 in the D3football.com poll and is still No. 12 in the American Football Coaches Association poll after the final week of the regular season. Trinity is ranked No. 21 in both polls. The Cowboys are ranked 12th in the NPI rankings used to determine the NCAA field. Trinity is ranked No. 11 in the NPI. HSU has been ranked for 113 straight weeks and in the top 10 for 73 of those weeks.
 
A Cowboy Win Would

• Be the 529th in school history.
• Give the Cowboys their first NCAA playoff win since Dec. 2, 2000, snapping a 13-game losing streak.
• Would give the Cowboys 10 wins for the eighth time in school history and the second straight year.
• Be the 117th in the Jesse Burleson era.

 
About Trinity
The Tigers are built like most Trinity teams under Jerheme Urban: hard-nosed, physical, plenty of playmakers to hurt you and they don't make mistakes. They allow just 12 points per game and 234.5 yards per contest. They have turned the ball over just eight times this season and have produced 21 turnovers. Wide receiver Alejandro Tavarez is the big weapon on offense with 798 yards and 12 touchdowns. They use a pair of running backs that have combined for 955 yards and eight TDs and quarterback Hondo Franklin has rushed for 237 yards and four scores. He is also a threat through the air, completing 67.3 percent of his passes for 2,004 yards with 19 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Defensively, senior linebacker T.J. Scannell is the top player with 75 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and four sacks. He is the son of longtime Trinity baseball coach Tim Scannell. A familiar face for the Tigers is Dorien Hill, who played at Mary Hardin-Baylor as a freshman and is the brother of UMHB All-American Durand Hill. He has 45 tackles on the year. Jaden Powell and Kody Brown each have four interceptions on the year for the Tigers. Jonathan Nwobodo leads the team with five sacks.   
 
The Series Trinity
The Cowboys hold a 23-8-4 record all-time against Trinity and lead 8-5-1 in San Antonio. Jesse Burleson is 4-2 against the Tigers. In the D3 era, the Cowboys own a 5-3 all-time record against Trinity and are 2-2 in San Antonio.
 
Last Time Out
After a wild flurry in the first quarter, the Cowboys outscored ETBU 49-0 the rest of the way to claim the American Southwest Conference titles. HSU scored on a 65-yard pass to Noah Garcia on the opening drive and ETBU answered with an 82-yard flea flicker for a score on the first drive. Ironically, HSU had hit the same play in the first meeting of the two teams. HSU then scored again on a Braylon Henry run and ETBU came back with another trick, a halfback pass that went 31 yards for a score. The Cowboys pounded out 284 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground in the game and cruised to the victory. 
 
Model of Consistency
This marks the fifth straight season the Cowboys have won at least nine games. HSU is one of only six current programs in Division III with nine wins in five straight seasons -  DePauw, Johns Hopkins, Mount Union, North Central and Susquehanna are the others. HSU has made the playoffs for four straight seasons, which is the longest consecutive streak in school history. HSU has had a winning record in 33 of the last 34 years and they have won at least eight games every year since 2015 (minus the COVID shortened season). Only four teams in the nation have a longer streak than the Cowboys' nine straight eight or more win seasons.
 
Noah Goes Out With A Bang
Senior running back Noah Garcia went out with a bang in his final regular-season home game. He rushed for a career high of 161 yards on the ground with three touchdowns. He added two receptions, with one going for 65 yards on a screen pass for a touchdown.  He is having one of the best seasons in school history. His 1776 all-purpose yards are the second-most in a single season. He needs 158 more yards to pass Jessie Ramos' school record. He also has 18 touchdowns on the year. He ranks sixth nationally with 177.6 all-purpose yards per game. He is also 14th nationally with 18 total touchdowns. He was named the ASC player of the week for the fourth time this season.
 
Pounding The Rock
The Cowboys ran for 284 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground against East Texas Baptist, it was the seventh time the Cowboys have been over 200 yards rushing in a game this season. Garcia had 161 yards and three rushing touchdowns, Braylon Henry added 84 yards and two touchdowns.  
 
Roden Has Another Big Game
Kaiden Roden had 12 more tackles on Saturday against East Texas Baptist to earn ASC defensive player of the week honors. He was named the ASC Defensive player of the year. He leads the team with 72 tackles on the year despite missing one full game and most of another with a knee injury.
 
QRF Shines In Final Regular-Season Game
The quick reaction forces had their most complete game of the season. Guy Powell had a 74-yard punt return, his longest of the year in the contest. Pedro Altamirano was again perfect on PATs making all nine and he hit seven of his 10 kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks. He leads the nation with 56 touchbacks. Freshman linebacker Colyn Donnelly sniffed out a fake punt and made a nice open-field tackle to stop the runner before getting a first down. He also later had an interception after a bad snap on a punt forced the Tigers' to scramble. He earned ASC player of the week honors for those two plays. Kaden Turner averaged 44.2 yards on his four punts in the game.    
 
20-Start Club
The Cowboys now have 12 players on the team with 20 career starts. Noah Garcia leads the way for the Cowboys with 33. Hayden Philpot is next with 28 (including a team-best 28 straight). Garrett Tittle and Bode Walters each have 22 starts. Mike Akinbisola, Harrison Foster, Kyle Brown, Kris Sims and Hayden Hays have 21 starters and Kaiden Roden, Jaxon Lunsford and Dozie Ifeadi made their 20th start last week
 
Playing In Front
HSU has scored first in all but three games this season and has trailed just 42:19 of 600 minutes this season, 33:42 of those trailing minutes came in the Mary Hardin-Baylor loss. HSU was down only a field goal to both Louisiana Christian and McMurry. The biggest deficit HSU has faced this year is a 21-10 deficit at UMHB.
 
Non-Offensive Scores
The Cowboys have five defensive scores and two safeties on the year. Mike Akinbisola returned an interception 15 yards for a score against McMurry, Kaiden Roden returned an interception 30 yards against Howard Payne, Harrison Foster had a 65-yard interception return against Mary Hardin-Baylor and a 97-yard interception return against East Texas Baptist and Matt Pascuzzi added a 73-yard fumble return against UMHB.
 
Playoff Experience
While the Cowboys have been to the playoffs for four straight years, the number of players that have actually played in a playoff game is smaller than you might expect. Only 21 players on the 58-man roster actually played in the playoff game against Mary Hardin-Baylor last season. When you look at playoff starts this will be the fourth for Noah Garcia. Hayden Philpot, Garrett Tittle, Bode Walters and Dozie Ifeadi are making their third start and Micah Henderson, Hayden Hays, Kaiden Roden, Harrison Foster, Kyle Brown, Kris Sims and Jaxon Lunsford will be making their second start. 
 
Offensive Notes

• Jeff Whitehead is in his 15th season as the offensive coordinator for the Cowboys. In his career with the Cowboys, HSU has averaged 41.8 points per game and 465.7 yards per game. This season, the Cowboys average 45.8 points per game and 468.9 yards per game. HSU is 12th nationally in scoring and 16th in total offense.
• His teams have averaged over 400 yards every year and over 500 yards a game on four different occasions.
• The Cowboys led the ASC in total offense by 65.9 yards per game and in scoring by 14.3 points per game.
• HSU has over 500 yards in game five times this season, has over 600 two times and over 700 yards one time. They have scored over 50 points four times and over 60 three times this season.
• The Cowboys start nine seniors on offense and those nine guys have combined for 197 starts. In all, the Cowboys have 217 career starts among the 11 starters.
• HSU's offensive line has 102 career starts between them, including seven in the NCAA playoffs.
• HSU's offense has produced 58 chunk plays (plays over 20 yards this season). Noah Garcia has 15, Wes Douglas 11 and Kris Sims eight.

 
Defensive Notes

• Craig Neece is in his second season as the defensive coordinator and has brought an attacking-style defense that blitzes players from any position.
• The Cowboys led the ASC in scoring defense, allowing just 17.6 points per game. The Cowboys also led the conference in total defense allowing just 295.3 yards per game.
• The Cowboys have not allowed more than 384 yards in any game this season. HSU allowed 51.5 yards fewer than the next-best team in the ASC.
• The Cowboys have forced a turnover in 15 straight games. HSU has forced nine turnovers over the last two games and has forced 22 on the year. HSU has an interception in nine of the 10 games and seven straight. 
• HSU has allowed less than 300 yards in 12 of the 20 games under Neece in two seasons.
• The opposing team has not had a score on the first drive of the second half in 30 straight games, seven times the Cowboys have forced a turnover in that situation.
• The Cowboys only have one senior on the two-deep on the defensive side of the ball. They have seven freshmen listed at No. 2 on the defensive depth chart. 
• HSU has been especially good against the run. HSU has allowed over 100 yards just three times this season and has held six straight opponents under the century mark. 

QRF Notes

• The Cowboys' special forces units have been a true weapon this season. J.J. Elkins heads up the special teams unit.  
• The Cowboys will not have anyone in the operation unit who has played a playoff game. Pedro Altamirano has come in this season and handles the kickoffs and placements and he leads the nation with 56 touchbacks. He has hit 9-of-11 field goals and 55-of-57 PATs. Kaden Turner is a transfer at punter and he averages 43.3 yards per punt and is also a weapon as the holder as he has a rushing, receiving and passing PAT this season.
• Guy Powell, Rodney Hall and Ethan Wright are the return men and all are in their first season at HSU.
• HSU is 25th nationally with five blocked kicks on the year.
• Caleb Williams, a transfer from Austin College, will handle the deep snapping chores. He and Cade Smillie have shared the job this season.

 
 
 

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