Football hopes best for the season

Posted By Stacy Fannin on Aug 27, 2009

Purple and gold painted faces, bats banging on old rusty cans,
train horns being blown at each touchdown—the time for all of
these traditions has finally come back. The Crusader football team
is returning for its tenth time and longing to top the phenomenal
season it played last year.

The Cru went 12-2 overall in the 2008 season, also claiming their fourth straight American Southwest Conference Championship title. UMHB advanced to the NCAA Division III National Semifinals for the second season in a row.

The team will also have 46 returning letterman from last year’s team. Among those is senior running back, Quincy Daniels. Daniels only played the first game last season due to an injury he recieved in the second game.

However, he is returning this season and is more eager then ever to take UMHB to top.

Daniels, along with the rest of the team, is hoping for the best possible season.

“My goal is to do the best I can to help the team win a national championship,” he said. “Personally, I just want to have fun and stay healthy.”

For Daniels, the key to a successful year is unity.

“I hope we are able to come together as a team and have an unforgettable season.” Crusader football is a huge piece of what UMHB is as a school. Many go to every home game, and there are the extremely dedicated who hit the road for the away games as well.

The Couch Cru are strong advocates for all Crusader sports, especially football. They are the ones who want the incoming freshmen to feel comfortable going to Tiger Field at Belton High School and shouting at the top of their lungs for their team.

Along with the Couch Cru, head coach for all 10 years, Pete Fredenburg, would like the freshmen to get plugged in to rooting for the Crusaders.

“We hope the freshmen quickly get involved as part of the team to learn about being a Crusader,” he said.

One of the Cru quarterbacks who graduated last year has returned to UMHB and is lending a helping hand to the football team in a different way than playing.

Alum Josh Saenz played for the Cru all four years of his college career, but is now helping as an assistant coach.

“My goal for the team is to win the national championship. That is the goal every year, and the Cru will work harder and harder till we get it,” he said.

Like Fredenburg, Saenz hopes the incoming class will become involved and love the football program as much as the rest of the school.

“The freshmen need to know that Crusader football is a tradition, and many guys before them have made UMHB football a power house. It is an honor to play for the Cru,” Saenz said.

The team will open the 2009 season with a road game at Southern Nazarene on Sept. 12 in Bethany, Okla., at 6 p.m.