Bearkats Edges Lumberjacks 51-43 In Piney Woods Battle
Courtesy: Charlie Blalock
Courtesy: Paul Ridings,Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Houston, Texas – Brian Bell passed for 168 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for two other scores to lead Sam Houston State to a 51-43 Southland Conference victory over Stephen F. Austin Saturday before a record crowd of 26,185 at Reliant Stadium.
Bell’s second touchdown, a nine-yard run, gave Sam Houston a 51-28 lead with 13:05 to play in the fourth.
Stephen F. Austin, led by wide receiver Cordell Roberson who caught 14 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns, battled back. Roberson scored on passes of three and eight yards after back-to-back 51 yards.
When the Bearkats could not pick up a first down, the Jacks drove down to the Bearkat 30 yard line where, on fourth down and 10, Brady Attaway’s pass sailed just over Roberson’s hands to end the game.
Attaway completed 39 of 76 paases for 545 yards and six touchdowns.
Sam Houston State rolled up 566 yards total offense while SFA totaled 396.
All-America running back Tim Flanders gained 125 yards on 27 carries including a long of 44 yards. Bell rushed for 69 yards.
Trey Diller led the Bearkats with 97 yards receiving.
Sam Houston trailed 14-3 in the first quarter but fought back to take a 23-14 halftime lead. The big play in the first half was a 92-yard interception return by Bookie Sneed. The return set a school record, breaking the record of 90 yards by Paul Wenzel set in 1968 against Sul Ross.
Sneed, Darnell Taylor and Kenneth Jenkins led the Kat defense, each with 10 tackles. Taylor also intercepted an Attaway pass.
Sam Houston upped its record to 3-2 for the year while SFA dropped to 2-3. Both teams are 1-1 in Southland Conference action.
SHSU’s Version Of “Call Me Maybe” Goes Viral
by Cheval John
Carly Rae Jespen’s single “Call Me Maybe” has been a huge hit since it was released in November of 2011.
The catchy tune has been remade and posted on YouTube by professional organizations ranging from the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders to the U.S. Olympic Swim Team.
Now, Sam Houston State University can be added to that list as their remade ‘video’ was released on YouTube on Wednesday and has over 27,000 views.
I caught up with Brandon Cooper, Associate Director for Student Activities to get his take on the video and find out how it all came together.
Vallano Media: The video has took off like wildfire. How do you feel about that?
Brandon Cooper: We are very excited about the publicity and the views that the video has gotten. Really, it was made to promote “The Bearkat Fanatic Contest.”
The contest was the idea of Frank Parker, Vice President for Student Services.”
How it works is students will submit a Bearkat spirited photo with a caption to us and we decide who is the top fourteen out of that group.
Those fourteen that are chosen will get a ticket to the student suite at Reliant Stadium in Houston for the “Battle of The Piney Woods” game between SHSU and Stephen F. Austin State University on October 6.
VM: Who came up with the idea of the video?
BC: Debbie Nichols, assistant to Mr. Parker, was the person who came up with the idea.
She saw the “Call Me Maybe” video and believed that it was the song to be replicated from for the video.
She contacted me and I agreed with the idea.
From there, we got Patric Sleightholm, of Sleightholm Productions, to participate in the project.
We were the directors.  He shot and edit the scenes.
After it was finished, we put it out there and the rest is history.
VM: What was Mr. Sleightholm’s take on it?
BC: Mr. Sleightholm is an alumnus of SHSU.
We have hired him quite a bit in the past to do promo videos for us.
When we approached him with this idea, he was excited about the project.
He did a really great job.
VM: How did you get the Bearkat football team to participate?
BC: We contacted Bobby Williams, director of athletics to see if they would be interested to participate in the video.
He was able to get them on board.
They were eager to participate.
We shot their scene on Labor Day after they finished taking their team photos.
VM: Do you think the video will lead into the promotion for the “Battle of the Piney Woods?”
BC: Yes, I really believe that it will.
It has taken on a life of it’s own and it is great for SHSU as a whole.
The Trend Heard Around Twitter #BOTPW
By Cheval John
The 91st edition of the Battle of The Piney Woods took place at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Saturday afternoon.
The rivalry between Sam Houston State University and Stephen F. Austin State University has become a part of the sports culture in the city of Houston.
Every year, the Battle of the Piney Woods has seen record crowds at NRG Stadium.
It really wasn’t a surprise that the Bearkats defeated the Lumberjacks 63-28 with twenty-eight of those points happening in the first quarter.
Maybe it was a surprise that SHSU’s quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe threw a Bearkat record of 7 touchdown passes in a single matchup against their rivals.
Or that the Bearkats (4-0 overall, 3-0 Southland Conference), also ranked No.2 in the country, had 653 total yards of offense, which was also the #botpw record.
If you were a Sam Houston State fan, you are happy to see this.
Even the people behind the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Twitter account have to agree.
If you are a Stephen F. Austin State University fan, you had to feel sick to your stomach as this lady pointed out in this tweet.
The biggest surprise is that the Battle of the Piney Woods hashtag #botpw was trending on Twitter.
I did not expect to see #botpw trending because normally college football matchups in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) would usually trend if these teams are colleges like the University of Texas, which of course trended after their epic lost to Oklahoma State.
The fact that a college football matchup between two FCS universities trended on Twitter shows how far this rivalry has come in the city of Houston.
Also, it shows how far the FCS has gained respect to a degree in the college football world.
You would only know about college football universities in the FCS level when national media outlets mainly ESPN would televised the NCAA FCS Championships.
Or if the FCS colleges are facing teams in the FBS.
The athletic administrators from the two universities along with the staff of Lone Star Sports and Entertainment were able to put together an awesome football matchup at NRG Stadium year after year.
And their hard work and dedication led to the Battle of the Piney Woods to stand out from the other college football matchups on Twitter.
This shows that if you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to put in the work and dedication to be successful in your business and career.
And also solve a problem for your audience because people will instantly trust you because you solved their problem.
Share this: