No.3 Kats Clinched Second Straight SLC Title
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Natchitoches, Louisiana-Timothy Flanders, Brian Bell and Trey Diller combined to lead the offense and the Bearkat defense remained tough as well as Sam Houston State rolled to a 52-17 victory over Northwestern State Saturday.
The win gives Sam Houston State their second consecutive Southland Conference regular season football championship, a feat unequaled in the Bearkats’ 26 seasons in the league.
Sam Houston and Central Arkansas stand as co-champions, both with 6-1 league records.
The No. 3 ranked Bearkats upped their season record to 8-2.
Flanders produced the 22nd 100-yard rushing performance of his career, carrying 17 times for 138 yards including scoring runs of 56 and 4 yards.
Bell completed 17 of 23 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns.
Diller caught seven of those passes for 119 yards and a score.
The Kat defense allowed Northwestern State only 141 total yards and 42 on the ground.
The Sam Houston offense rolled up 509 total yards (253 rushing and 256 passing).
The championship marks Sam Houston’s fifth Southland football title.
The Bearkats also won championships in 1991, 2001, 2004 and 2011.
After being forced to punt on their first two possessions, the Bearkats got rolling on a seven play 93-yard drive with Flanders scoring on a 56-run through the right side at the 3:07 mark in the first quarter.
The run marked the ninth time in his career Flanders has scored a touchdown of more than 50 yards.
Ed Eagan returned the kickoff 82 yards to tie the game 7-7 ten seconds later.
Miguel Antonio gave the Bearkats a 10-7 lead with just 21 seconds into the second quarter after a 10-play 55-yard drive.
Sam Houston reached the five-yard line on the drive but was moved back to the 20-yard line by a personal foul penalty.
A quarterback sack by Robert Shaw forced Northwestern State to punt from its end zone against the wind on the next Demon possession.
On the first play after the punt, Bell found tight end T. J. Jones open over the middle for a 50-yard touchdown as SHSU went up 17-7 with 12:08 to play in the half.
The Bearkat defense came up with the next score.
J. T. Cleveland forced a fumble that pinned the Demons on their own one.
On third down, Bookie Sneed intercepted a Brad Henderson pass and returned the pick 11 yards for a touchdown and a 24-7 lead 7:54 before intermission.
The interception was Sneed’s fourth of the year and his second for a touchdown.
The junior cornerback now has eight career interceptions, tying him for eighth in the all-time SHSU interception standings.
Bell threw 38-yards to Trey Dillar and 10-yards to Chance Nelson for a pair of touchdowns in the final 2:57 of the first half.
The pass to Diller completed a seven play 68-yard drive and Nelson’s catch ended a 10 play 61-yard march.
John Shaughnessy kicked a 27-yard field goal on the last play to make the score at intermission 38-10.
Sam Houston opened the second half with a 14-play 80-yard scoring drive capped off by a four-yard touchdown run by Flanders.
The Bearkats finish their regular season schedule next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in College Station against Texas A&M.
Bearkat Football Players Earns SLC’s “Player of the Week”
Courtesy: Paul Ridings,Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston State swept the weekly Southland Conference football player of the week honors after its 51-43 win over Stephen F. Austin in the 87th “Battle of the Piney Woods” at Reliant Stadium in Houston Saturday.
Junior quarterback Brian Bell was the offensive player of the week, junior cornerback Bookie Sneed won defensive honors and senior punter Matt Foster was the special teams player of the week.
Bell picked up 22nd career victory as starting quarterback for Sam Houston.
He directed the offense to 566 total yards in a 51-43 win over rival Stephen F. Austin.
The junior from China Spring, Texas (China Spring H.S.), completed 12 of 20 passes for 168 yards and totaled 69 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. He passed for scores of 5, 31 and 30 yards and scored on runs of 1 and 9 yards and accounted for 237 yards total offense.
Sneed returned an interception 92 yards for touchdown that put Sam Houston State in the lead, 20-14, with 5:55 remaining in 2nd quarter. The return by the junior from Conroe, Texas (Conroe H.S.), was a school record, topping the previous mark of 90 yards set by Paul Wenzel against Sul Ross in 1968. He added 11 tackles against SFA.
Foster helped Sam Houston win the field position battle with a 45.1 average, including long of 61 yards. The senior from Melbourne, Australia, landed three punts inside the 20 that includes a high 43-yard punt with 3:10 left to play in the fourth quarter.
That put SFA on its own 15-yard line, forcing them to drive 85 yards in order to score a touchdown and go for a two-point conversion.
Sam Houston travels to Thibodaux, La., to take on the Nicholls State Colonels this Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Bearkats return to Huntsville in two weeks for their Homecoming battle with the McNeese State Cowboys. The game will be played at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20 at Bowers Stadium.
Sam Houston’s Defense Remains Consistent In Win
Share this: