Bearkats Grounded The Eagles To Make A Return To FCS Title Game
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Cheney, Wash. – For the second year in a row, Sam Houston State and North Dakota State will meet in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Game in Frisco, Texas, thanks to a 45-42 Bearkat victory over No. 2 seed Eastern Washington at Roos Field Saturday.
Sam Houston led 35-0 at halftime, but quarterback Vernon Adams engineered an Eagle comeback as the Bearkats had to run out the clock on their final possession to earn a win by the margin of Miquel Antonio’s 42-yard field goal.
Eastern Washington drove to the Sam Houston 15-yard line but was forced to settle for a field goal attempt.
Jimmy Pavel missed from 32 yards just 39 seconds into the second period.
Three plays later, on a third-and-two, Bell rolled left, kept on the quarterback option and dashed downed the left sideline for a 72-yard touchdown with 12:56 to play in the half.
The run was Bell’s longest as a Bearkat and the longest TD run for Sam Houston this season. His previously long was a 54-yard score in the 2011 NCAA quarterfinals against Montana State.
Six minutes later Keshawn Hill took a pitch from Sincere around left end and dashed 15 yards into the end zone to put the Kats up 28-0 with 6:44 before intermission.
The drive covered 48 yards in eight plays.
Shaw broke up a pass attempt on fourth down to give the ball to the Kats at the EWU 45.
The Kats needed only three plays to score again, this time on a six-yard run by Sincere with 3:48 remaining in the second quarter.
Flanders’ 39-yard run to the six on the second play of the drive set up the score.
Sam Houston went into the locker room with a 35-0 lead.
A different East Washington team came out in the third quarter.
First, Vernon Adams hit Greg Herd for a 31-yard touchdown to complete a seven play 79-yard drive.
Then Adams found Brandon Kaufman for a 22-yard score ending a six-play, 55-yard scoring march.
A successful onsides kick set up a third TD pass by Adams, this time for 43 yards to Aston Clark to make the score 35-21 with 1:05 in the period.
Kaufman was the target for a 43-yard score with 13:08 to go in the fourth and, in just 15 minutes, EWU had cut the lead to 35-28 with 9:48 to play.
Finally, the Bearkat offense got its mojo back, taking two minutes and 19 seconds to go 86 yards in five plays for a four-yard scoring pass from Bell to Shane Young to put them with a two touchdown lead at 42-28.
A 49-yard run by Flanders to the EWU three-yard line was the key play in the drive.
Adams picked up where he had left off, finding Kaufman for a 60-yard gain to the SHSU seven, then two plays later hitting Nicholas Edwards for a four-yard touchdown.
The Eagles were back within a touchdown 42-35 with 9:48 to play.
Miguel Antonio increased the Bearkats’ margin to 45-35 with a 42-yard field goal with 5:33 remaining.
Sam Houston drove 36 yards in eight plays.
Adams again struck, hitting Kaufman for a 33-yard touchdown as the margin now was 45-42 with 3:04 to play.
But the Bearkats stood their ground and made the plays when it was needed with Flanders’ key first down conversion run on 3 and 3 to ice the game.
They will now look to finish what they started as they face the No. 1 ranked and defending national champion NDSU Bison on Saturday, Jan. 5, at 12 noon at FC Dallas Stadium.
Fritz Earns AFCA’s Highest Honor
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
WACO, TEX. — Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz and Montana State’s Rob Ash have been named as NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Region Five “Co-Coaches of the Year” by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).
Fritz guided the Bearkats to an 8-3 record and Sam Houston’s second consecutive Southland Conference championship and NCAA Division I Football Championships playoff berth. The Kats finished the regular season ranked No. 5 nationally. The back-to-back Southland titles and FCS playoff appearances in 2011 and 2012 are a school first.
In three years at Sam Houston, Fritz has guided the program to a 29-9 overall record, the most victories in any three-year period in the university’s 97 seasons of football. Fritz is a repeat winner of the AFCA Regional Coach-of-the-Year honor, receiving the award in 2011 after a 14-1 season that saw the Bearkats reach the national championship final.
Fritz and Ash, who directed Montana State to an 10-1 and the No. 3 seed in the FCS playoffs this year, will face off in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I Championships Friday night in Bozeman. The game will be telecast nationally on ESPN2. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Central time.
The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association’s five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and NAIA. The winners are selected by Active members of the Association who vote for coaches in their respective regions and divisions.
The 2012 Regional Coach of the Year winners will be recognized at the AFCA Coach of the Year Dinner at the 2013 AFCA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The dinner is scheduled for Tuesday, January 8.
2012 AFCA Regional Coach of the Year Winners
Football Bowl Subdivision
Region 1: Charlie Strong, University of Louisville
Region 2: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M University*
Region 3: Brian Kelly, University of Notre Dame
Region 4: Bill Snyder, Kansas State University
Region 5: Mike Riley, Oregon State University
Football Championship Subdivision
Region 1: Sean McDonnell, University of New Hampshire
Region 2: Brian Jenkins, Bethune-Cookman University &
Chuck Priore, Stony Brook University (tie)
Region 3: Dino Babers, Eastern Illinois University
Region 4: Trent Miles, Indiana State University
Region 5: Rob Ash, Montana State University &
Willie Fritz, Sam Houston State University* (tie)
Division II
Region 1: Mark Maciejewski, Shippensburg University
Region 2: Connell Maynor, Winston-Salem State University
Region 3: Lee Owens, Ashland University
Region 4: Don Carthel, West Texas A&M University
Region 5: Aaron Keen, Minnesota State University-Mankato
Division III
Region 1: Mike Cragg, Hobart College
Region 2: Tom Watts, Ohio Wesleyan University
Region 3: Pete Fredenburg, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
Region 4: Larry Kehres, University of Mount Union*
Region 5: Patrick Cerroni, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
NAIA
Region 1: Bill Cronin, Georgetown College (Ky.)*
Region 2: Ted Karras, Jr., Marian University*
Region 3: Paul Troth, Missouri Valley College
Region 4: Steve Ryan, Morningside College*
Region 5: Chuck Morrell, Montana Tech
Bearkats Climbs To No.3 In Both FCS And Coaches Polls
by Cheval John
After dismantling Southeastern Louisiana Lions 70-0, the Bearkat football team have moved up one spot to No.3 in both the Sports Network FCS polls and the Coaches Polls.
The Bearkats have been in the top 25 for 21 straight weeks and have been in the top 10 for 18 straight weeks.
SHSU have an overall record of 7-2 and are currently in second place with a 5-1 in the Southland Conference (SLC).
University of Central Arkansas leads the conference with a 6-1 record and have a bye this week.
They have already claim the title after beating the Demons last Saturday.
The Bearkats have a shot to claim a share of the SLC title this Saturday as they face Northwestern State Demons in Natchitoches.
The game will be televised on the Southland Conference Television Network and it’s affiliates at 3 p.m.
New Network To Televise SHSU’s Homecoming Game
The spotlight on the Sam Houston State Bearkat football team has gotten brighter.
With three television appearances under their belt, it seems as if things cannot get any better.
Well, it just did.
The homecoming game between the Bearkats and McNeese State Cowboys will be televised on Comcast Sports Net Houston on October 20.
The new network is a partnership with the Houston Astros, the Houston Rockets and the NBC Sports Group and is based in the Houston Pavilions.
It is set to launch on October 1 and will have a six state regional coverage area.
“This is a great opportunity for us to add another televised game to our already impressive slate this season,” athletic director Bobby Williams said to SHSU athletics department media.
“We are also very excited to be working with Comcast SportsNet Houston to get this game televised.”
“We met with them last month and they were very excited about getting involved with Sam Houston sports, so we think this will be a very good fit for us.”
The Bearkats are currently No.9 in the Sports Network FCS polls after a 24-20 heartbreaking loss to University of Central Arkansas Bears.
They will be facing a McNeese State team, who are ranked No.21 in the polls and have an all-time series lead at 24-8-1 and have won 151 Southland Conference games, 13 SLC titles and 14 NCAA FCS playoff appearances.
However, the Bearkats defeated the Cowboys 38-14 in Cowboy Stadium, en route to the national championship game in Frisco.
The game will now be at 7 p.m. instead of 2 p.m.
For more information on Comcast SportsNet Houston, visit iwantCSNHouston.com
Playoff Fever Spreading In Huntsville, TX
by Cheval John
NCAA FCS playoff fever has spread throughout the nation.
It’s not more evident than in the city of Huntsville, TX.
Huntsville, home of Sam Houston State University with a population of about 39,000, have been in a frenzy since the Bearkat football team have made the FCS playoffs for the second consecutive year after finishing the season at 8-3 overall and claimed a share of the Southland Conference title.
Now, they are one game away from returning to the FCS national championship game after they slaughtered Montana State Bobcats 34-15 in Bozeman, Montana last Friday.
Bearkat fans gathered either in Huntsville area bars or across the country (in the case of SHSU’s alumni base) to watch the matchup between the Bearkats and Bobcats that was televised nationally on ESPN2.
Many people who have lived in Huntsville and have been around to see the Bearkat athletic teams have said that they have not seen anything like this.
They have good reason to say that because before, the Bearkat football team have made the playoffs a total of four times since becoming a member of the NCAA Division I in 1986.
Those four playoff appearances happened in 1986, 1991, 2001, and 2004 under Ron Randleman.
After Randleman’s retirement in 2004, Todd Whitten served as head coach from 2005-2009 without much success and was fired.
When SHSU’s athletic director, Bobby Williams hired Willie Fritz, many were hoping for a renaissance of the football program.
After a 6-5 campaign in 2010, people started to believe that great things was going to happen in his second year.
Before the 2011 season began, the SLC’s pre-season polls expected the Bearkats to finished fourth in the conference because they only had 12 seniors on the team.
The Bearkats did the opposite: finished the regular season at 11-0, won their fourth SLC title (first undisputed), were the No.1 seed in the FCS playoffs and brought the Bearkat nation together.
From there, they defeated No. 7 Stony Brook, Montana State and Montana to reach the title game in Frisco, TX where they fell short against North Dakota State.
With the playoff fever amidst in Huntsville, the Bearkats know that they have to play extremely well against No.2 seeded Eastern Washington on Saturday at 3 p.m. if they want to make it back to Frisco.
What they also know is that playoff fever is amdst in Huntsville with a loyal fan base with who will be watching them on ESPNU and cheering them on to victory.
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