HUNTSVILLE -- Sam Houston State finally got back into the win column on Saturday with a 42-20 win over Northwestern State on Homecoming. The victory snaps a four game slide by the Kats dating back to Sept. 8.

The offense was the big story for the Bearkats in this one, totaling 526 yards of offense including 301 on the ground. Chris Poullard did most of the damage himself, picking up a career-high 186 yards. The sophomore also ran for two scores.

He got the game started for the Bearkats early in the first quarter when he took a pitch from quarterback Rhett Bomar and sprinted 61 yards for the touchdown.

"We wanted to come out and get a run game going," Poullard said. "I really have to give credit to my guys on the line they did a great job blocking for me. On that long run, Justin Wells was down field and he got a big block to spring me for the score."

His touchdown tied the game after Northwestern State took an early lead on an interception return for a touchdown. Poullard put the Kats up for good six minutes later on a six-yard run into the end zone.

TyMagic Robinson scored early in the second quarter on a 25-yard sprint up the gut give SHSU a 21-7 lead. Bomar also got in on the action scoring from 59 yards out for the Kats' fourth touchdown of the first half. For the game, the SHSU junior signal-caller ran for 83 yards and three scores while passing for 192. He and Poullard even hooked up on a passing play, with Bomar on the receiving end of the pass.

Midway through the first quarter, Poullard took a toss from Bomar and ran to the right. He then turned and fired a floater to a wide-open Bomar who ran it down to the 1-yard line to set up Poullard's second touchdown of the game.

"In practice I always throw a perfect ball, but with the pressure of the game I just didn't throw it right," Poullard said. "I think I was too worried about getting my fingers on the laces."

Bomar was just happy he caught the ball.

"I took my eyes off of it for a second to look at the defenders coming at me," Bomar said. "I'm not used to being out the on the receiving end of one of those."

Early in the third quarter, the Demon cut the lead to 28-20 following a 6-play, 52-yard drive, but Bomar and the Kats answered right back. Bomar engineered a 9-play, 80-yard drive, capping it with a 16-yard run to put the game away 35-20. He added another score in the fourth quarter, putting the Kats up by 22.

"This was a good win for us," Bomar said. "You never want to get used to losing, so we needed to snap out of this."