Quarterback Brian Babin hit wide receiver Simmie Yarborough on touchdown throws of 16, 5 and 52 yards and Jeff Turner kicked three field goals to lead Southeastern Louisiana to a 37-21 Southland Conference football victory over Sam Houston Saturday at Strawberry Stadium.
James Aston returned a fourth quarter kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and Blake Joseph hit Jason Madkins for a pair of touchdown passes for the Bearkats. But mistakes hurt the Sam Houston attack repeatedly.
"We made all kinds of mistakes tonight offensively - interceptions, a penalty wiping out an early touchdown, personal fouls, offsides. It was not a good night," SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. "The defense fought hard but they were in a bad position most of the night because of our mistakes on offense."
Sam Houston opened the scoring as Jason Madkins took a pass in the left flat from Blake Joseph and dashed into the end zone for a 16-yard score. The play completed a five-play 43-yard drive with 6:13 to play in the first quarter.
Following the kickoff, Southeastern Louisiana drove 80 yards in 13 plays as Brian Babin tied the game 7-7 with seven seconds remaining in the first quarter with a two-yard scoring pass to Simmie Yarbrough.
The Lions scored 13 points in the second quarter. Jeff Turner kicked field goals of 43 and 46 yards and Yarbough picked up his second TD grab on a five-yard pass from Babin to put Southeastern Louisiana up 20-7 at intermission.
The Lion defense intercepted three Joseph passes in the first half. Southeastern Louisiana out-gained the Bearkats 226 yards to 155 in the first two quarters.
The Bearkat offense rolled up a 12-play, 89-yard drive on its first possession of the second half. Madkins scored on a four-yard pass to the right corner of the end zone by Joseph with 7:51 to play in the third quarter.
Turner booted his third field goal of the evening, this time for 20 yards as the Lions drove 71 yards in 11 plays to extend their lead to 23-14 with 3:20 to play in the third.
Stephen Morrow's fumble recovery set up a 52-yard Babin to Yarbrough scoring pass to put the Lions up 30-14 with 2:37 to play in the third quarter.
Southeastern Louisiana upped its season record to 4-2 with the victory. The Lions are 2-0 in Southland Conference action. Sam Houston dropped to 3-3 for the year and 1-1 in league play.
Sam Houston State travels to Nacogdoches Saturday Oct. 24 as the Bearkats and Stephen F. Austin renew the "Battle of the Piney Woods" at 2 p.m. at Homer Bryce Stadium.
Next home game for the Bearkats is Saturday, Oct. 31, when Sam Houston plays host to Northwestern State in a 6 p.m. Southland Conference TV game at Bowers Stadium.
Tickets for Sam Houston home football games are $25 for reserved chair back seats and $15 for general admission.
Order tickets for all Bearkat home athletic events on the web at www.gobearkats.com or at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
