Kats looking to spark more offense at SFA
10/23/2009 7:15:00 AM | Football
By Cody Stark, Huntsville Item
Looking to spark more offensive firepower for the Bearkats as Sam Houston State goes up against No. 15 ranked Stephen F. Austin, the Kats will be looking to several younger players to see who can step up Saturday in Nacogdoches.
"We are going to move some other wideouts up to see what they can do. We plan on giving those guys a shot," SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said Thursday.
Senior Jason Madkins leads Bearkat receivers with 25 catches for 558 yards and four touchdowns while Darnell Jones has 19 grabs for 238 yards and a score.
Likely to see more action are Chris Lucas (17 catches for 176 yards and a touchdown), Jake Lebens (13 for 121), Vincent Dotson, Brandon Closner and Melvis Pride (one for 16).
The Bearkats (1-1 in SLC, 3-3 overall) know they are going to have to be more productive on offense to have a shot at hanging with the Lumberjacks, who have won five games in a row.
Behind the play of quarterback Jeremy Moses and some talented wide receivers, SFA (2-0, 5-1) has the top passing (348 yards per game) and scoring (44.83 points) offense in the Football Championship Subdivision.
"Practice has been going good," Whitten said. "We were so disappointed coming off of last week with all the mistakes, turnovers and dropped balls. Everybody was disappointed.a
"I think everybody has bounced back. If you can't get ready to play your archrival, something is wrong and you don't need to be playing. We have to eliminate those mistakes and some of them were just selfish stuff. We have to be focused."
The Bearkats are in the same boat as they were last weekend heading into the Southeastern Louisiana game. Starting quarterback Blake Joseph is going to be a game-time decision Saturday.
Joseph suffered an ankle sprain in the fourth quarter of Sam Houston's win over Nicholls on Oct. 10. The injury slowed him down in the loss to the Lions, taking away his scrambling abilities, which is a big part of Joseph's game.
Joseph hasn't practiced much this week and was in a protective boot Thursday.
"We are just trying to rest it. It will be a game-time decision," Whitten said. "He has a chronic ankle. He practiced some this week and has a good grasp of the game plan, but we won't know if he will play until Saturday morning."
The Bearkats have been splitting most of the snaps this week between junior Bryan Randolph and sophomore Jeff Welch, who was cleared to return last week after recovering from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during spring practice.
If Joseph is unable to go Saturday, then Randolph and Welch will get a shot.
"We will probably play both of those guys," Whitten said.
Sam Houston returns to Bowers Stadium Saturday, Oct. 31, to host Northwestern State at 6 p.m. The game will be televised to a three-state regional audience by Southland Conference TV.
Purchase tickets now online at www.gobearkats.com or contact 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.
