Demons visit for Southland football telecast Saturday
10/29/2009 4:00:00 PM | Football
Sam Houston plays host to the Northwestern State Demons Saturday at 6 p.m. at Bowers Stadium in a contest that will be televised to a three-state audience by the Southland Conference TV network. Fans in the Greater Houston area can watch on KBTU Channel 55 The Tube.
The telecast marks Sam Houston's second appearance this year on Southland Conference TV network. The Bearkats' season opener with Western Illinois opened the 11-game 2009 package for SLC TV.
Sam Houston has been featured on regional cable or network TV telecasts 29 times since moving up to the NCAA Division I level.
Saturday's game marks the 11th time Sam Houston State has played football on Halloween. The Bearkats are 6-4 in the previous 10 games. The Kats are 2-0 at Bowers on Oct. 31.
Twice before, Sam Houston's Halloween foe has been the Demons!
The Bearkats won 34-7 in 1987 in Huntsville but lost to Northwestern State 38-10 in a Thursday night Fox TV contest on the road in 2002.
Other Halloween victories came over Southwest Texas in 1931, SFA in 1964 and 1992 and Howard Payne in 1970 and 1981.
Oct. 31 losses came at East Texas in 1942, at Southwest Texas in 1959 and at McNeese in 1998
Northwestern State leads the all-time football series with Sam Houston with an 18-13 record against the Bearkats. The two first met in 1929. In 1958, the Demons defeated the Kats 18-11 in the Christmas Bowl in Natchitoches, LA.
In the pair's 22 meetings as Southland Conference members, the Demons hold a 12-10 edge.
The Bearkats have won two of the last three meetings. Sam Houston won 30-20 in Natchitoches in 2006 and 42-20 in Huntsville in 2007. Last year the Demons won 24-16 in Louisiana.
Sam Houston out-gained the Demons 393 total yards to 288 but Northwestern State won the game 24-16 last year in Natchitoches, LA.
The Demons never trailed, jumping out to a 14-0 lead on a pair of Byron Lawrence touchdown runs. Rhett Bomar hit Chris Lucase for a 47-yard touchdown to cut the margin to 14-10 with 8:22 to play in the third quarter. But William Griffin scored on a two-yard run and Robert Weeks kicked a 36-yard field goal to put the game out of reach in the fourth period.
Sam Houston stands 3-4 for the 2009 season after back-to-back road losses. Southeastern Louisiana defeated the Bearkats 37-21 and No. 15 ranked Stephen F. Austin handed the Kats a 42-3 loss in Sam Houston's last two contests.
The Kats opened the season with a pair of thrillers with NCAA Division I FCS foes that both went to the final gun. Sam Houston lost its opener 35-28 to Western Illinois after failing to force overtime with an incomplete pass into the end zone from the WIU three-yard-line on the games final play.
In the Bearkats' second game, Joseph and Madkins hooked up for a 51-yard pass to set up freshman Miquel Antonio's game-winning field goal as Sam Houston earned a 48-45 victory over North Dakota State.
Conference USA member Tulsa handed the Kats a 56-3 loss in Sam Houston's first road game.
Sam Houston defeated Saint Joseph's of Indiana 41-0 in its final non-conference contest before opening Southland Conference action with a 44-21 victory over Nicholls.
Sam Houston averages 358.0 yards per game total offense this year.
Quarterback Blake Joseph, a senior from Bryan who transferred to Sam Houston this August from the University of Houston passed for 1,402 yards and seven touchdowns in the Bearkats' first six games, but missed last week's SFA contest with an injury.
Bryan Randolph started against the Jacks. Randolph is 15 of 35 for 97 yards this year.
Senior 6-5 wide receiver Jason Madkins has made 30 catches for 601 yards and four scores.
Running back James Aston, a senior from Katy, leads the Southland Conference in all-purpose yards. He has rushed for 538 yards, caught 22 passes for 230 yards and returned 20 kickoffs for 502 yards (including an 89-yard TD at Southeastern Louisiana).
With only two starters from the 2008 season back on defense and seven freshmen and three sophomores listed in the two-deep, Sam Houston's defense has struggled at times this fall.
Sam Houston has surrendered 425.0 yards per game. But the unit has had bright moments. The Bearkats shut out Saint Joseph's, limiting the Pumas to only 126 yards total offense. After Nicholls took a 21-17 lead five minutes into the second half, the defense rallied and shut out the Colonels for the rest of the game while the offense produced 27 unanswered points.
Senior linebacker Luke McCall leads Sam Houston in total tackles with 50 including seven for losses. Defensive end Chris Brown leads the Bearkats in quarterback sacks with three. Brown ranks fifth in career sacks at Sam Houston with 15.
Tickets to Sam Houston State football at Bowers Stadium are $25 for reserved chairback seats and $15 for general admission. Order tickets now on-line at www.gobearkats.com.
For more information about all Bearkat sports events, contact the Sam Houston State Athletic Ticket Office located in the Ron Mafrige Field Events Center 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.
