HUNTSVILLE -- Blake Joseph passed for 221 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score himself as Sam Houston State won 41-0 over Saint Joseph's of Indiana in a non-conference football game at Bowers Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Bearkat defense got a much-needed confidence boost as the Bearkats shut down Saint Joseph's College, holding the Pumas to only 126 yards of total offense.
Defensive end Edward Decambre and safety Trey Wilder both recorded interceptions and freshman Darnell Taylor recovered a fumble to help the Kats (2-2) pitch their first shutout of the season in the final tuneup before Southland Conference action begins at home next week.
"Basically our defense is meant to cause turnovers and get those turnovers and get the ball back to our offense to keep things going," said Decambre, who finished with five tackles, one and a half which went for losses. "Finally we got things to work today. It finally worked and you see what happened. We put 41 points on the board and zero for them."
The defense was a huge factor in Sam Houston's ability to put points on the board Saturday. The Bearkat offense struggled early, turning the ball over on downs and going three and out on their first two possessions.
The Bearkats forced a pair of Puma punts, the second setting up short field position which led to the first score of the game when quarterback Blake Joseph ran a draw up the middle for a 9-yard touchdown with just over five minutes to go in the opening quarter.
Three plays later, Decambre stepped in front of a pass by Saint Joseph's quarterback Mike Hladik and returned the pick down to the Puma 32-yard line.
Junior running back Chris Poullard broke free for a 22-yard scamper and senior James Aston put Sam Houston up 14-0, following Miguel Antonio's point-after kick, with a 10-yard scoring run.
The Bearkats scored on two of their next three possessions. Senior wide receiver Jason Madkins caught a 43-yard pass from Joseph, which led to a 13-yard touchdown run by Poullard, who gained 71 yards on 14 carries. Antonio also booted a 30-yard field goal.
Sam Houston also forced a missed field goal after Saint Joseph's (3-3) drove down to the 12 to go into the half up 24-0.
"It was nice getting the win today," said Joseph, who completed 17-of-24 passing attempts for 211 yards and two scores. "We came out a little sluggish, and maybe the rain delay didn't help at all, but we performed really well. We still have a lot of things to work on before we start conference next week. That's a big deal because every game counts now.
"We got a lot of room to improve and next week we have a lot of things to work on. But it was a good win today."
The Bearkats put the game away early in the second half. After the defense forced the Pumas to punt on their first possession, Joseph marched Sam Houston back down the field.
The transfer from Houston completed all six of his passing attempts for 50 yards on the ensuing drive, including one for 17 yards to Melvis Pride and a 16-yard touchdown to Madkins, who had three catches for 87 yards, to push the lead to 31-0.
The Bearkats defense came up big again five plays later. Junior linebacker Dillion Cox laid a hard lick on Pumas fullback Terrence Freeman. The ball popped loose and Taylor fell on it.
Joseph iced the game with short pass to Jones, who raced 22 yards down the right sideline for the score to help Sam Houston go up 38-0 with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter.
The Bearkats finished with only 371 yards of total offense, but that was mainly because Sam Houston had excellent field position thanks to the defense and went with backups for most of the second half.
Freshman linebacker Eric Fieilo led the Kats with 12 tackles, including three and a half for a loss. Senior defensive end Chris Brown and Wilder each recorded sacks as Sam Houston got plenty of pressure on Hladik, who completed just 10-of-20 passes for 69 yards and two picks.
"We played a Division II school and had them outmanned, but anytime you don't allow an opponent to score in college football is really hard to do," Bearkats head coach Todd Whitten said. "We let a long run out, but I thought we got down there and stiffened a little bit and were able to get them to miss a field goal."
Another good thing that came out of Saturday's win was that Sam Houston got to get the backups some playing time, something that hasn't happened a lot this season.
Sam Houston's final score came late in the third quarter on a 27-yard field goal by Antonio after senior wide receiver Darrell Armstead returned a punt 51 yards down to the Puma 17.
The biggest problem the Bearkats had Saturday was penalties. Sam Houston was flagged 10 times for 95 yards, including four personal fouls.
"It was awfully nice to get a win. Anytime you win a college football game that's huge," Whitten said. "I thought our football team was a little sluggish. The delay caused some of that, maybe the weather.
"We certainly made some plays, but we didn't play as fast as I would have liked. Again the conditions may have had something to do with that.
"I'm happy to get a win. That's the bottom line, but we are not going to be able to play that way against a Southland Conference opponent with those penalties. We are certainly going to address those. I was a little frustrated with all that."
The Bearkats will play host to Nicholls next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the annual Homecoming Game. Tickets for Sam Houston State home football games are $25 for reserved chair backs and $15 for general admission seats.
Purchase Homecoming tickets on the web now.
Ticket information for all Bearkat sports events is available on the web at www.gobearkats.com or at the Sam Houston State athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House in the south end zone of Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone is 936 294-1729.
