27 Football Seniors Play Final Home Game Saturday
11/13/2009 8:00:00 AM | Football
Twenty-seven senior student-athletes will be honored in a special "Senior Day" ceremony prior to game time.
Thirteen of those 27 seniors have been starters this season.
Quarterback Blake Joseph Bryan has thrown for 2,034 yards and 13 touchdowns, only the 10th time a Bearkat has passed for more than 2,000 yards in a single season.
Running back James Aston was leading the Southland Conference in all-purpose yards before suffering a season-ending injury two weeks ago. The Katy product ranks 10th all-time at Sam Houston in all-purpose offense.
A large number of receivers will be walking onto the Bowers turf for their last time in uniform. Jason Madkins of Mart leads Bearkat receiving with 43 catches for 890 yards and 8 touchdowns. Chris Lucas of Hazel Green, AL, ranks second on the team with 32 catches for 386 yards. Galveston Ball product Darnell Jones has caught seven passes for 238 yards. Jake Lebens of Round Rock has 16 receptions for 138 yards. Darrell Armstead of Copperas Cove also is completing his Bearkat career.
Five senior offensive linemen will be honored in the ceremony Saturday including starting center Jordan Bowersox of Wichita, KS; guards Hunter Schmidt of Alvin and Travis Best of Houston Cy Falls and tackles R. C. Fairchild of The Woodlands and Austin Wilson of Palestine.
Seniors who are defensive starters include linebacker Luke McCall of Corpus Christi, defensive end Chris Brown of Texarkana and linemen Chris Stewart of Magnolia and Kevin Smith of Klein. McCall has 54 tackles to his credit this season, Brown 30, Smith 20 and Stewart 11.
Other defensive players who have seen action as seniors this season include defensive back Cameron Jenkins of Richardson, Shawn Weatherford of Paul's Valley, OK and Justin Childs of Richmond.
Offensively, Matthew Powledge of Huntsville, John Dobbs of Mineral Wells, John Clark of El Mirage, AZ and Trace Choate of Lumberton will be honored as seniors.
Bearkat special teams also will see the departure of several seniors this year as punter Michael Capparelli of Klein, deep snapper Justin Humphrey of Huntsville and kickers Taylor Wilkins of LaMarque and Lucas Ortiz of Leavenworth, KS, say their farewells to the home fans.
Tickets for Saturday's Sam Houston football game with Central Arkansas are $25 for reserved chairback seats and $15 for general admission. Tickets are on sale now on-line.
For more information about attending Bearkat home sports events, go on-line to www.gobearkats.com or contact the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located 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
