By Cody Stark, Huntsville Assistant Sports Editor

Quarterback Blake Joseph and wide receiver Jason Madkins hooked up for a 51-yard pass to set up freshman Miquel Antonio's game-winning field goal as Sam Houston State battled tooth and nail for a 48-45 victory over North Dakota State at Bowers Stadium on Saturday night.

The Bearkats (1-1) rolled to 620 yards of total offense and the defense didn't let the Bison (0-2) steal this one away like the 2007 meeting at the Fargodome. This time, Sam Houston shut the door in the final seconds.

"I have seen that one before it seems like," Sam Houston head coach Todd Whitten said. "That was very similar to the game two years ago up in Fargo (a 41-38 loss for the Kats). I felt like our guys competed and played hard the entire night. We beat a very good football team, there is no doubt about that."

The Bearkats got breakout performances from Joseph and Madkins.

Joseph, who transferred from Houston back in August, threw for 482 yards, which is the fourth-best single game total in school history, to go along with two touchdowns. He was also efficient, completing 24-of-36, or 67 percent, of his passing attempts.

Joseph's primary target was Madkins. The senior from Mart finished with six catches for 239 yards and a score. Madkins did a solid job of adjusting his routes, coming back to the ball to make the catch and fell three yards shy of matching Jonathan Cooper's school record for most receiving yards in a game.

Three times Saturday night, the duo connected on third-and-long situations that eventually led to scores. The final one was the biggest.

On third-and-10 with the game knotted at 45, Joseph found Madkins near the visitors' sideline, and the 6-5 receiver slipped past a defender and raced 51 yards down to the North Dakota State 10-yard line.

Three plays later, Antonio kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it 48-45 with 26 seconds left.

"Honestly, I thought (the defender) had made a play on the ball and I looked up and it was in my hands," said Madkins, who put the Kats up 38-31 with a 46-yard touchdown reception in the fourth. "I just had to give it all I had left to come up with the win."

The other two big plays came in the first half. On the opening drive of the game, Madkins came up with a 49-yard deep ball on third-and-8 down to the Bison 22. Senior running back James Aston eventually scored from a yard out to make it 7-0.

At the start of the second quarter, the Bearkats were facing a third-and-17 from their 27 when Joseph hit Madkins again for 39 yards. That drive was capped with an 18-yard scoring pass to Aston to put SHSU up 14-7.

The Kats were 10-of-16 on third-down conversions Saturday.

The only mistake Joseph made was an interception he threw on first down with Sam Houston State leading 45-37 late in the fourth quarter.

North Dakota State strong safety Kyle Belmont snagged the pick and returned it 27 yards to the SHSU 30. Bison running back Pat Paschall, who rushed for 176 yards and score, broke loose for a 24-yard gain down to the 3 two plays later. Quarterback Nick Mertens cut the lead to two with a short touchdown run, then tied it with a two-point conversion.

Joseph had a chance to lead a game-tying drive in the Kats' 35-28 season-opening loss to Western Illinois on Sept. 3, but fell short.

That wasn't the case Saturday. He looked more comfortable in the pocket and marched the Bearkats down the field getting the final drive started with a 9-yard completion to senior Darnell Jones, who caught seven passes for 104 yards.

"It slowed down for me a lot tonight," said Joseph, who also rushed for 51 yards and score, which put SHSU up 45-37. "Last week was the first time I have gotten to play and it has been a while since I lined up at quarterback. But it slowed down for me tonight. I felt like the offense was really clicking tonight. Madkins had a great game. Darnell Jones had a great game.

"I think the offensive line did a great job blocking for me tonight. They did well for us. We passed for a lot of yards tonight."

The Bearkats took a 24-7 lead into halftime, but North Dakota State rallied to tie the game in the fourth.

Paschall scored on a 51-yard run, and junior wide receiver Titus Mack scored from 63 yards out that pulled the Bison within 31-24 at the 4:50 mark of the third quarter. Mertens tied the game at the start of the fourth on a 7-yard run.

But the SHSU defense came up with the stop in the end. Two years ago, the Bearkats gave up the game-winning touchdown with seven seconds left. Saturday, the Bison had a long pass play called back on a penalty and Sam Houston forced two incompletions to seal it.

Another thing the Kats did differently this time around was kick the ball deep following the go ahead score. At the Fargodome, Sam Houston State went with a squib kick and the Bison had a short field to work with.

But Antonio, who added a 48-yard field goal in the second quarter, booted the ball into the end zone and North Dakota State started the final drive at its own 16.

"(Miquel) is going to be such a great Bearkat and you are going to see a lot more of those," Whitten said. "Very, Very pleased with him. He is kicking the ball better. How about that last kickoff? That was the one that he had to have."

The victory marked only the second time in 10 games that North Dakota State has lost to a Southland Conference opponent.

The Bearkats are off this week, but return to action Sept. 26 with a road game against Tulsa at Chapman Stadium.

  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  North Dakota St.....  7  0 17 21  - 45       Record:
  Sam Houston State...  7 17  7 17  - 48       Record:

  Scoring Summary:
  1st 11:15 SHSU - James Aston 1 yd run (Miguel Antonio kick), 8-73 3:45, NDSU 0 - SHSU 7
      00:31 NDSU - Garrett Bruhn 10 yd pass from Nick Mertens (Shawn Bibeau kick), 10-53 5:20, NDSU 7 - SHSU 7
  2nd 11:59 SHSU - James Aston 18 yd pass from Blake Joseph (Miguel Antonio kick), 9-80 3:32, NDSU 7 - SHSU 14
      04:08 SHSU - Chris Poullard 3 yd run (Miguel Antonio kick), 9-87 4:09, NDSU 7 - SHSU 21
      01:05 SHSU - Miguel Antonio 48 yd field goal, 7-37 1:16, NDSU 7 - SHSU 24
  3rd 13:44 NDSU - Pat Paschall 51 yd run (Shawn Bibeau kick), 3-68 1:11, NDSU 14 - SHSU 24
      11:16 SHSU - James Aston 2 yd run (Miguel Antonio kick), 5-89 2:22, NDSU 14 - SHSU 31
      07:47 NDSU - Shawn Bibeau 32 yd field goal, 8-46 3:22, NDSU 17 - SHSU 31
      04:50 NDSU - Titus Mack 63 yd pass from Nick Mertens (Shawn Bibeau kick), 1-63 0:13, NDSU 24 - SHSU 31
  4th 14:17 NDSU - Nick Mertens 7 yd run (Shawn Bibeau kick), 7-51 3:40, NDSU 31 - SHSU 31
      13:32 SHSU - Jason Madkins 46 yd pass from Blake Joseph (Miguel Antonio kick), 2-67 0:38, NDSU 31 - SHSU 38
      12:48 NDSU - Matt Voigtlander 53 yd pass from Nick Mertens (Shawn Bibeau kick failed), 2-75 0:38, NDSU 37 - SHSU 38
      08:44 SHSU - Blake Joseph 2 yd run (Miguel Antonio kick), 9-72 3:57, NDSU 37 - SHSU 45
      02:43 NDSU - Nick Mertens 1 yd run (Nick Mertens rush), 4-30 1:44, NDSU 45 - SHSU 45
      00:26 SHSU - Miguel Antonio 24 yd field goal, 10-72 2:11, NDSU 45 - SHSU 48