HUNTSVILLE -- Dre Gibbs rushed 29 times for 101 yards including a six-yard run with 14:19 to play in the fourth quarter that proved to be the winning touchdown as Western Illinois defeated Sam Houston State 35-28 in the season opener for both teams at Bowers Stadium.
The game was in doubt until the final play as Sam Houston drove to the one yard line with 21 second to go but the Leathernecks stopped the Bearkats on three straight plays. Blake Joseph's pass from the three for Jason Madkins in the end zone with no time remaining after a penalty fell short.
Running back James Aston led the Bearkats with 18 carries for 126 yards including touchdown runs of 6 and 10 yards. Chris Brown gave Sam Houston a 28-21 lead with a 64 yard interception return for a touchdown at the 10:17 mark of the third quarter.
Quarterback Blake Joseph completed 16 of 27 passes for 173 yards including a long of 25. He was sacked twice.
Matt Barr, who completed 18 of 26 passes for 437 yards, hit Lito Senaturs for a 30 yard touchdown to tie the game 28-28 with 3:55 to go in the third. Barr also threw scoring passes to Matt Warner for 49 yards with 8:40 to go before half and to Senatus for 26 yards with 14:09 to play in the third quarter.
Madkins led the Bearkats in receiving with 5 catched for 60 yards including a long of 22 to give the Bearkats an opportunity to tie the game and force overtime with seconds remaining. Jake Lebens also had five catches for 46 yards and Aston pulled in four passes for 46 yards.
Bearkat special teams performed well with Michael Capparelli punting four times for a 45.5 average including a long of 51. Freshman Miguel Antonio converted on all four extra points.
The start of the contest was delayed 35 minutes due to lightning.
With Western Illinois leading 35-28 with 28 seconds to go, Bearkats quarterback Blake Joseph hit senior Jason Madkins for what appeared to be a touchdown. The cannon fired and the Bearkats started celebrating, thinking they were an extra point away from tying the game.
But an official ruled Madkins down just outside the goal line and Sam Houston State failed to punch it in on three tries as the Leathernecks knocked off the Kats 35-28.
The Bearkats also had three promising drives end on two fumbles by Joseph and one by senior wide receiver Jake Lebens.
Western Illinois quarterback Matt Barr connected with wide receiver Lito Senatus 11 times for 235 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the victory.
"I thought it was a great football game, and in some ways it was very typical of an opener," SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. "We played hard at times and executed on both sides of the ball. We have a lot of work to do.
"We had two turnovers that were critical. We also got a couple of turnovers that were good. We never really stopped moving the ball. We stopped ourselves at times. I thought we did not match up well in our secondary with their oversized receivers. Those guys made plays."
The Sam Houston State defense was caught off-guard from the start by the Leathernecks' passing attack. Western Illinois likes to run the ball a ton, but that wasn't the case Thursday.
The Leathernecks came back from a seven-point deficit to go up 21-14 when Barr hit Senatus for a 29-yard score to start the second half. Western Illinois tied the game in the second quarter thanks to a 49-yard scoring grab by Matt Warner.
The Bearkats regained the lead in the third quarter when senior defensive end Chris Brown tipped a pass to himself and raced 64 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-21 following freshman Miquel Antonio's kick.
The Leathernecks answered with a pair of scores, the last coming on a 6-yard run by running back Dre Gibbs with 14:19 left to play.
Barr finished the night 18-of-26 for 437 yards and three touchdowns.
"We did good early on, but we have to learn how to finish," said Bearkats safety Victor Carmichael, who returned a fumble 21 yards for a score to give SHSU its first lead at 14-7 in the first quarter. "We came out in the second half flat, and they came out and gave it to us. I guess we went into halftime thinking we were going to roll over these boys. We just have to learn how to finish when we get back to practice this week."
Western Illinois scored on its opening drive of the game to go up 7-0 on a 7-yard touchdown by Josh Gabelmann.
The Bearkats answered behind the running of senior James Aston. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Aston broke loose up the middle for a 21-yard gain. He got Sam Houston in the red zone when he rumbled 25 yards on a pass from Joseph, then capped the drive with a 6-yard touchdown.
Aston finished the game with 126 yards rushing on 18 carries to go along with two scores.
Carmichael put the Kats up 14-7 when Gibbs coughed up the ball following the kickoff. The ball squirted out of the pile and the junior scooped it up and sprinted to the end zone.
Sam Houston forced a three-and-out on the Leathernecks' next possession. But senior Jake Lebens fumbled a pass from Joseph.
Joseph, making his first start since playing for Houston in 2007, turned the ball over in Western Illinois territory in the second and third quarters, the latter leading to the go-ahead touchdown.
"We did some good things, but we made too many mistakes," said Joseph, who was 16-of-27 passing for 173 yards. He rushed for 25 more. "We had too many turnovers. That's the main thing. We have to do better on that. Personally, I have to do better on that, protecting the ball.
"I don't feel like they really beat us, we beat ourselves. It was a heartbreaker."
