Youngsters making big plays for Bearkats
10/10/2010 6:54:00 AM | Football
By Cody Stark The Huntsville Item
THIBODAUX, La. - The Bearkats went down to the bayou and won an old-fashion dogfight Saturday afternoon.
Sam Houston State punished the Colonels with a ferocious pass rush and sophomore defensive back Robert Shaw energized a sluggish start by blocking and recovering a punt for a touchdown as the Bearkats pulled away late for a 26-7 victory over Nicholls at Guidry Stadium.
Linebacker Will Henry pestered Colonels quarterback LaQuintin Caston most of the afternoon. The junior from Waco recorded four of Sam Houston's 12 sacks, which set a school single-game record.
The Bearkats (3-2) have now won three straight and are 1-0 in Southland Conference action.
"I told the guys after the game that the last two weeks were kind of easy," Bearkats coach Willie Fritz said. "We started fast and everything went our way. This game it didn't go our way and we had to fight through some adversity. I thought we did a tremendous job of fighting."
On a day when the offense struggled to move the chains early, Sam Houston's defense dominated. Nicholls failed to truly threaten to put points on the board because the Colonels didn't have much time to throw the ball.
With the running game basically nonexistent, Caston was forced to put the ball in the air and the Kats were like sharks in the water. Caston didn't get many chances to make big plays because he was on his back most of the time.
Defensive tackle J.T Cleveland and linebacker Eric Fieilo recorded two sacks apiece. Safety Kenneth Jenkins and defensive ends Edward Decambre, E.J. Nduka and Preston Sanders all brought Caston to the turf.
Nicholls managed just 97 yards of total offense.
"When you work hard in practice, that is what happens," Henry said. "We have been working hard on our blitzes, our timing and getting off the line. We are trying to build our identity as a defense and I think we have done that these past couple of weeks."
Jenkins also had two interceptions, the latter coming with a 52-yard return on top of a 15-yard Nicholls penalty. Sophomore Miguel Antonio kicked a field goal to put Sam Houston up 13-7 in the third quarter.
By that time, the Bearkats had managed to wear down the Colonels. Freshman running back Tim Flanders, who was held to just 8 yards rushing in the first half, bruised his way to his fourth straight 100-yard performance.
With the game still in the balance, Flanders rushed for 59 yards on a scoring drive to start the fourth quarter, which was capped by a 7-yard touchdown run by freshman quarterback Brian Bell to make it 20-7.
Flanders, who finished with 105 yards rushing on 22 carries, also found the end zone from 4 yards out for the final score of the game.
"Tim made a couple of runs when we really needed it," Fritz added. "We need to move the ball late and he really helped us."
The majority of the first half was one the Colonels and Bearkats would like to forget offensively.
Flanders and Nicholls sophomore Jesse Turner, the top two rushers in the conference, combined for just 22 yards on 15 carries in the first 30 minutes. Bell and Caston traded interceptions, and by the time halftime rolled around, both offenses had managed about 100 yards each.
Sam Houston had promising drives going on its first two possessions of the game, but both times the Bearkats ran out of gas.
Bell, who slipped out of a sack on the play, even hit Melvis Pride for a 41-yard gain to the Nicholls' 47-yard line, and the sophomore wide receiver might have scored if he could have kept his balance on the sideline.
It was a tough break on a terrific play because two negative plays pushed the Kats back and they had to punt.
Sam Houston finally scored to make it 3-0 on a 32-yard field goal by Antonio following a muffed punt which was recovered by Shaw to start the second quarter.
Nicholls was able to get something going when Bell was picked off by safety Siegan Vergenal at the SHSU 49. Caston found the end zone on a 12-yard run after hitting wide receiver Brad Nelson for 35 yards to put the Colonels on top 7-3 with 8:02 left in the first half.
The Bearkats failed to answer, but Shaw came through with the play of the day to shift the momentum. With under three minutes to go before the break, Shaw broke free and blocked Patrick Dolan's punt around the 10.
The ball rolled into the end zone and Shaw outraced everyone to give the Bearkats the lead for good at 10-7.
"I was just watching the ball and I got off quick," Shaw said. "We have been working on blocking punts in practice over and over. As soon as I saw the ball I took it off his foot and I was able to make a play on it for the touchdown."
Next week, Sam Houston returns home for its annual homecoming celebration as the Bearkats play host to Southeastern Louisiana at 2 p.m. in Bowers Stadium. Then, in two weeks, its the long awaited "Battle of the Piney Woods" matchup with Stephen F. Austin at Reliant Stadium in Houston, also a 2 p.m. encounter.
Tickets for both games now are on .sale online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets . Tickets also may be purchased at the SHSU 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.
