"Battle of the Piney Woods" game notes
10/21/2010 6:38:00 AM | Football
BATTLE OF THE PINEY WOODS AT RELIANT
A new chapter in the "Battle of the Piney Woods" football rivalry begins Saturday, Oct. 23 when Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin meet at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
Since its birth in 1923, the annual gridiron grudge match between the Bearkats and the Lumberjacks has been something special. With 84 meetings, the series ranks as the second oldest NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) rivalry in Texas. Sam Houston holds a 48-34-2 edge in the series.
The move of the series to Reliant for the next four seasons comes from a partnership between Lone Star Sports & Entertainment (LSSE) and the two universities. LSSE is an independent event management company which is closely affiliated with the NFL's Houston Texans.
TEXAS' SEVENTH LONGEST CONTINUOUS NCAA RIVALRY
Among the state's rivalries in both NCAA subdivisions, the SHSU-SFA series stands as the seventh longest. Only Texas-Texas A&M (115 games), Baylor-A&M (106), Baylor-Texas (98), SMU-TCU (88), SMU-Rice (86) and Sam Houston-Texas State (86) have totaled more meetings.
Perhaps the proximity of the two universities named for Texas history heroes has been a factor in the intensity of the rivalry. The distance between Huntsville and Nacogdoches is less than 100 miles. Whatever the reason, the annual game always has been a grudge match. After a 6-0 Bearkat victory in 1925, the university's first football win over the Jacks, the Sam Houston Alcalde reported "In the hardest fought game of the season the Bearkats downed the sturdy Lumberjacks at Nacogdoches. This fray was marked by unusual roughness and hard playing."
BATTLE FOR FIRST PLACE
For only the second time in the history of the "Battle of the Piney Woods," both Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin enter the rivalry game tied for first place in the Southland Conference with 2-0 records.
The first time was in 2001 when the Bearkats defeated the Jacks 24-21 in a quarterback duel that matched Josh McCown against Wes Pate, both 2002 NFL draft picks. The Fox Sports Southwest telecast of the contest earned the Southland its highest TV ratings ever for a regional football telecast.
This year's game, to be televised by the Southland TV Network, features another offensive duel pitting the league's top passer, Jeremy Moses of SFA, against the Southland's top runner, Tim Flanders of Sam Houston. Moses has thrown for 1,865 yards and 16 touchdowns this year. Flanders ranks No. 10 in NCAA Division I FCS national statistics with 116.5 yards per game.
PINEY WOODS BATTLES WITH ONE OR BOTH TEAMS RANKED
With SFA standing No. 4 in the national rankings, Saturday's game at Reliant will the 15th time that one or both teams has come into the "Piney Woods" shoot-out ranked among the top 25 NCAA Division FCS teams. Sam Houston has won six of those meetings including victories over nationally-ranked SFA squads in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004.
WHEN SAM HOUSTON PLAYS IN THE BAYOU CITY
Houston has been a tough venue for Bearkat football games. In the 95 year history of the program Sam Houston was won only four times in contests inside the Houston city limits. The Kats are 4-25-2.
Sam Houston defeated Rice 9-8 at old Rice Field in 1939 and Texas Southern 38-28 in 1986, 24-13 in 1995 and 40-7 in 1997, all at Robertson Stadium.
The Kats tied with the Rice freshmen team 0-0 in 1920 in their first game in Houston and ended in a 14-14 deadlock with SFA at the Astrodome in 1976.
THE BEARKATS IN NFL STADIUMS
Sam Houston is playing in an NFL stadium for the ninth time at Reliant this Saturday. Eight times from 1973 to 1987, the Bearkats played at the Astrodome. Sam Houston lost seven of the games and tied once (against SFA by a 14-14 score in 1976).
The University of Houston edged Sam Houston 38-34 in a shoot-out between quarterbacks Andre Ware and Reggie Lewis in 1987 in the Bearkats' last appearance at the Astrodome.
The first seven contests were non-conference games against Texas Southern in 1973, 1974 and 1975, Stephen F. Austin in 1976, Lamar in 1981, Southwest Texas in 1982 and Texas A&I in 1983.
SCOUTING THE LUMBERJACKS
SFA brings an offense that not only ranks as the Southland Conference's most productive but stands No. 2 nationally in passing offense (347.0 yards), No. 9 in scoring (36.8 points) and No. 14 in total offense (421.7 yards).
Quarterback Jeremy Moses ranks No. 6 in the nation in total offense (303.3 yards per game). Moses' favorite targets are Gralyn Crawford with 39 catches 465 yards and three touchdowns and Cordell Robertson with 23 catches for 350 yards and seven scores.
Running back Ronnie Hampton leads the team in rushing with 74 carries for 301 yards.
STOPPING JEREMY MOSES
Stephen F. Austin quarterback Jeremy Moses has produced two of the top three passing performances ever by a Lumberjack quarterback in "The Battle of the Piney Woods." In 2008, Moses completed 57 of 85 passes for 449 yards and four touchdowns and last year he hit 27 of 38 for 372 yards and five scores.
Counting his play as a backup in the 2007 SHSU-SFA contest, Moses has completed 94 of 130 passes for 862 yards and nine scores in his three games against the Bearkats.
FOUR-GAME WINNING STREAK
Sam Houston brings a four-game winning streak into the "Battle of the Piney Woods." After losing their first two games by a combined score of 90-17 to Baylor and Western Illinois, the Bearkats have bounced back to outscore Gardner-Webb, Lamar, Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana 151-38.
The four consecutive victories are the Kats' longest victory streak since Sam Houston ended the 2007 season with five in a row to earn a runner-up finish in the Southland Conference.
Sam Houston has excelled in all three phases of the game during the streak.
The defense has limited the four foes to only 248.7 total offense yards per game, intercepted six passes and totaled 23 sacks.
The offense, led by redshirt freshman running back Tim Flanders, is producing 351.5 yards total offense per game.
And special teams has blocked two punts for touchdowns, returned a punt for a TD and won the field possession battle with a 39.9 punting average that includes 10 punts inside the 20-yard line.
All this is happening with a young squad that includes only two seniors in the starting lineup.
SAM HOUSTON 2-0 IN SOUTHLAND ACTION
The victories over Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana in Sam Houston's first two league games mark only the fourth time in 24 years as a Southland Conference member the Kats have started conference 2-0.
SHSU won its first two Southland contests in 1991, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2006. The 1991, 2001 and 2004 teams went on to win Southland championships and advance to the NCAA Division I playoffs.
SACK ATTACK
Sam Houston's blitzing defense set a Sam Houston school record and tied a Southland Conference mark by rolling up 12 quarterback sacks in the 26-7 victory at Nicholls Saturday.
The previous team record was 10 sacks against Mississippi Valley State in 2002. Northwestern State originally set the Southland record with 12 sacks against SFA in 1997. The NCAA Division I FCS national record is 14 sacks by Alcorn State against Mississippi Valley in 2007.
Will Henry tied a school record with four sacks at Nicholls. All-America defensive tackle Michael Bankston, who went on to play eight years in the NFL for the Cardinals, was the first to set the SHSU single game record with four sacks against Angelo State in 1991. The Southland single game record for sacks is five.
Henry was named as Southland Conference "Defensive Player of the Week" after his performance at Nicholls.
Fifteen Bearkats have had a hand in at least one quarterback sack this year. Henry and J. T. Cleveland (who had three sacks at Nicholls) both have season totals of five. Eric Fieilo has four for the year.
Sam Houston's 27 total sacks this year is the most since the 2001 Southland Championship season when the Kats totaled 44. The school record for sacks in one season is 47 in 1991, another title year.
STOPPING THE RUSH
The Sam Houston defense has given up only 113 yards rushing in its last four games. That's an average of 28.3 yards per game in the four wins.
The Bearkats limited Nicholls to just 97 yards total offense Saturday. That was the lowest total offense figure allowed by a Sam Houston defense since a 23-3 victory over Stephen F. Austin at Bowers Stadium in 1990 when the Kats held the Jacks to 83 yards (-49 on the ground and 132 in the aire)
TIM FLANDERS CONTINUES TO ROLL
Tim Flanders, redshirt freshman from Midwest City, Okla., is the leading rusher in the Southland Conference (116.5 yards per game) and ranks No. 10 in the NCAA Division I FCS national statistics.
His 141 yards rushing in the Southeastern Louisiana victory Saturday make him the first Bearkat ever to rush for more than 100 yards in five consecutive games.
Flanders netted 156 yards at Western Illinois, 104 vs. Gardner-Webb, 153 at Lamar and 105 yards at Nicholls.
With 699 yards rushing in six games, Flanders stands No. 2 on the list of top single season rushing performances by Sam Houston freshmen. Joe Rauls gained 867 yards in 1998. Flanders already has broken the school record for most rushing TDs (7) set by a freshman set by Joe Vickers in 1971.
The most 100-yard rushing performances in one season by a Sam Houston running back is six by Roger Wiley in 1982, D. D. Terry in 2006 and Chris Poullard in 2007.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
With only 29 lettermen back from last year's Bearkat squad and only five seniors on this year's roster, the 2010 Sam Houston football team definitely is young. Eleven freshmen dot the Bearkats' two-deep lineup. New Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz inherited a young team with just as many newcomers as returning players and told potential high school recruits they definitely had an opportunity to play as freshmen.
BLOCK PARTY BACK
Sam Houston has blocked punts and returned the blocks for touchdowns in each of the past two victories.
With the Nicholls punting from their own 27-yard line with 2:17 to play in the first half, Robert Shaw broke through to block the kick and fell on the ball in the end zone to put Sam Houston up 10-7.
Last week, Vincent Dotson blocked Southeastern Louisiana's third punt in the first quarter and Shaw picked up the ball at the 24-yard line and ran it in for another score.
The two blocks mark the return of the "block party", a Bearkat special teams tradition established when Willie Fritz was special teams coordinator for Sam Houston in 1991 and 1992. The "Block Party" saw Sam Houston block 80 punts, field goals and extra points in the 14 seasons from 1991 to 2004.
THE BEARKAT OFFENSE
The biggest change for the 2010 Bearkats has come on offense where Sam Houston have become more balanced.
"I think you have to run the ball successfully to win," Head Coach Willie Fritz said. "We are going to control the game and we are going to look and see where the weaknesses are and see what we can take advantage of. We will have a lot of different formations, but most everything we are going to do is with the same philosophy."
Brian Bell, a true freshman from China Spring, has started the last four games, all Bearkat victories. Bell came off the bench in the second quarter at Western Illinois and directed the team to two touchdown drives. Bell has passed for three touchdowns.
With no running backs who carried during either the 2009 season or in spring practice, Sam Houston has collected a strong stable of runners in preseason camp. Tim Flanders, a redshirt freshman transfer from Kansas State, leads the Southland with 116.5 yards rushing per game. True freshmen Ridgeway Frank (Spring HS) and Cameron Brown (Austin LBJ HS) and transfers D. J. Morrow (Louisiana Tech) help carry the load.
Junior center Travis Watson and left tackle Chris Crockett were starters in 2008 who missed playing in 2009 because of injury. Sophomore tackle Kaleb Hopson was a starter as a freshman last year and sophomore tackle Riley Smith and guard Cameron Pound were backups last year, giving the Kats an experienced front line.
Wide receivers Brandon Closner and Melvis Pride and tight end T. J. Jones were the only returning Bearkats to catch passes last year (combining for 13 catches for 170 yards). Western Michigan transfer Seth Patterson leads the Bearkat receivers with 16 catches for 139 yards and one TD.
THE BEARKAT DEFENSE
It is no secret that one of Sam Houston's biggest weaknesses last season came in the secondary. The Bearkats started three freshmen, two safeties and a cornerback, who got on-the-job training while taking their fair share of lumps. Sam Houston ranked sixth out of eight teams in the Southland Conference in pass defense at 253.5 yards a game. Things got better towards the end of the season including a victory over Central Arkansas in which the Kats gave up only 106 yards passing and picked off two passes.
What was once a major weakness now is a strength. Those three freshmen - Darnell Taylor, Kenneth Jenkins and Robert Shaw - are a year older, and more importantly, have now been in defensive coordinator Scott Stoker's scheme for an entire season. Throw in senior cornerback Jarvis Pippins and senior safety Victor Carmichael, true freshman Bookie Sneed and sophomore transfer Daxton Swanson and the Kats have put together a talented secondary.
Linebacker is another solid position with four veterans - Will Henry, Kash David, Darius Taylor and Eric Fieilo - all returning. Henry is the only player among nine Bearkats who were recognized as All-Southland Conference last year back for 2010.
Up front, the defensive line is untested but has performed well in preseason camp with E. J. Nduka, Dwight Kennedy, J. T. Cleveland and Eddie Decambre listed as starters.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Miguel Antonio, who led Sam Houston in scoring with 73 points on 12 field goals and 37 PATs as a true freshman in 2009, returns. Antonio was named Southland Conference "Special Teams Player of the Week" following the 30-14 victory over Gardner-Webb. Antonio kicked three field goals and was perfect on three extra points.
Matt Foster, a veteran of Australian rules football in Melbourne, will handle punting chores. A red-hirt at Purdue last year, Foster will be played in his first American football game in the opener at Baylor.
back for a score since 2006.
Brandon Closner returned a punt 37 yards for a touchdown for the first touchdown in the Lamar victory. Sam Houston had not had a punt return brought back for a score since 2006. Closner earned Southland "Special Teams Player of the Week" for his performance in the Lamar victory.
SECOND SOUTHLAND TV NETWORK APPEARANCE
Saturday's game will be the fifth of 10 games to be telecast on the Southland Conference TV Network.Sam Houston's victory over Gardner-Webb in Huntsville on September 25 was the first contest on the 2010 network schedule. Entering its third year of programming, the network has affiliate commitments from 14 stations that will reach roughly six million households throughout Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.The game will be viewed in the Greater Houston area on KNWS-TV Channel 51.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for all Bearkat home football games are onsale online now at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the Sam Houston 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 number is 936 294-1729.
BEARKAT TAILGATE PARTY
One of the highlights of game day that Saturday will be the giant tailgate party at Reliant Stadium. Sam Houston State's tailgate site will be Reliant lot 22 (South Kirby Lot).
H-E-B is proud to be the presenting sponsor of the "Tailgater of the Game" contest for the "Battle of the Piney Woods"showdown. H-E-B Tailgater of the Game judges will be roaming the Reliant Stadium parking lots trying to find the best tailgate setup at the Battle of the Piney Woods on October 23rd. Fans are being challenged to make H-E-B a strong feature in presenting their tailgate experience to the judges who will be looking for team spirit, food (exclusive H-E-B presence is a must!), originality and hospitality in their search to crown the H-E-B "Tailgater of the Game". The winning tailgate will be recognized during the game on the video board and will win an H-E-B gift card.
