Conference leaders had to fight to hold off young Kats
11/7/2010 6:26:00 AM | Football
McNeese State continued its dominance of the Bearkats by withstanding a furious rally in the final minutes to escape with a 33-28 victory at Bowers Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
With the Cowboys (4-1 in Southland Conference play, 5-4 overall) holding an 11-point lead with just over three minutes left in the game, SHSU freshman quarterback Brian Bell connected with sophomore wide receiver Melvis Pride for a 64-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
The Bearkats (2-3 in SLC, 4-5) brought in backup kicker Craig Alaniz for an onside kick. The play worked to perfection and sophomore linebacker Darius Taylor came up with the loose ball.
But Sam Houston stalled at the McNeese State 20-yard line and three straight incomplete passes helped the Cowboys improve to 24-7-1 all time against the Kats, who lost for the third week in a row by five points or less.
"It was a wild game. I told our guys that we are starting to show our age, unfortunately," Bearkats head coach Willie Fritz said. "I didn't think we played real smart football throughout the game."
The Bearkats had a chance to go into the half with a 17-16 lead when freshman Richard Sincere scored on a 1-yard run, which was setup by a 64-yard kick return by senior Brandon Closner.
McNeese had other ideas, though.
The Cowboys got two big pass plays by senior quarterback Jacob Bower for 21 and 41 yards to get within field goal range. Sophomore Josh Lewis split the uprights from 26 yards out to send McNeese into the half up 19-17.
Sam Houston tied the game in the third quarter when defensive tackle J.T. Cleveland and linebacker Will Henry stopped Cowboys running back Andre Anderson in the end zone for a safety.
The Bearkats took the lead on a 40-yard field goal by sophomore Miguel Antonio, but those points were bittersweet. Sam Houston had excellent field position on its first three drives of the second half, getting the ball at its own 43 and twice inside McNeese territory.
The Kats couldn't take advantage and that opened the door for the Cowboys.
"That hurt us. We had great field position, had the big safety and I thought it was an opportunity for us to really start fast in the second half. We had great field position and didn't take advantage of it," Fritz said.
McNeese did take advantage of the Bearkats' miscues. After Antonio's field goal, Bower picked apart the Sam Houston secondary and hit senior Bernardo Henry for a 45-yard gain before hooking up with Champlain Babin for a 9-yard score to take the lead for good.
The Bearkats, who were down to their fourth-string running back and struggled to mount much of a rushing attack, tried a little trickery to catch McNeese off guard. Sincere took a handoff and attempted a pass across the field to Bell, but Cowboys cornerback Jarron Jackson didn't bite and easily intercepted the ball.
Two plays later, Anderson, who finished with 100 yards rushing, scored on an 8-yard scamper to make it 33-22.
Sam Houston struggled to slow down the McNeese offense. Bower threw for 281 of the Cowboys' 439 yards of total offense.
"They weren't really doing anything different, we just had bad eyes," Taylor said. "We were getting lost in some of our coverages and their receivers were getting over the top of us and it hurt us. We have to see it better and recognize it better and quicker and we will be fine."
The Bearkats, like they did in a pair of previous three-point losses to Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State, never quit fighting.
Bell, who threw for a season-high 301 yards, found tight end T.J. Jones for 18 yards and wide receiver Torrance Williams for 30 more to get in field goal range. The Cowboys blocked the 38-yard attempt, but Sam Houston's defense stepped up and forced a punt.
Bell got another threat moving with a 12-yard pass to wide receiver Seth Patterson. The freshman later found Williams wide open for another big play that went for 25 yards deep into McNeese territory.
But Williams tried to juke the defender and the ball slipped out of his hands right to Cowboys safety Darrell Jenkins.
The Sam Houston defense came up with another stop and again McNeese got a turnover when Bell was picked off by safety Malcolm Bronson.
McNeese tried to run the clock and was forced to punt. This time the Bearkats found the end zone when Pride outran the defense to cut the lead to 33-28.
Sam Houston marched down to the McNeese 20 following the onside kick thanks to catches by Patterson, Pride and Sincere, who scored on a 67-yard run on the second play of the game.
Bell lobbed a pass into the corner of the end zone on third down and Patterson, who caught a 25-yard touchdown pass to force a second overtime in last week's 23-20 loss to Northwestern State, almost reeled in what could have been the game winner. The ball popped out and a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
"We had a lot of opportunities this game as well as the other games," Bell said. "We just have to learn that every play counts, not just the plays in the fourth quarter, but the little plays in the first. These past three games have been real close, but we just have to persevere and fight it out in the end."
Sam Houston travels to play Central Arkansas in Conway next week then wraps up the 2010 schedule with the home finale against the Texas State Bobcats Saturday, November 20 at Bowers Stadium.
The Texas State game is "Senior Day" at Bowers with special pregame ceremonies honoring the five seniors on the 2010 team.
The Bearkats vs. Bobcats matchup also is "Kids Day." Kids 17 years of age and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult with a paid ticket. Up to four youngsters may accompany each adult.
Tickets for both home games and other Bearkat home events are on sale online now at www.gobearkats.com/tickets . Fans also may purchase tickets at the Sam Houston office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
