#3 - Record crowd at Reliant
12/30/2010 7:00:00 AM | Football
The No. 3 story in the countdown of the top Bearkat sports events during 2010 is more of a moment than a game.
On Saturday, October 23, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin met in the 85th "Battle of the Piney Woods" football game at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
A thundering sea of orange and purple clad fans filled the lower bowl of the modern NFL facility, seeing an exciting game that went down to the wire.
Even though the No. 4 ranked Lumberjacks escaped with a narrow 31-28 victory, the day stood out as one of the great moments in the athletic history of both universities.
The crowd of 24,685 was the largest in SHSU-SFA series history. It also was the largest crowd for a Bearkat game versus an NCAA Division I Football Champinoship Subdivision opponent and the ninth largest audience ever for a Sam football tilt.
"I remember being excited as a young grad assistant here at Sam to have 4,000 people crowd into Pritchett Field to watch us play the Jacks in 1984," Bearkat head coach Willie Fritz said. "Wow. This was something. What a great experience for the players on both teams. Bobby Williams and Robert Hill, the athletic directors at both Sam Houston and SFA, and the people at Lone Star Sports Entertainment and the Texans are to be congratulated on putting on a first class event."
Game day started with a packed house at the pregame tailgate party in the Blue Lot south of Reliant. Fans already were in place at 10 a.m. and the crowd grew and grew. More than 100 former Sam Houston former players formed a human tunnel for the team and the excitement on the field was electric.
"Naturally a victory would have been great, but what a fantastic day for both universities," SHSU athletic director Bobby Williams said. "This definitely was a great day to be a Bearkat."
Jeremy Moses became the Southland Conference's all-time leader in total offense as he led Stephen F. Austin to a narrow victory. Moses completed 30 of 53 passes for 418 yards and four touchdowns. Moses surpassed Nathan Brown of Central Arkansas for the new record. Brown produced 10,993 yards from 2005 to 2008. Moses now has rolled up 11,402 yards total offense.
Tim Flanders led Sam Houston with 23 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown. Richard Sincere had 72 yards on eight carries and a score. Flanders tied a Sam Houston State record for most 100-yard rushing performance in one season with six. No Bearkat running back ever before has carried for 100 or more yards rushing in six consecutive games.
On the strength of Moses' arm, the Lumberjacks powered to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. He hit Jeremy Barnes for a six-yard score to complete an eight play, 89-yard drive with 8:29 left in the period. On the next SFA possession Moses hit Corde Roberson for a 58-yard scoring pass.
A fourth down gamble propelled Sam Houston to its first score. Bryan Randolph passed to Richard Sincere from punt formation on fourth down for a 24-yard gain to the SFA 32. Sincere then took a direct snap from center and race around left end for a 32-yard score to cut the margin to 14-7 with 12:45 in the second period.
After a successful onside kick, the Bearkats took just three plays to score as Tim Flanders broke open for a 45-yard touchdown run to knot the score 14-14 at 11:19.
Moses found Roberson for a 34-yard touchdown to put the Jacks back up 21-14 with 6:53 remaining before intermission.
The senior quarterback continued firing in the third quarter, hitting Kris Lott for a 30-yard touchdown to complete a six-play, 69-yard drive 2:18 into the second half to put SFA up 28-14.
Brandon Closner's 33-yard punt return to the SFA 19 set up a one-yard touchdown run by Tim Flanders to bring Sam Houston back to within seven, 28-21 with 2:24 to play in the third quarter.
Thomas Henshaw increased SFA's lead to 31-21 with a 34-yard field goal with 13:49 remaining in the contest.
Bell led an 11-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a seven-yard scoring pass to D. J. Morrow as Sam Houston cut the lead to 31-28 with 7:02 to go.
