Five championship reunions highlight Lamar game
10/26/2011 2:30:00 AM | Football
Members of five Sam Houston State football championship teams will be honored during the Bearkats' Southland Conference showdown with the Lamar Cardinals at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium on Saturday Oct. 29.
This year marks the 55th and 50th anniversaries of the Bearkats' Lone Star Conference championships in 1956 and 1961, the 25th anniversary of SHSU's Gulf Star Conference title in 1986 and the 20th and 10th anniversaries of Sam Houston State's Southland Conference championship squads.
Activities will include a pre-game party in the Bearkat Champions Lounge in the Ron Mafrige Field House and a halftime presentation on the field. The lounge will open at 12 noon for team members and their guests. Kickoff for the football game is 2 p.m.
The 1956 Bearkats were Sam Houston's only undefeated, untied team. Rolling up a 10-0 record, the 1956 grid squad won the Lone Star Conference and defeated Middle Tennessee State 27-13 in the Refrigerator Bowl in Evansville, Ind.
The 1961 Lone Star Conference champion Bearkats lost their season opener then roared back to win eight straight including a 7-0 record in league action. The team gave up outscored its Lone Star Conference foes 138 points to 46.
In 1986, the Bearkats' first year of NCAA Division I FCS competition, Sam Houston roared to a 9-3 record, a No. 11 national ranking and the Gulf Star Conference championship. The 1986 Kats ended the year with Sam Houston's first-ever NCAA playoff appearance.
Sam Houston's 1991 "Cardiac Kats" won six games by a TD or less on the way to an 8-3-1 record, the university's first Southland Conference football championship and a No. 12 final national ranking. The Bearkats earned Sam Houston's second NCAA playoff berth, falling in overtime at Middle Tennessee.
Sam Houston rolled to a 10-3 record, the Kats' second Southland Conference title, a No. 7 final national ranking and the quarterfinals of the NCAA playoffs in 2001. On the way to the title, the Bearkats defeated six nationally-ranked opponents and an NCAA Division I FBS foe.
Each championship team member returning for their squad's reunion will receive two (2) complementary general admission tickets which can be used to sit in the stadium. Any extra tickets will need to be purchased.
Tickets for all Sam Houston State home athletic events are available online for immediate purchase at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the Bearkat 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 athletic ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
