Domination
11/23/2011 7:54:00 AM | Football
All season long, the Bearkats were a force to be reckoned with. It was never more evident than when Sam Houston kicked off Southland Conference action this fall.
The Bearkats cruised through the competition with their closest margin of victory in conference play being a 31-10 decision over playoff-bound Central Arkansas.
On all three sides of the ball and with plenty of weapons at its disposal, Sam Houston dominated. So, it came as no surprise that the Bearkats cleaned up when it came time for the 2011 Southland Conference awards to be dished out.
Sam Houston was on the receiving end of four of the league's prestigious individuals awards - player of the year (running back Tim Flanders), offensive player of the year (utility man Richard Sincere), defensive player of the year (safety Darnell Taylor) and coach of the year (Willie Fritz).
"I'm really excited with how things turned out," Kats head coach Willie Fritz said upon learning the news Monday afternoon. "To be able to sweep the awards with offensive player of the year, defensive player of the year and also player of the year is just outstanding. I think all of those kids were truly deserving.
"We had a dominating year. We didn't just win the conference, we did it in dominating fashion. There's also a lot of very good players in this league and I'm just very, very proud that we had this many kids make it."
Flanders earned the Southland's highest honor.
"That's a big thing, to be Southland Conference Player of the Year," Flanders said following a short practice Tuesday afternoon. "Last year, I believe I was a freshman or newcomer of the year, but that's pretty big. Usually it's a quarterback that gets it, but that's big for our university.
"It's been a special season for each position - quarterback, offensive linemen, receivers. We've created a lot of diversity on the team and that's making it a lot easier for the offense and we can do more things.
"It's still a great honor to be the Southland Conference Player of the Year."
The sophomore running back from Midwest City, Okla., was instrumental in helping the Bearkats to their first-ever outright Southland championship as well as the top seed in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, which begin on Saturday.
Despite being held out of the fourth quarter and often the entire second half of most of Sam Houston's games because the Kats often held comfortable leads, Flanders rushed for 1,133 yards, including 616 yards in Southland Conference games, and scored 22 touchdowns (20 rushing and two receiving). He was also the team's leading receiver with 27 catches for 404 yards.
In Saturday's regular-season finale against Texas State, Flanders etched his name in the Southland and Sam Houston record books. Without returning a kick, Flanders nearly was the Southland's leader with all-purpose yards (1,539), missing the mark by 306 yards.
He became the Southland Conference's single-season record holder in total touchdowns (22) and also for most rushing touchdowns (20).
Flanders also became the school record holder for most touchdowns and points (132) in a single season.
While Flanders put up some big numbers this fall, so did Richard Sincere, his running mate in the backfield whose versatility as a receiver and a runner opened up the offense for Sam Houston.
Sincere was second in the Southland in rushing, only to Flanders, with 725 yards and nine touchdowns. The sophomore from Galveston (Ball High) also had 394 receiving yards and two receptions for touchdowns.
Sincere was particularly dangerous out of the wildcat formation and was able to take advantage of matchups, using his speed to catch defenses offguard. Four of Sincere's nine touchdown runs were longer than 35 yards.
"Richard has had a sensational year. It's a heck of a 1-2 punch," Fritz said of his explosive tailbacks. "There were some games this year where people tried to take away Tim and pack the box and make it difficult inside. That really opened it up for Richard on the perimeter. The run plays we run for Tim are different than the run plays we run for Richard.
"He's a lot more physical football player than you'd think. He made big plays as a receiver and as a running back and also threw a touchdown football pass. He's a darn good football player."
Whether in the backfield or in the secondary, junior safety Darnell Taylor was a big playmaker on the defensive side of the ball. Appearing in all 11 games, Taylor led the team with 95 total tackles (65 solo and 30 assisted).
The junior from Mesquite also had seven tackles for loss, three sacks, an interception, four pass breakups, five deflections, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.
"I sat down with the defensive staff and we looked at a few things at who we were going to nominate for defensive player of the year, and number one, we wanted a guy who played the whole season and a guy who played consistently well throughout the season," Fritz said. "We just thought Darnell put together a special year.
"There were really three or four guys that were nipping at his heels that we could've put up also. We've got a heck of a defense and I'm sure the coaches got sick of me saying it, but I think we've got the best defense in the nation and we should have a lot of guys on the defensive all-conference team."
Also, as a reward for an undefeated, outright championship campaign through the Southland, Fritz was selected as the league's coach of the year.
"That's really a coaching staff award, a team award," Fritz said. "I'm just blessed with an excellent staff, strength and conditioning staff and athletic training staff. I'm very thankful that (athletic director) Bobby Williams and the administration gives us the tools to be successful. I've got great coaches and I've got great players."
Sam Houston State led all conference teams with eight first-team all-conference selections and a total of 15 student-athletes on the two all-conference squads.
Flanders was a first-team running back, while Sincere earned first-team honors at the halfback/fullback position. Taylor was a first-team selection on the defensive line. They were joined on the first team with Travis Watson and Chris Crockett, who received the most votes among offensive linemen, defensive lineman J.T. Cleveland, linebacker Will Henry and defensive back Kenneth Jenkins.
The Kats' seven second-team honorees are quarterback Brian Bell, offensive lineman Kaleb Hopson, defensive linemen Andrew Weaver and Gary Lorance, defensive backs Dax Swanson and Bookie Sneed and punter Matt Foster.
Tickets for the NCAA Division I Football Playoff games may be purchased immediately on line at www.gobearkats.com/tickets . The Bearkat athletic ticket office in the Ron Mafrige Fieldhouse at Bowers Stadium will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 23 and Monday through Friday the week of the second round game.
Ticket prices are $25 for reserved chairback seats, $20 for bleacher reserved and $15 for general admission seats. The SHSU athletic department ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1729.
