Headed to the Quarterfinals
12/4/2011 7:12:00 AM | Football
With their backs against the wall and their season hanging in the balance, the Bearkats finally had to answer the million-dollar question. Faced with a deficit in the second half, were the Kats capable of fighting their way from behind to eke out a win?
Sam Houston passed the test, digging out of a 10-3 halftime hole and overcoming defensive letdowns in the fourth quarter to overtake Stony Brook for a 34-27 victory Saturday in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
The top-seeded Bearkats now advance to the quarterfinals where they'll face Montana State, which defeated New Hampshire 26-25, back in Bowers Stadium next weekend. That game will be played either Friday or Saturday. An announcement will be made by SHSU officials either today or Monday.
"It was a big win. We prove it every week, that's our motto," Bearkats junior safety Darnell Taylor said. "We did it this week and now it's on to the next."
After taking a 20-13 lead in the fourth, the Bearkats saw the Seawolves answer with a pair of touchdowns to erase two seven-point deficits on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 27. With a little less than seven minutes to play, Sam Houston was not only looking for a go-ahead score, the Kats wanted to leave as little time as possible just in case Stony Brook answered a third time.
Starting at their own 16-yard line, the Bearkats, who improved to 12-0, moved the ball and chains little by little.
For seemingly the first time all game, Sam Houston found openings in the Seawolves' defensive front and kept running the ball at them and through them.
Whether it was on a run by tailback Tim Flanders up the middle or using the option to torch Stony Brook (9-4) on the edges, the Kats kept getting closer and closer to scoring range.
On third-and-1 near midfield, quarterback Brian Bell used his legs to pick up a much-needed first down on an 8-yard quarterback keeper. On the next play, Flanders gained 16 yards on a counter to put the Kats on Stony Brook's 22-yard line.
With less than two minutes to go, Bell found an opening on the perimeter for a 16-yard gain. The sophomore quarterback then made one of the headiest plays of the game, sliding to preserve the first down instead of trying to get into the end zone, which kept the clock moving with the ball inside the 10.
"Each and every week through the regular season, my coaches stress for us to be patient. Tonight we were patient and we were waiting on one to pop," Bell said. "Finally, in that last drive, we started settling down and became a unit. Right there, you just look to your left, look to your right and try your best to fight for every yard, and fortunately we pulled it out for the victory."
With the possibility of a game-winning field goal, the Kats didn't let up. Flanders saw nothing but empty space on the right side of the field, changed direction and motored into the end zone for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
"All through the whole game, I was trying to stay between the tackles. I knew one of the times I was going to go outside, I was just waiting for the right moment," Flanders said. "The safety came in too hard and I just outran him to the side."
After the Bearkat offense did its job, it was the defense's turn.
With 1:01 to go and one timeout remaining, the Seawolves were in desperation mode, needing to get a bunch of yards and a touchdown in a hurry. But the Kats weren't about to let Stony Brook find the end zone again.
Instead, Sam Houston's defensive unit harried Seawolves quarterback Kyle Essington into three straight rushed throws, which fell incomplete. On fourth down, Stony Brook's last-gasp effort, Essington's pass to receiver Matt Brevi was broken up by Taylor.
"We fought hard. We knew at some point we were going to have to make a play," Taylor said. "We did it and thanks to (the offense), we pulled it out."
All season long, Sam Houston has made its living in the third quarter, outscoring opponents 142-17 in its 11 previous victories.
After struggling to move the ball (73 total yards of offense) and score points in the first half, the Bearkats entered the third quarter with a 10-3 deficit and needed to get some big plays on both offense and defense in a hurry before the game got away from them.
Sam Houston, which allowed 162 yards of offense in the first half, held Stony Brook to two three-and-outs to begin the third quarter.
Following the Seawolves' second punt of the third quarter, which was fielded by senior Brandon Closner at the Stony Brook 42, the Bearkats got a big 22-yard completion from Bell to senior wide receiver Melvis Pride. Flanders then ran 13 yards up the middle to get the Bearkats inside the 10.
After two short rushes, Bell found sophomore utility man Richard Sincere in the back of the end zone for a 5-yard score on a play-action pass to knot the game at 10.
Again, the Sam Houston defense held strong, preventing a first down on the next possession. The Kats marched back down the field as Bell scored on an option keeper from 5 yards out.
The Bearkats ended the third period with 14 unanswered points and a 17-10 lead.
"We decided we'd go ahead and take the wind in the third quarter. We knew we had to get some things going," Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz said. "We did a great job coming out of the box defensively with kick coverage and getting some three-and-outs. We had pretty good time of possessions.
"We had great adjustments at halftime. Our coaches have done a good job of that all season. We had good execution, good adjustments at the half."
The Seawolves, who entered Saturday's playoff game with the fourth-ranked rushing offense, began to abandon their running game near the end of the third quarter.
"We didn't come out and make a decision specifically to do that. We thought we had worn down their corners," Stony Brook head coach Chuck Priore said.
Stony Brook reverted to the play-action passing game and what resulted were big completions downfield and quick responses to Sam Houston scoring drives.
The Seawolves drove deep into Bearkat territory, but were denied the end zone, even though they were just 4 yards away. Stony Brook connected for a 21-yard field goal from Wesley Skiffington to narrow the deficit to 17-13.
Sam Houston responded with a 31-yard field goal from senior Craig Alaniz to extend the Kats' lead back to seven at 20-13.
That's when the Seawolves offense got rolling, almost exclusively off the play-action pass.
On two consecutive downs, Essington found wide-open receivers for 38- and 18-yard completions, which set up a 3-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Norrell that tied the game at 20 with less than nine minutes to go.
Sam Houston responded with an 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Trey Diller on the next offensive play to retake the lead 27-20.
Again, Essington dissected the Bearkats' secondary for a 45-yard bomb, which connected with Norrell, and put Stony Brook within striking distance of the end zone. A few plays later, the Seawolves tied the game on a 2-yard run by Brock Jackolski.
"They're a run-aggressive team and they blitz a lot, so they're vulnerable to the play-action," Essington said of the Bearkats. "We had a lot of those big plays in our game plan and a lot of them got out for a good chunk of yards. I'm happy with the way those plays developed."
For the first time since a 48-45 overtime win at New Mexico in late September, the Bearkats were tested and pushed to the limit. With the game on the line, the Kats made plays and survived.
"We dodged a bullet and we won. We're advancing and playing," Fritz said. "I don't think we played a great game, but Stony Brook had a lot to do with that."
The quarterfinal playoff game against Montana State will be played on either Friday or Saturday with a spot in the national semifinals against either No. 4 seed Montana or No. 5 seed Northern Iowa on the line.
Sam Houston passed the test, digging out of a 10-3 halftime hole and overcoming defensive letdowns in the fourth quarter to overtake Stony Brook for a 34-27 victory Saturday in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
The top-seeded Bearkats now advance to the quarterfinals where they'll face Montana State, which defeated New Hampshire 26-25, back in Bowers Stadium next weekend. That game will be played either Friday or Saturday. An announcement will be made by SHSU officials either today or Monday.
"It was a big win. We prove it every week, that's our motto," Bearkats junior safety Darnell Taylor said. "We did it this week and now it's on to the next."
After taking a 20-13 lead in the fourth, the Bearkats saw the Seawolves answer with a pair of touchdowns to erase two seven-point deficits on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 27. With a little less than seven minutes to play, Sam Houston was not only looking for a go-ahead score, the Kats wanted to leave as little time as possible just in case Stony Brook answered a third time.
Starting at their own 16-yard line, the Bearkats, who improved to 12-0, moved the ball and chains little by little.
For seemingly the first time all game, Sam Houston found openings in the Seawolves' defensive front and kept running the ball at them and through them.
Whether it was on a run by tailback Tim Flanders up the middle or using the option to torch Stony Brook (9-4) on the edges, the Kats kept getting closer and closer to scoring range.
On third-and-1 near midfield, quarterback Brian Bell used his legs to pick up a much-needed first down on an 8-yard quarterback keeper. On the next play, Flanders gained 16 yards on a counter to put the Kats on Stony Brook's 22-yard line.
With less than two minutes to go, Bell found an opening on the perimeter for a 16-yard gain. The sophomore quarterback then made one of the headiest plays of the game, sliding to preserve the first down instead of trying to get into the end zone, which kept the clock moving with the ball inside the 10.
"Each and every week through the regular season, my coaches stress for us to be patient. Tonight we were patient and we were waiting on one to pop," Bell said. "Finally, in that last drive, we started settling down and became a unit. Right there, you just look to your left, look to your right and try your best to fight for every yard, and fortunately we pulled it out for the victory."
With the possibility of a game-winning field goal, the Kats didn't let up. Flanders saw nothing but empty space on the right side of the field, changed direction and motored into the end zone for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
"All through the whole game, I was trying to stay between the tackles. I knew one of the times I was going to go outside, I was just waiting for the right moment," Flanders said. "The safety came in too hard and I just outran him to the side."
After the Bearkat offense did its job, it was the defense's turn.
With 1:01 to go and one timeout remaining, the Seawolves were in desperation mode, needing to get a bunch of yards and a touchdown in a hurry. But the Kats weren't about to let Stony Brook find the end zone again.
Instead, Sam Houston's defensive unit harried Seawolves quarterback Kyle Essington into three straight rushed throws, which fell incomplete. On fourth down, Stony Brook's last-gasp effort, Essington's pass to receiver Matt Brevi was broken up by Taylor.
"We fought hard. We knew at some point we were going to have to make a play," Taylor said. "We did it and thanks to (the offense), we pulled it out."
All season long, Sam Houston has made its living in the third quarter, outscoring opponents 142-17 in its 11 previous victories.
After struggling to move the ball (73 total yards of offense) and score points in the first half, the Bearkats entered the third quarter with a 10-3 deficit and needed to get some big plays on both offense and defense in a hurry before the game got away from them.
Sam Houston, which allowed 162 yards of offense in the first half, held Stony Brook to two three-and-outs to begin the third quarter.
Following the Seawolves' second punt of the third quarter, which was fielded by senior Brandon Closner at the Stony Brook 42, the Bearkats got a big 22-yard completion from Bell to senior wide receiver Melvis Pride. Flanders then ran 13 yards up the middle to get the Bearkats inside the 10.
After two short rushes, Bell found sophomore utility man Richard Sincere in the back of the end zone for a 5-yard score on a play-action pass to knot the game at 10.
Again, the Sam Houston defense held strong, preventing a first down on the next possession. The Kats marched back down the field as Bell scored on an option keeper from 5 yards out.
The Bearkats ended the third period with 14 unanswered points and a 17-10 lead.
"We decided we'd go ahead and take the wind in the third quarter. We knew we had to get some things going," Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz said. "We did a great job coming out of the box defensively with kick coverage and getting some three-and-outs. We had pretty good time of possessions.
"We had great adjustments at halftime. Our coaches have done a good job of that all season. We had good execution, good adjustments at the half."
The Seawolves, who entered Saturday's playoff game with the fourth-ranked rushing offense, began to abandon their running game near the end of the third quarter.
"We didn't come out and make a decision specifically to do that. We thought we had worn down their corners," Stony Brook head coach Chuck Priore said.
Stony Brook reverted to the play-action passing game and what resulted were big completions downfield and quick responses to Sam Houston scoring drives.
The Seawolves drove deep into Bearkat territory, but were denied the end zone, even though they were just 4 yards away. Stony Brook connected for a 21-yard field goal from Wesley Skiffington to narrow the deficit to 17-13.
Sam Houston responded with a 31-yard field goal from senior Craig Alaniz to extend the Kats' lead back to seven at 20-13.
That's when the Seawolves offense got rolling, almost exclusively off the play-action pass.
On two consecutive downs, Essington found wide-open receivers for 38- and 18-yard completions, which set up a 3-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Norrell that tied the game at 20 with less than nine minutes to go.
Sam Houston responded with an 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Trey Diller on the next offensive play to retake the lead 27-20.
Again, Essington dissected the Bearkats' secondary for a 45-yard bomb, which connected with Norrell, and put Stony Brook within striking distance of the end zone. A few plays later, the Seawolves tied the game on a 2-yard run by Brock Jackolski.
"They're a run-aggressive team and they blitz a lot, so they're vulnerable to the play-action," Essington said of the Bearkats. "We had a lot of those big plays in our game plan and a lot of them got out for a good chunk of yards. I'm happy with the way those plays developed."
For the first time since a 48-45 overtime win at New Mexico in late September, the Bearkats were tested and pushed to the limit. With the game on the line, the Kats made plays and survived.
"We dodged a bullet and we won. We're advancing and playing," Fritz said. "I don't think we played a great game, but Stony Brook had a lot to do with that."
The quarterfinal playoff game against Montana State will be played on either Friday or Saturday with a spot in the national semifinals against either No. 4 seed Montana or No. 5 seed Northern Iowa on the line.
Players Mentioned
K
/ Football
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DB
/ FootballWednesday, February 11
Wednesday, February 04
Saturday, November 29
Tuesday, November 25
