Big Plays Earn Kats Win
12/4/2011 7:17:00 AM | Football
For the top-ranked Bearkats to defeat Stony Brook on Saturday, it was going to be up to the Football Championship Subdivision's stingiest scoring defense to stop the regular season's top-scoring offense.
That was the test at the end of the game for Sam Houston, with just one minute left to play after running back Tim Flanders' 7-yard touchdown scamper gave the Bearkats their fourth seven-point lead of the night.
The Bearkat defense took the field with a roaring crowd of more than 8,000 fans behind them.
Normally with one minute left in the fourth quarter, Sam Houston is sitting on a double-digit lead over its opponent.
Not this time. Not with Stony Brook trading scores with Sam Houston six times in the fourth quarter.
This time, the Kats could not coast to the finish line.
Seawolves quarterback Kyle Essington had completed only nine of 25 passes leading up to the final drive.
Still, whenever Essington was able to connect with his receivers, they turned out to be huge plays. There was a 37-yarder to Matt Brevi in the second quarter, a 48-yard throw to Kevin Norrell in the third quarter and another long pass to Brevi in the fourth, this time for 38 yards.
Essington, who threw an early interception and was sacked twice, was not successful against the Bearkats for much of the game. The flashes of brilliance, though, were still enough to keep the Bearkat nation in suspense on that final drive.
Stony Brook began on its own 27-yard line but never moved an inch. Essington missed on three straight passes to force a fourth down and a game-defining situation for the Sam Houston defense.
Essington, who worked the right side of the field for most of his passes, tried to hit Brevi in the numbers across the middle. The problem for the Seawolves was that Darnell Taylor, the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year, was there to break up the pass, with possibly the biggest defensive stop of Sam Houston's historic season.
"It was no pressure," Taylor said after the game. "We felt good in what our coach was going to call. Our crowd was loud. I think that helped big-time. We felt good and our guys were just ready to play. Stony Brook schemed us real well. They held guys in there to block and they passed it deep."
Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz credited defensive coordinator Scott Stoker for switching up from man to zone coverages late in Saturday's game.
"They present you with some problems," Stoker said. "If you get to the final 16, everybody is good. They have good players and that is why they were here. They kind of surprised us a little bit with the passing game because they are a big run-oriented team. We played nine balls but they were big hits and that's just stuff we can't give up.
"They kind of stopped running the football completely, which is a credit to our guys because they were facing such a run-oriented team. When they started to abandon it, we had to give the corners a little bit of help. You can't ask those corners to cover all day when the quarterback protection is like that."
Even with two sacks on Essington, the Bearkats had trouble getting pressure on the quarterback because of Stony Brook's maximum protection scheme of extra blockers and fewer downfield options.
Along with that, Stony Brook looked to expose Sam Houston's vulnerability in the play-action setup, with the Bearkats being such a stout defense against the run.
It almost worked for the Seawolves. Almost.
"It was a dogfight," Taylor added. "It was a dogfight from the beginning to the end. We fought hard and we knew at some point we were going to have to make a play."
That was the test at the end of the game for Sam Houston, with just one minute left to play after running back Tim Flanders' 7-yard touchdown scamper gave the Bearkats their fourth seven-point lead of the night.
The Bearkat defense took the field with a roaring crowd of more than 8,000 fans behind them.
Normally with one minute left in the fourth quarter, Sam Houston is sitting on a double-digit lead over its opponent.
Not this time. Not with Stony Brook trading scores with Sam Houston six times in the fourth quarter.
This time, the Kats could not coast to the finish line.
Seawolves quarterback Kyle Essington had completed only nine of 25 passes leading up to the final drive.
Still, whenever Essington was able to connect with his receivers, they turned out to be huge plays. There was a 37-yarder to Matt Brevi in the second quarter, a 48-yard throw to Kevin Norrell in the third quarter and another long pass to Brevi in the fourth, this time for 38 yards.
Essington, who threw an early interception and was sacked twice, was not successful against the Bearkats for much of the game. The flashes of brilliance, though, were still enough to keep the Bearkat nation in suspense on that final drive.
Stony Brook began on its own 27-yard line but never moved an inch. Essington missed on three straight passes to force a fourth down and a game-defining situation for the Sam Houston defense.
Essington, who worked the right side of the field for most of his passes, tried to hit Brevi in the numbers across the middle. The problem for the Seawolves was that Darnell Taylor, the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year, was there to break up the pass, with possibly the biggest defensive stop of Sam Houston's historic season.
"It was no pressure," Taylor said after the game. "We felt good in what our coach was going to call. Our crowd was loud. I think that helped big-time. We felt good and our guys were just ready to play. Stony Brook schemed us real well. They held guys in there to block and they passed it deep."
Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz credited defensive coordinator Scott Stoker for switching up from man to zone coverages late in Saturday's game.
"They present you with some problems," Stoker said. "If you get to the final 16, everybody is good. They have good players and that is why they were here. They kind of surprised us a little bit with the passing game because they are a big run-oriented team. We played nine balls but they were big hits and that's just stuff we can't give up.
"They kind of stopped running the football completely, which is a credit to our guys because they were facing such a run-oriented team. When they started to abandon it, we had to give the corners a little bit of help. You can't ask those corners to cover all day when the quarterback protection is like that."
Even with two sacks on Essington, the Bearkats had trouble getting pressure on the quarterback because of Stony Brook's maximum protection scheme of extra blockers and fewer downfield options.
Along with that, Stony Brook looked to expose Sam Houston's vulnerability in the play-action setup, with the Bearkats being such a stout defense against the run.
It almost worked for the Seawolves. Almost.
"It was a dogfight," Taylor added. "It was a dogfight from the beginning to the end. We fought hard and we knew at some point we were going to have to make a play."
Players Mentioned
DB
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