Pointing to improvement
4/1/2011 10:19:00 AM | Football
"Friday's practice is our seventh session out of 15 and it's really been exciting," Fritz said on the eve of the team's first full scrimmage.
The Bearkats will hit the field at 9:20 Saturday morning at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium and begin scrimmaging at approximately 10 a.m.
"We will work on the kicking game, especially kickoff returns and various situations including goal line and overtime," Fritz said. "We hope to run between 80 and 100 plays during the scrimmage."
The Bearkats return 45 lettermen including 21 starters from the young 2010 squad that won six of its last nine games and whose three losses were by a total of only 11 points (a field goal to SFA and Northwestern State and five points to McNeese).
Sam Houston returns the players who accounted for 293.2 of the Bearkats' 336.4 total offense yards per game last year.
"We have a large group of guys back to understand what we're trying to do and we're getting time to look at the young players that red-shirted last year," Fritz said. "The exciting part is the great competition for starting jobs at every position."
Key returning players for Sam Houston include Southland Conference "Newcomer of the Year" Tim Flanders who rushed for 948 yards (94.8 per game) and scored 13 rushing touchdowns; quarterback Brian Bell who led the team with 1,371 yards passing, leading receiver Seth Patterson who caught 35 passes for 370 yards and All-Southland Conference kick return specialist Brandon Closner who averaged 11.5 yards returning punts and 25.8 yards on kickoff returns.
Defensively, 11 of the top 12 team leaders in tackles are back including Darnell Taylor (64 stops), Kenneth Jenkins (58), Will Henry (48) and Robert Shaw.
"Our big goal this spring is to produce more explosive plays on both sides of the ball," Fritz said. "We also have a couple of areas where we are a little thin. We are looking for some young players to step up in both the offensive and defensive lines."
Saturday's scrimmage will be the first of two. Spring camp will climax with the annual Orange-White Spring Football Game on Thursday night, April 14, at 7 p.m.
The Thursday night event marks the first time ever the game has been scheduled on a week night. Sam Houston Student Activities and the athletic department are teaming to make the event a fun event for both students, alumni and fans alike.
The 23rd annual Sam Houston State football dinner and auction will be held Friday, April 8, at the Lowman Student Center Ball Room.
The Bearkats will play six home games at Bowers Stadium in 2011 plus the "Battle of the Piney Woods" with SFA at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Now on sale, packages for new season ticket holders and Bearkat Champions are $275 per seat. The cost includes a chairback seat, tax deduction, parking pass and a Bearkat football "Special Event" invitation.
Bleacher reserved season ticket holders will pay $100 for their seven-game season ticket.
Fans can order their season tickets online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
