Offense & Defense Roll in Victory
10/28/2012 7:01:00 AM | Football
BEAUMONT - For the third time in as many weeks, the Bearkats could not be contained Saturday. Using momentum from the end of the first half, fifth-ranked Sam Houston rolled over Lamar 56-7 on Saturday.
Bearkats running back Timothy Flanders rushed for 131 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries to lead the way.
"We've just been staying focused on what we need to do so we can stay in the race for conference," Sam Houston utility man Richard Sincere said. "That's just being 1-0 every week. We've just got to stay focused on the game that's next."
Through a few minutes into the second quarter, Sam Houston (4-1 in Southland Conference, 6-2 overall) was mired by several penalties, but held a slim 7-0 advantage. The Bearkats felt as if it was just beginning to put everything together.
After squandering good field position following cornerback Bookie Sneed's interception, the Kats were able to get on track.
On the following possession, Cardinals running back DePauldrick Garrett was stripped of the ball by Sam Houston defensive tackle Gary Lorance and his fellow linemen, J.T. Cleveland, was able to recover it and nearly scored.
That put the Bearkats on the Lamar 1-yard line and Flanders punched it in on the next play to extend the lead to 14-0.
"If the defense makes a big play, we feed off of that. We needed somebody to step and I was grateful enough to be that person," Flanders said.
As time was winding down, the Kats were ahead by two scores but were looking for a spark to take into the break.
Sam Houston linebacker Jeremy Jackson, filling in for the suspended Darius Taylor, provided the opening. With less than two minutes to go in the second, Lamar quarterback Caleb Berry completed a short pass to Garrett near the right sideline, but Jackson's hit popped the ball loose and senior safety Kenneth Jenkins recovered it near midfield.
The Kats capitalized immediately as quarterback Brian Bell hit a wide-open Trey Diller down the seam for a 48-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
"That gave us a lot of momentum. Going into halftime 21-0, knowing that we were receiving the ball for the second-half kickoff," Sam Houston coach Willie Fritz said. "It was a big play."
The Bearkats came out of the break and hit the ground running.
Three plays into the third quarter, Flanders broke through the defensive line and thanks to a few downfield blocks, was able to churn all the way to the end zone for a 59-yard score.
The Bearkats scored two more times in the third on a 10-yard run by Flanders and a 6-yard score by backup tailback Keshawn Hill to put Sam Houston ahead 42-0.
"We were just staying focused at halftime," Sincere said. "At halftime, (Coach Fritz) told us that we have a whole half to play and that the game was not over."
It appeared as if the Kats, who shut out Lamar 66-0 last season in Huntsville, were headed for another shutout with a 42-0 advantage. The Cardinals' special teams changed that as Kevin Johnson returned the kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.
Early in the fourth, Sincere lined up at quarterback in the Wild Bearkat formation. For the past few seasons, Sincere has been asked almost exclusively to either keep the ball or pitch it on the option when the Kats were lined up that way.
Sam Houston threw the Cardinals a nasty curveball as Sincere launched a bomb and hit wide receiver Brandon Wilkerson in the end zone for a 42-yard strike.
"We've been having that in the playbook for a while and they finally decided to call it," Sincere said. "I was really looking forward to it."
The Kats finished with another score by sophomore Cody Morgan to put an exclamation point on the victory.
After Lamar had been able to pick its way down the field at times in the first half, which set up scoring opportunities, Sam Houston's defense tightened up in the second half.
In the third and fourth quarters, the Cardinals were limited to 75 yards of offense and six first downs.
The Kats also were able to force turnovers (an interception and two fumble recoveries), an area in which they hadn't had much success this fall compared to the 2011 campaign.
"We were just swarming to the ball. That's a real credit to the D-linemen and the linebackers," Sneed said. "They were just getting in there and penetrating the gap. That kind of helped us out in the secondary, having good pressure. It was just all a team effort and we got the job done."
After coming away with another dominant victory, the Bearkats return home Saturday in the final game of the regular season to take on Southeastern Louisiana in a showdown both teams need to win in order to stay in the hunt for the conference championship.
Bearkats notes
Touching up the record books - The 48-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter put Brian Bell No. 1 all by himself in the Sam Houston record books for career passing touchdowns (40), surpassing Dustin Long's (2004) mark of 39.
Bell's 84 passing yards also moved him up to No. 2 in career passing at Sam Houston. Bell now has 4,924 yards and is 640 yards away from tying Rhett Bomar's mark of 5,564 yards.
Bearkats running back Timothy Flanders rushed for 131 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries to lead the way.
"We've just been staying focused on what we need to do so we can stay in the race for conference," Sam Houston utility man Richard Sincere said. "That's just being 1-0 every week. We've just got to stay focused on the game that's next."
Through a few minutes into the second quarter, Sam Houston (4-1 in Southland Conference, 6-2 overall) was mired by several penalties, but held a slim 7-0 advantage. The Bearkats felt as if it was just beginning to put everything together.
After squandering good field position following cornerback Bookie Sneed's interception, the Kats were able to get on track.
On the following possession, Cardinals running back DePauldrick Garrett was stripped of the ball by Sam Houston defensive tackle Gary Lorance and his fellow linemen, J.T. Cleveland, was able to recover it and nearly scored.
That put the Bearkats on the Lamar 1-yard line and Flanders punched it in on the next play to extend the lead to 14-0.
"If the defense makes a big play, we feed off of that. We needed somebody to step and I was grateful enough to be that person," Flanders said.
As time was winding down, the Kats were ahead by two scores but were looking for a spark to take into the break.
Sam Houston linebacker Jeremy Jackson, filling in for the suspended Darius Taylor, provided the opening. With less than two minutes to go in the second, Lamar quarterback Caleb Berry completed a short pass to Garrett near the right sideline, but Jackson's hit popped the ball loose and senior safety Kenneth Jenkins recovered it near midfield.
The Kats capitalized immediately as quarterback Brian Bell hit a wide-open Trey Diller down the seam for a 48-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
"That gave us a lot of momentum. Going into halftime 21-0, knowing that we were receiving the ball for the second-half kickoff," Sam Houston coach Willie Fritz said. "It was a big play."
The Bearkats came out of the break and hit the ground running.
Three plays into the third quarter, Flanders broke through the defensive line and thanks to a few downfield blocks, was able to churn all the way to the end zone for a 59-yard score.
The Bearkats scored two more times in the third on a 10-yard run by Flanders and a 6-yard score by backup tailback Keshawn Hill to put Sam Houston ahead 42-0.
"We were just staying focused at halftime," Sincere said. "At halftime, (Coach Fritz) told us that we have a whole half to play and that the game was not over."
It appeared as if the Kats, who shut out Lamar 66-0 last season in Huntsville, were headed for another shutout with a 42-0 advantage. The Cardinals' special teams changed that as Kevin Johnson returned the kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.
Early in the fourth, Sincere lined up at quarterback in the Wild Bearkat formation. For the past few seasons, Sincere has been asked almost exclusively to either keep the ball or pitch it on the option when the Kats were lined up that way.
Sam Houston threw the Cardinals a nasty curveball as Sincere launched a bomb and hit wide receiver Brandon Wilkerson in the end zone for a 42-yard strike.
"We've been having that in the playbook for a while and they finally decided to call it," Sincere said. "I was really looking forward to it."
The Kats finished with another score by sophomore Cody Morgan to put an exclamation point on the victory.
After Lamar had been able to pick its way down the field at times in the first half, which set up scoring opportunities, Sam Houston's defense tightened up in the second half.
In the third and fourth quarters, the Cardinals were limited to 75 yards of offense and six first downs.
The Kats also were able to force turnovers (an interception and two fumble recoveries), an area in which they hadn't had much success this fall compared to the 2011 campaign.
"We were just swarming to the ball. That's a real credit to the D-linemen and the linebackers," Sneed said. "They were just getting in there and penetrating the gap. That kind of helped us out in the secondary, having good pressure. It was just all a team effort and we got the job done."
After coming away with another dominant victory, the Bearkats return home Saturday in the final game of the regular season to take on Southeastern Louisiana in a showdown both teams need to win in order to stay in the hunt for the conference championship.
Bearkats notes
Touching up the record books - The 48-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter put Brian Bell No. 1 all by himself in the Sam Houston record books for career passing touchdowns (40), surpassing Dustin Long's (2004) mark of 39.
Bell's 84 passing yards also moved him up to No. 2 in career passing at Sam Houston. Bell now has 4,924 yards and is 640 yards away from tying Rhett Bomar's mark of 5,564 yards.
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