Kats look to bounce back after tough loss
9/23/2012 3:33:00 PM | Football
After leading for nearly 50 minutes of Saturday's Southland Conference opener, and holding a 10-point advantage late in the fourth quarter, third-ranked Sam Houston was stunned 24-20 by No. 25 Central Arkansas.
"It's very disappointing to lose your opening conference game. We had the game there. We just have to find some kind of way to finish the ball game," Bearkats junior Richard Sincere said.
With what seemed like a comfortable two-score lead with nearly five and a half minutes to go, Sam Houston (0-1 in Southland Conference action, 1-2 overall) could not do much defensively once the Bears finally hit their stride.
A little more than two minutes after Miguel Antonio's 26-yard field goal stretched the Bearkats' advantage to 20-10, Central Arkansas (1-0 in Southland, 3-1 overall) took a chunk out of the lead on quarterback Wynrick Smothers' 17-yard scramble for a touchdown.
Even after that score closed the gap on Sam Houston's lead to 20-17, the Bearkats had a chance to finish off a hard-fought game and walk out of Estes Stadium with a win. All the Kats needed was a couple of first downs and they would've headed home in good spirits.
That didn't happen, though.
Sincere was dropped behind the line of scrimmage for a 2-yard loss on first down and Sam Houston quarterback Brian Bell was swallowed up by the Bears defense on second down to put the Kats into a third-and-long from the 20 with 15 yards to go in order to move the chains.
Bell hit senior receiver Trey Diller near the sideline on a screen and the wideout evaded a few tacklers before being brought down at the 34-yard line. Instead of moving the chains with a little more than two minutes to play, the Bearkats were forced to punt.
"I really thought I had the first, but that's where they marked it. There's nothing you can do about it," Diller said.
The Bearkats had to rely on their defense to make one last stand and were confident, considering they hadn't given up but one deep pass all game up until Central Arkansas' final two possessions.
From the Bears' own 38-yard line, Smothers hit standout wide receiver Dominique Croom in stride down the sideline for a 41-yard gain. Already within field-goal range at the 26 to at least tie the game, Smothers found Croom in the front corner of the end zone to give Central Arkansas its only lead of the contest and one that held up.
"We've just got to make a play when the time comes. Our coaches, they always preach about not knowing when it's going to come time to make a play that's going to change the game, so we have to always be ready," Kats junior cornerback Bookie Sneed said. "It's not just those two plays, we had a lot of plays, especially in the second half where we gave up some come-backs, missed tackles and just not pursuing to the ball."
Now needing to find the end zone, Sam Houston had to come up with a way to get down the field and in a hurry.
Bell and Diller hooked up on completions of 7, 18 and 9 yards that put Sam Houston within striking distance on the Bears 24-yard line.
With only three seconds to go, Bell looked to Diller once again in the end zone, but the senior couldn't come down with the catch. The ball bounced around before Central Arkansas junior safety Karl Brady came down with an interception in the end zone.
"We just weren't able to answer," Sam Houston coach Willie Fritz said. "Offense did a good job coming down the field and we almost came back with a miraculous comeback.
"I'm just disappointed once again about finishing capabilities. ... We just did a poor job of finishing in that fourth quarter. We had a chance to finish that ballgame and we let it slip through our fingers."
The loss erased strong performances on the ground by running back Timothy Flanders and Sincere.
Flanders accounted for much of the offense early in the game as he gained 96 of his 125 yards on nine carries in the first quarter. Flanders scored twice on a 39-yard run late in the first and then again in the opening stages of the fourth on an option that produced an 11-yard TD. The latter of the two scores gave Sam Houston a 17-10 cushion with a little less than 13 minutes to play. The Bearkats' standout running back was limited in the final three quarters for just 29 yards on 13 carries.
"In our conventional run plays, they did a good job of playing with leverage on Tim. He likes to bounce it outside and they did well with keeping leverage on him," Fritz said.
While Flanders was held in check, Sincere gave the Sam Houston offense some life from the quarterback position in the Wild Bearkat formation. With Sincere behind center, Sam Houston was able to move the ball with much more effectiveness and helped get the Bearkats into scoring position and was crucial on drives that led to 10 points in the fourth.
"I was just trying to help out my team," Sincere said. "We just have to execute, no matter what the play is or what the coaches call. It's our job to execute and put up points, so we've just got to get the job done.
Fritz added, "Where we hurt them was when we were running some double and triple option. We probably didn't run that enough."
With the loss to Central Arkansas, the Bearkats now have significant work to do to qualify for the FCS playoffs for the second year in a row.
"We've got a whole lot of season left to play," Fritz said. "This was a big ballgame. We've got to learn from it and we've got to put it behind us and play lights out against Texas Southern (on Thursday at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston). I want to see our guys play with more energy and more passion."
"It's very disappointing to lose your opening conference game. We had the game there. We just have to find some kind of way to finish the ball game," Bearkats junior Richard Sincere said.
With what seemed like a comfortable two-score lead with nearly five and a half minutes to go, Sam Houston (0-1 in Southland Conference action, 1-2 overall) could not do much defensively once the Bears finally hit their stride.
A little more than two minutes after Miguel Antonio's 26-yard field goal stretched the Bearkats' advantage to 20-10, Central Arkansas (1-0 in Southland, 3-1 overall) took a chunk out of the lead on quarterback Wynrick Smothers' 17-yard scramble for a touchdown.
Even after that score closed the gap on Sam Houston's lead to 20-17, the Bearkats had a chance to finish off a hard-fought game and walk out of Estes Stadium with a win. All the Kats needed was a couple of first downs and they would've headed home in good spirits.
That didn't happen, though.
Sincere was dropped behind the line of scrimmage for a 2-yard loss on first down and Sam Houston quarterback Brian Bell was swallowed up by the Bears defense on second down to put the Kats into a third-and-long from the 20 with 15 yards to go in order to move the chains.
Bell hit senior receiver Trey Diller near the sideline on a screen and the wideout evaded a few tacklers before being brought down at the 34-yard line. Instead of moving the chains with a little more than two minutes to play, the Bearkats were forced to punt.
"I really thought I had the first, but that's where they marked it. There's nothing you can do about it," Diller said.
The Bearkats had to rely on their defense to make one last stand and were confident, considering they hadn't given up but one deep pass all game up until Central Arkansas' final two possessions.
From the Bears' own 38-yard line, Smothers hit standout wide receiver Dominique Croom in stride down the sideline for a 41-yard gain. Already within field-goal range at the 26 to at least tie the game, Smothers found Croom in the front corner of the end zone to give Central Arkansas its only lead of the contest and one that held up.
"We've just got to make a play when the time comes. Our coaches, they always preach about not knowing when it's going to come time to make a play that's going to change the game, so we have to always be ready," Kats junior cornerback Bookie Sneed said. "It's not just those two plays, we had a lot of plays, especially in the second half where we gave up some come-backs, missed tackles and just not pursuing to the ball."
Now needing to find the end zone, Sam Houston had to come up with a way to get down the field and in a hurry.
Bell and Diller hooked up on completions of 7, 18 and 9 yards that put Sam Houston within striking distance on the Bears 24-yard line.
With only three seconds to go, Bell looked to Diller once again in the end zone, but the senior couldn't come down with the catch. The ball bounced around before Central Arkansas junior safety Karl Brady came down with an interception in the end zone.
"We just weren't able to answer," Sam Houston coach Willie Fritz said. "Offense did a good job coming down the field and we almost came back with a miraculous comeback.
"I'm just disappointed once again about finishing capabilities. ... We just did a poor job of finishing in that fourth quarter. We had a chance to finish that ballgame and we let it slip through our fingers."
The loss erased strong performances on the ground by running back Timothy Flanders and Sincere.
Flanders accounted for much of the offense early in the game as he gained 96 of his 125 yards on nine carries in the first quarter. Flanders scored twice on a 39-yard run late in the first and then again in the opening stages of the fourth on an option that produced an 11-yard TD. The latter of the two scores gave Sam Houston a 17-10 cushion with a little less than 13 minutes to play. The Bearkats' standout running back was limited in the final three quarters for just 29 yards on 13 carries.
"In our conventional run plays, they did a good job of playing with leverage on Tim. He likes to bounce it outside and they did well with keeping leverage on him," Fritz said.
While Flanders was held in check, Sincere gave the Sam Houston offense some life from the quarterback position in the Wild Bearkat formation. With Sincere behind center, Sam Houston was able to move the ball with much more effectiveness and helped get the Bearkats into scoring position and was crucial on drives that led to 10 points in the fourth.
"I was just trying to help out my team," Sincere said. "We just have to execute, no matter what the play is or what the coaches call. It's our job to execute and put up points, so we've just got to get the job done.
Fritz added, "Where we hurt them was when we were running some double and triple option. We probably didn't run that enough."
With the loss to Central Arkansas, the Bearkats now have significant work to do to qualify for the FCS playoffs for the second year in a row.
"We've got a whole lot of season left to play," Fritz said. "This was a big ballgame. We've got to learn from it and we've got to put it behind us and play lights out against Texas Southern (on Thursday at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston). I want to see our guys play with more energy and more passion."
Sam Houston State plays its next two contests in Houston. After the Texas Southern game Thursday, the Bearkats and SFA will meet in the "Battle of the Piney Woods" at Reliant Stadium on Saturday Oct. 6 at 3 p.m.
Tickets still are available online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the SHSU 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 is (936) 294-1729.
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