Sam Houston State scored 28 points in 2:26 during the fourth quarter of Saturday's rivalry game against Stephen F. Austin in route to a 56-49 win in the Battle of the Piney Woods at Reliant Stadium.
The Bearkats forced six turnovers in the game and five of them in the final period. The fourth-quarter turnovers led to SHSU points that made the difference.
“We played with a lot of big plays,” SHSU head coach Willie Fritz said. “We got on a roll there midway through the third quarter and in the fourth quarter. We had some takeaways and we came back with some explosive offensive plays. We just needed to keep scoring. We knew this wouldn't be a 7-6 ballgame. We were going to have to put some points up.”
Chris Grett forced a fumble by Gus Johnson early in the fourth quarter. The Kats turned that into a 31-yard touchdown run by Keshawn Hill. Then, Keith Lawson fumbled for the Lumberjacks on their next possession, giving SHSU the ball on their own 16-yard line.
Brian Bell connected with tight end Regan Henderson for a touchdown on the very next play, making the score 49-28. De'Antrey Loche came up with his second pick-6 of the season when he intercepted a Brady Attaway pass and returned it 45 yards to the end zone.
“Offensively, we'd just gotten to the sideline and then we look up and they've got another turnover,” Bell said of the SHSU defense. “That just gives us really good confidence. It gives us good field position. We've just got to take advantage of every single one of their turnovers. The defense played a great game.”
The Lumberjacks rallied with 21 unanswered points of their own, but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit set earlier in the fourth quarter.
Sam Houston State struck first with a 13-yard touchdown run by Hill, which capped an 8-play, 88-yard drive. SFA responded when Attaway hit Braxton Bearden for a 26-yard touchdown pass. The Lumberjacks took the lead with Gus Johnson's 14-yard run.
From there, the two teams traded scores until halftime, when it was tied 21-21.
SHSU scored on its first drive of the third quarter, which ended with a 4-yard pass to tight end Shane Young. SFA tied the game again after a 39-yard touchdown throw from Attaway to Mike Brooks.
Bell hit Torrance Williams for a 38-yard touchdown pass just seven seconds into the fourth quarter to give the Bearkats a defining lead.
It was mostly SHSU for the rest of the game.
Bell had a career-high 339 passing yards and matched his career best in touchdown passes with four on the day. SFA offensively logged 739 total yards but finished minus-four in the turnover margin.
“They just started making plays on defense with the turnovers and we couldn't get anything going with our drives,” Attaway said. “And when we did, we pretty much hurt ourselves. But they were a great defense and really flew to the ball.”
The Bearkats (7-2, 3-1) host Nicholls next Saturday. SFA (3-6, 1-3) will face McNeese State.
