Big plays highlight first victory
9/1/2013 8:10:00 AM | Football
Both Sam Houston and Houston Baptist head coaches got what they wanted out of Saturday's 74-0 Bearkat football victory before a crowd of 9,246 fans at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium.
Willie Fritz had the opportunity to play his reserves for most of the final three quarters, getting a close look at promising newcomers in game action.
Vic Shealy, whose Huskies were playing their first football game in Houston Baptist's 53-year history also learned a lot. With a team full of players with little to no college experience, he learned exactly where his program stands.
“Now we know where we are,” Shealy said. “We knew playing one of the top FCS programs in the nation would be a challenge much larger than you see typically on a college field. While you'd like to think we were capable of playing better, you cannot put into context just how young we are and how big and opportunity this was for us to grow our program.”
Fritz was pleased with the effort as Sam Houston posted its fifth highest single game point total and outgained its opponent 455 total offense yards to 90.
“We got a chance to look at a lot of guys,” Fritz said. “We pulled a lot of our guys out, I guess, around the middle of the second quarter. We kept most of them out in the second half. I had Torrance out there to fair catch a couple of punts.”
There were plenty of big plays including a 66-yard touchdown pass, two interceptions returned for scores, a pair of blocked punts and a safety.
“It was exciting,” senior receiver/punt returner Torrance Williams said. “It was the first game of the year with all the jitters and everything. To play against someone was nice.”
Bearkats standout running back Timothy Flanders put Sam Houston on the board with a 4-yard run up the middle, capping the six-play, 46-yard drive. On the next series, Kats scored again when junior tailback Keshawn Hill reeled in the ball on an option pitch from quarterback Brian Bell and carried it across the goal line for a 4-yard touchdown.
“As an offense, we had a great tempo,” Bell said. “One of our goals is to have great tempo and to play fast,” Bell said. “We went out there and did that offensively and I'm proud of that.”
Bell connected with Williams for a 66-yard catch-and-run scoring strike for SHSU's third score. Bell also hit tight end Josh Lyons for an 8-yard touchdown pass on the fourth play of the second period.
A few plays later, Bearkats sophomore cornerback Shelby Davis picked off a pass by Houston Baptist's Jonathan Fleming and returned it 48 yards for a score.
“I was hoping it was coming to me, so I could get a touchdown,” Davis said.
Throughout the evening, the Bearkats took advantage of short field position thanks to a strong defensive effort.
“Field position is everything,” Williams said. “Special teams is all about field position and PATs and field goals. The main thing is to catch everything. The other 10 guys had some awesome blocks and I just went around them, basically. It's really nice to start the offense really, really close to the end zone.”
When the reserves took over, the big plays kept coming.
Freshman kicker Luc Swimberghe booted a 41-yard field goal at the 11:23 mark of the third quarter. Sophomore linebacker Tristan Eche picked off a pass and returned it 32 yards for the Kats' second defensive score of the game.
Bearkats backup quarterback Don King III scored on a keeper from 3 yards out late in the third quarter.
In the second half, the backups produced 208 yards of offense, all on carries.
“I think it was good for them to get in there and get some experience and kind of get the jitters out,” Bell said. “My first game wasn't my best performance, if I recall, so it was good to get the jitters out and go out and play football and play against someone different than our defense. It was good for all of those young guys to get in there and get some looks.”
The head coach also praised the team's defensive and special teams efforts.
“I thought we looked crisp and sharp, even when we were going with our second group in there,” Fritz said. “There weren't a lot of penalties, so we did a good job not having too many penalties in the first game. We only turned the ball over once, I believe. I thought for our first ballgame, we were pretty sharp.”
Sam Houston now faces its only road trip in the team's first six games as the Bearkats head to College Station next Saturday to face Cotton Bowl champion Texas A&M.
