Kat career milestones piling up
9/23/2013 7:08:00 AM | Football
As the No. 5 ranked Bearkats prepare to host No. 2 Eastern Washington in the FCS “Non-conference Game of the Year” this Saturday at Bowers Stadium, Sam Houston career milestones are piling up left and right.
Running back Timothy Flanders, wide receivers Torrance Williams and Richard Sincere and quarterback Brian Bell have been putting up numbers like few Bearkats before.
Williams became the 22nd member of the 1,000-yards career receiving club at Sam Houston Saturday. His four-year total now stands at 71 catches for 1,029 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The speedy Waco Connally product has totaled 1,791 all-purpose yards in his career.
Williams leads the Southland Conference in punt returns and ranks fourth in pass receiving. He has returned 10 punts for 209 yards with a long return of 50 yards. Williams has 15 catches for 286 yards and five touchdowns this year.
Flanders, the Kats'All-America running back, Walter Payton Award candidate and two-time Southland “Player of the Year,” now holds 31 Sam Houston school records and eight Southland Conference marks.
The Midwest City, Okla., product stands as the all-time leading rusher for both the Southland Conference and Sam Houston State. He has rushed 820 times for 4,720 yards and 59 touchdowns.
He will add a ninth Southland mark on his third carry against EWU Saturday, passing Claude Mathis of Southwest Texas for most career rushing attempts (822 in 1994-97).
Flanders also owns the league's career marks for rushing TDs (59), total touchdowns (63) and points (378). He stands as the FCS active career rushing leader and is 280 yards away from becoming the 22nd FCS back to total 5,000 career yards on the ground. His 59 rushing TDs rank 14th in the all-time FCS record book.
The running back has posted 28 100-yard rushing performances during his Sam Houston career.
Bell is Sam Houston's all-time winningest quarterback, leading SHSU to 32 victories in 42 starts since 2010.
The senior from China Spring is the program's all-time leader in passing and total offense with 6,798 yards in the air and 7,791 yards rushing and passing combined. Bell's 62 career touchdown passes also is an SHSU school mark.
Bell produced a personal best with four TD passes in Saturday's win vs. Incarnate Word.
Bell is three yards away from becoming only the second quarterback in school history to gain 1,000 careers yards rushing. The first was David Kubiak (1,528 in 1967-70). Bell will be the 32nd member of the SHSU 1,000-yard rushing club.
Bell is 202 yards away from becoming the 12th quarterback in Southland Conference history to throw for 6,000 or more career yards.
Sincere set two career milestones last Saturday vs. UIW and is within striking distance of another. The senior wide receiver who also runs the “Wild Bearkat” and returns kicks for SHSU is yards the eighth Sam Houston player to roll up 3,000 or more all-purpose yards. His combined career total for rushing, receiving and returns is 3,072.
The Galveston Ball product is one of only two Bearkats to gain more than 1,000 yards in a career both rushing and receiving. He has totaled 1,958 rushing yards and 1,002 receiving. Tony January gained 2,376 yards rushing and 1,328 yards receiving in 1978-82.
The Galveston Ball product is 42 yards away from becoming the 10th Bearkat back to rush for 2,000 or more yards. His current rushing total is 1,945 yards.
Tickets for the Eastern Washington game which kicks off at 2:07 p.m. Saturday are available now online at www.gobearkats.com or at the SHSU Athletic Ticket office. The ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1729.
