Flanders & Loche Earn Southland Honors
9/30/2013 10:36:00 AM | Football
After leading the Bearkats to a 49-34 upset of No. 2 Eastern Washington on Saturday, Sam Houston State running back Timothy Flanders and cornerback De'Andrey Loche have been named the Southland Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively.
Flanders ran the ball 32 times for 280 yards and two touchdowns as No. 4 Sam Houston extended its home win streak to a Division I-best 18 games with the upset Eastern Washington.
The senior from Midwest City, Okla. (Midwest City H.S.), became the first Southland player and the 22nd player in FCS history to rush for 5,000 career yards.
The rushing total, which included 82 yards on 13 carries in the fourth quarter, was the 29th time in his career that he reached 100 yards and the third time he has topped 200 yards.
Flanders has exactly 5,000 career yards. He scored on runs of 60 and 12 yards and played in the fourth quarter for the first time this year.
His 61 career rushing touchdowns, which includes nine this season, rank 12th all-time in the FCS. In five games this season, Flanders leads all FCS rushers with 766 yards and his 153.2 yards per game ranks third in the FCS.
Loche returned an interception 42 yards for touchdown to give Sam Houston a 21-13 second-quarter lead. The Bearkats never trailed again.
The senior from Diboll, Texas (Diboll H.S.), made two tackles and had two pass breakups in the win over No. 2/3 Eastern Washington. In four games this season, Loche has made 14 tackles and broken up five passes.
The awards mark the third and fourth times SHSU performers have been players of the week winners.
With its non-conference schedule complete, Sam Houston will begin Southland Conference play Saturday, Oct. 12, when the Bearkats play host to Lamar University.
The game is Sam Houston's 80th Homecoming football celebration and will kick off at 2 p.m. at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium.
Tickets for all three remaining home games at Bowers plus the 88th “Battle of the Piney Woods” at Reliant Stadium on Nov. 2 are available now online at www.gobearkats.com .
Fans also may purchase tickets 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.
