Kats focusing on Houston Baptist Saturday
11/14/2014 12:00:00 PM | Football
Facing a 2-7 team that has given up 70 or more points three times this year, the Sam Houston football team could enter Saturday's game at Houston Baptist looking past the Huskies.
But both the coaching staff and players know they can't afford to do that.
“We've got to come out with a great effort and plenty of intensity,” wide receiver Gerald Thomas said. “Our main thing Saturday is to focus on us and what we do. We win these last two games and we're conference champions. We have to work to get better every day.”
In a tie for first place with defending Southland champion and 2014 preseason favorite Southeastern Louisiana, the Kats can do no worse than be league co-champions if Sam Houston wins Saturday at Houston Baptist and against Central Arkansas in the regular season home finale in Huntsville in a week.
A fourth consecutive trip to the FCS playoffs also is a possibility as a reward for closing out the season with a pair of wins. The Bearkats take on HBU Saturday at 3 p.m. at Husky Field.
“The players know we can't look past Houston Baptist,” SHSU head coach K. C. Keeler said. “A victory Saturday means we're playing for a championship in our final home game. That's always the goal – to be playing for a title at the end.”
Houston Baptist is in its second year of football. Sam Houston hosted HBU in the Husky's first intercollegiate game last year with the Kats winning 74-0.
“They really like the running game, but they will pass it some too,” cornerback Darion Flowers said. “We have to take every game one at a time and play each game until the clock says zero. Right now, it's Houston Baptist that we're worried about.”
With only one senior starting on both offense and defense and 22 freshmen or sophomores among the top 44 players on the two-deep, Sam Houston fields a young squad as well.
“Certainly there are several times this year we've shown our youth,” Keeler said. “Four games we've been up by 14 points or more and let teams back into the game. We've told the players, if we let that continue to happen, we're not going to be the kind of team we need to be. It's going to bite us some time.”
Sam Houston's game last week at Incarnate Word is an example. The Kats jumped out to a quick 23-0 lead in the fourth quarter and then lost focus.
“As a coaching staff, we are so excited where we are with the talent, chemistry and work ethic of this team,” Keeler said. “The part we're not excited about is when we get a lead and show our immaturity. When we make a great play, we need to move on and lock in to what we have to do next.”
Sam Houston State won Southland championships in 2011 and 2012 and has been in the FCS playoffs each of the past three years. Only North Dakota State and New Hampshire have matched SHSU's playoff record the since 2011.
With important games this weekend (McNeese State at Southeastern Louisiana) and next (Stephen F. Austin versus Northwestern State), Sam Houston must win both Saturdays.
“The kids understand this game Saturday is more than just playing Houston Baptist,” Keeler said. “A victory insures that we're playing for a conference championship next Saturday. All in all we're going in a great direction. Saturday is not about our opponent. It's about have the right mentality and always trying to get better. We need to get ourselves In a position to be the best team we can be because that team we play in the last game of the season is pretty darn good.”
