Postseason Success breeds optimism for 2015
12/20/2014 8:19:00 AM | Football
Disappointed after a semifinal loss at the Fargodome in North Dakota Friday night, the Sam Houston football coaches and players returned to Huntsville with plenty of optimism about the 2015 season.
Picked to finish no higher than third place in the 2014 Southland Conference race, the Bearkats rallied from a 1-3 start to win 10 of their last 11 games.
For the third time in four years, Sam Houston won the Southland Conference championship and advanced to the FCS semifinals. The Bearkats are one of only three teams that have participated in NCAA Division I playoff competition each of the past four seasons.
To reach the semifinals this season, defeated three top 10-ranked teams (No. 9 Southeastern Louisiana, No. 3 Jacksonville State and No. 5 Villanova).
Most exciting, however, is the fact that only two starters on the 2014 squad are seniors. The bulk of both the Bearkat offense and defense returns for 2015. Sam Houston had 15 players earn All-Southland Conference recognition this fall. All but two of those players are underclassmen.
“We'll be an even better team next year,” sophomore quarterback Jared Johnson said following Friday's semifinal loss. “We should be much better especially at the start of the season. We want to build on this year, get everybody strong and get healthy. Hopefully, we can come back to this game and win it.”
Johnson ended the 2014 season with 3,051 yards passing and 999 yards rushing for 4,053 yards total offense. That total stands as the second highest single season mark in SHSU school history.
Sam Houston head coach K. C. Keeler echoed his players' feelings.
“I'm very proud of our kids,” Keeler said. “What a great run. We have just one senior on offense and one on defense. We feel pretty good about where we're headed.
“Our journey started in Huntsville, Texas, then it took us to Jacksonville, Alabama; to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and finally to Fargo. North Dakota wins by design. They're the premier FCS program in the country right now. North Dakota State is what we want our program to become.”
Running back Keshawn Hill and safety Michael Wade are the two senior starters who completed their careers Friday night at the Fargodome.
A versatile offensive player, Hill completes his career as a Bearkat ranked fourth at Sam Houston in both all-purpose yards (3,934), rushing yards (2,546) and scoring (246 points). He also ranks second in career touchdowns (41), third in all-time rushing TDs (35).
Wade, Sam Houston's leading tackler this season with 120 stops, completes his career as the Bearkats' eighth all-time tackles leader with 282.
P. J. Hall, the Southland Conference “Freshman of the Year” and a third place finisher in the voting for the Jerry Rice award as FCS “Freshman of the Year”, totaled 30 tackles for losses in 2014, the season highest total in school history.
Sophomore kicker Luc Swimberghe has climbed to number three in career kicking points with 258 on the board the past two seasons.
Keeler gave credit to three-time defending national champion North Dakota State following the Bison's victory.
"They are a very disciplined and well-coached team," Keeler said. "We eventually wore out in the second half. We had to make some more plays in the first half to keep out defense off the field. We didn't make enough offensive plays."
Sam Houston, a team that was ranked No. 14 to start the 2014 season and eventually dropped out of the polls after the 1-3 start, should be back in the top five when the final polls are announced after the national championship game in Frisco January 10.
The Bearkats defeated five ranked teams during the season and took an eight-game winning streak into the semifinals Friday night.
