HUNTSVILLE -- Cory Avery rushed for 197 yards on 15 carries, scoring touchdowns of 78 and 27 yards to lead Sam Houston to a 59-21 Southland Conference victory over Northwestern State Saturday at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium Saturday.
The Bearkats rolled up 668 yards total offense as they upped their season record to 7-3 and their Southland mark to 7-2. The victory sets up a showdown with Central Arkansas in Conway next Saturday in which the winner will be a prime candidate for an FCS post-season berth.
Quarterback Jared Johnson completed 21 of 32 passes for 275 yards and three scores. Gerald Thomas caught six of those throws for 75 yards and a score. Yedidiah Louis had five receptions for 69 yards including two touchdown catches. He also rushed for a nine-yard run.
“We got some really good production out of our running backs today,” Sam Houston head coach K. C. Keeler said. “I thought the offensive line played really well. We had a lot of opportunities with our slot receivers. Our slots on their safeties was a really good match-up for us. That loosened up the box so we could run more.
De'Mar Liorens led Northwestern State with 24 carries for 122 yards and a score. Quarterback Stephen Rivers completed 14 of 21 passes for 158 yards.
Linebacker Myke Chatman led the Bearkat defense with nine tackles including a tackle for a loss. P. J. Hall picked up another sack for 11 yards and posted three other stops.
Sam Houston's offense clicked from the opening series as Johnson led the offense on a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive that put the Kats on the board just a minute and 31 seconds into the game on a 24-yard pass to Louis.
Two possessions later, Northwestern State tied the contest 7-7 on a Chris Jones 19-yard run with 3:51 remaining in the opening period. The drive covered 61 yards in eight plays.
Johnson's second scoring pass to Louis, also for 24 yards, came just two-and-a-half minutes later after a seven-play 65-yard drive.
Avery's 27-yard touchdown run with 11:42 to play in the third quarter upped the Kats' lead to 21-7. One possession later, the Kats drove 77 yards in 11 plays for Louis's nine-yard touchdown run on an end-around.
A fumble recovery by Torian Williams at the Northwestern State 20-yard line set up a 25-yard scoring pass from Johnson to Gerald Thomas with 5:27 remaining before half.
Stephen Rivers hit Ed Eagen for a 22-yard score with 3:28 in the second as the Kats took a 35-14 lead into the locker room at intermission.
Northwestern State opened the second half with a six-play, 80-yard drive as De'Mar scored from the 15 to cut the margin to 35-21 just 2:53 into the third quarter.
The Bearkats struck back with 10 more points in the third period on an eight-yard Jalen Overstreet run and a 31-yard field goal by Tre Honshtein.
Avery scored his 78-yard touchdown with 12:54 left in the game. Ridgeway Frank tallied the final score for the Kats on an 11-yard dash with 2:23 remaining in the contest.
