NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Sam Houston State Bearkats scored 41 straight points in the first half after falling behind for the first time this season, rolling to a 48-16 win over Northwestern State on Saturday at Turpin Stadium.

Sam Houston (10-0, 8-0 SLC) scored on five consecutive drives spanning the first and second quarters after the Demons (1-9, 0-8 SLC) had taken a 13-7 lead less than five minutes into the game. The Demons, who picked up 130 yards on their first three drives, managed just three more first downs and 75 more yards in the first half as the Bearkat defense did their part in helping build a commanding 41-13 lead at the half.

Jeremiah Briscoe threw for 337 yards and found four different receivers for five scores as the No. 1-ranked Bearkats racked up 558 yards of offense and secured their eighth 10-win season in school history.

The win sets up a winner-take-all matchup for the Southland Conference championship next week when the Bearkats face Central Arkansas on Saturday at Bowers Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams traded punts on the first two drives of the game before the Bearkat offense went to work, going 67 yards in just eight plays to go up 7-0 less than four minutes into the game. The Bearkat offense converted a pair of third downs on the drive and capped it when Briscoe found Nathan Stewart in the end zone for a five-yard score.

Northwestern State answered less than a minute later on their next drive as quarterback J.D. Almond hooked up with Bobby Chan-Chan down the left sideline for a 79-yard touchdown. The Demons' Isaac Warren then picked off Briscoe on the Kats' next play from scrimmage, setting things up for the Demon offense who took advantage of a short field when De'Mard Llorens burst 14 yards up the middle for a touchdown.

Alfonzo McMillian blocked the point after, marking the third straight week the Bearkat special teams has blocked a kick, but the touchdown still gave Northwestern State a 13-7 lead which marked the first time the Kats have trailed in a game this season.

But the Demon lead lasted less than four minutes as the offense answered back with an 85-yard scoring drive of its own. Sam Houston faced just one third down on the drive, getting big yardage chunks from Louis and Stewart before Briscoe found Davion Davis from 10 yards out for the score.

From there, the Bearkat defense allowed just three Demon first downs for the remainder of the half as the offense scored on five consecutive drives to blow things open. Briscoe connected with Louis just before the end of the quarter for a score to make it 20-13.

The special teams then came up big again, sniffing out a fake punt try by the Demons which gave the Kats a short field that set up a 33-yard touchdown pass to Stewart, his second score of the night.

Sam Houston added two more scores on the ground in the quarter, a 1-yard run from Corey Avery and a 13-yard burst from Henderson, to take a 41-13 lead into the break behind 412 yards of offense. The Kats nearly had even more after working its way down to the 1-yard line on its final drive of the half before Warren picked off Briscoe for the second time on the night to end the scoring threat.

The Kats were held off the scoreboard in the third quarter, but held the Demons to just a 39-yard field goal by Eric Piccione and took a 41-16 lead into the final period. Then, two plays into the fourth quarter the Kats got on the board again. A 32-yard run from Remus Bulmer set things up and Briscoe hit Tyler Scott in the end zone from three yards out to push the lead up to 48-16.

TURNING POINT
Northwestern State's De'Mard Lloren's 14-yard touchdown run with 10:06 to play in the first quarter put the Bearkats behind on the scoreboard for the first time this season. And the Bearkats responded accordingly, going 85 yards on 10 plays on its next drive to re-take the lead and scoring on each of its next four possessions to open the game up.

OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Briscoe completed 29 of 46 passes for 337 yards and five touchdowns, while Louis finished with 11 receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown. Stewart did all his damage in the first half with six catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns, and Remus Bulmer led the run game with 101 yards on the ground.  

DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Darion Flowers picked off Almond early in the fourth quarter, giving him an interception in three of his last four games and the Kats at least one takeaway in each of their last four outings. The Kats finished with four sacks and nine tackles for loss, with Marcus Loud, Sione Latu, Mouf Adebo and P.J. Hall all getting in on sacks. McMillian blocked a PAT and had six tackles - including one for loss -  and A.J. Davis had a tackle for loss and seven total tackles.

RECORD WATCH
Briscoe moved past Stephen F. Austin's Jeremy Moses with his five touchdown passes, giving him 45 for the season which is second all-time in a single season in Southland Conference history. Only SFA's Todd Hammel has thrown more, tossing 48 touchdowns in 1989. He also now has 3,665 yards passing for the year which is second only to Dustin Long's 2004 total in Sam Houston history and his 5,548 career yards is just 16 shy of Rhett Bomar for second all-time.

Louis' career-high receptions total gives him 56 for the season, which is now tied for 10^th all-time in a single season at Sam and he is now just two receptions shy of becoming just the second receiver in program history with 200 career receptions. He is also just 11 yards shy of catching Jonathon Cooper for third all-time in career receiving yards.

Up Next
The Bearkats now turn their attention to the final week of the regular season and a Southland Conference title. Sam Houston will host Central Arkansas on Saturday at Bowers Stadium in a winner-take-all showdown for the league's crown, and likely a national seed in the FCS playoffs. The Bears did their part to set up the showdown with a 31-24 win over Nicholls on Saturday and will come into Bowers with a 9-1 record and 8-0 mark in the Southland.