11 Weeks To "Piney Woods" Excitement
7/19/2016 9:21:00 AM | Football
The excitement of the annual football rivalry game between Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin is just eleven weeks away.
The Bearkats and the Lumberjacks will meet in the 91st “Battle of the Piney Woods” presented by H-E-B in Houston Saturday, Oct. 1.
Record crowds are expected again when the pair face off at NRG Stadium. Each of the past six years, the “Battle” has attracted record crowds to the home of the NFL Houston Texans. Last year's game saw 26,990 fans watch a come-from-behind victory by the Bearkats. The attendance was the highest ever for an FCS contest in state history.
H-E-B again will team up with Lone Star Sports and Entertainment as presenting sponsor of “The Battle of the Piney Woods”. The game stands as Texas' oldest NCAA FCS rivalry and is the third oldest current series at all levels of college football in the state. Only the Baylor vs. Texas duel (102 meetings) and the “Iron Skillet” match-up between TCU and SMU (93 games) are older.
The Bearkats versus Lumberjacks series dates back to 1923. Sam Houston holds a 53-35 edge in the series with a pair of ties. The Kats have won the last five “Battles” in a row and 10 of the last 12 meetings between the pair. This fall, if Sam Houston extends the streak to six victories, the Kats will tie the record for the series' longest streak. Six wins is a mark the university set from 1937 to 1946 (with World War II interrupting the series in 1942 through 1945).
Such is the popularity of the event that NRG Stadium has been named as the permanent home for the rivalry.
Each of the past seven “Piney Woods” winners has gone on to advance to the NCAA post-season playoffs. Five of the last seven years, the winner has emerged as Southland champion.
Sam Houston head coach K. C. Keeler, who directed the Kats to a Southland Conference title in 2014 and FCS semifinals appearances in his first two seasons in Huntsville, has been amazed at the excitement of the rivalry game at NRG Stadium.
“This whole thing was well beyond what I thought it was going to be before I came here,” Keeler said. “We were really conscious all week trying to keep our kids sort of level minded. We've probably get after them harder than any week we've coach them because we know that going into this game there was is always a lot of emotions.
“When we come out the dressing room and hit the former Kat lettermen's victory line - talk about emotion. It was so cool seeing the guys from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. It's always a brotherhood and it really gets the kids fired up. No one understands what the 'Battle of the Piney Woods' rivalry means better than the players who have participated.”
Since 2007, the winner of the “Battle of the Piney Woods” has earned a 21-pound solid cedar trophy that displays replica pistols from Texas' frontier past. The logos from both universities are engraved on the handle of the pistols above name plates that will display the outcomes of the contest for the next two decades.
The move of the event to Houston has provided a stage for Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin to gain tremendous media exposure each season in a city in which more than 65,000 university alumni call home.
Tickets for the 91st “Battle of the Piney Woods” presented by H-E-B are on sale now on line at www.gobearkats.com and at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located on the west side of Elliott T. Bowers Stadium.
SHSU vs. SFA Ticket Prices:
Midfield: $43
Premium Sideline: $35
Sideline Corner: $30
Corner: $25
End Zone: $15
*Group rates apply for purchase of 10 or more tickets
