Kats, Lamar well acquainted entering Saturday
9/14/2016 6:51:00 PM | Football
HUNTSVILLE – When Sam Houston State and Lamar meet on Saturday night in Beaumont (7 p.m. on ESPN3), there will be no shortage of familiarity between the two programs.
While the university namesakes, Mirabeau Lamar and Sam Houston, had little in common, that will not be the case for many players suiting up on opposite sidelines this weekend. A combined 17 players between the two programs hail from the same high schools – a majority playing together.
Included in that mix is breakout Sam Houston running back Remus Bulmer. The shifty sophomore played alongside Lamar freshman defensive back Shyler Staton, helping lead Missouri City's Ridge Point High School to a 12-1 record and state semifinals appearance.
“We talk about it all the time,” Bulmer said of his friendly rivalry with Staton. “I wanted him to come here but things happen. Being from close to Houston, Lamar and Sam Houston are a couple of the big schools that people want to go to. When Sam doesn't come, Lamar does and vice versa.”
In the case of Spring's Klein Collins High School, a combined four players share ties to the school. For the Bearkats, offensive lineman Tyler Tezeno, linebacker Justin Gil and linebacker Santiago Montoya all played for the power program as did Lamar offensive lineman John Craven.
“We duplicate each other in the areas we recruit,” Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler said. “It does add to some of the excitement in terms of a ballgame like that because it's a little bit of a Civil War. There are guys that either were high school teammates or high school rivals.”
Whether a rivalry or not, the game itself has been longstanding. The Bearkats and Cardinals first met in 1935 and have played 37 times since that time including eight matchups in the 1980s and every year since 2010. Sam Houston owns a 26-10-1 edge.
Off the field, the competition has been just a prevalent, if not more so. On June 9, the Sam Houston coaching staff held a camp at South Grand Prairie High School. Seeking the same talent pool, the Lamar staff was on hand hours earlier in the day holding its own camp.
“Obviously, we recruit Houston very hard,” Keeler said. “Lamar is right there with us. We recruit Dallas very hard. Last year, the football camp we had in the Dallas area, they had the camp on the same facility in the morning and we had it in the afternoon. We're both in East Texas in a strong way.”
A season ago, Lamar spoiled Sam Houston's home opener and five-game winning streak in the series, jumping out to a 21-point halftime lead in an eventual 49-46 victory. With the bye week to prepare for the Cardinals for the second straight season, the Kats hope this year's results are different.
“It is developing into a rivalry a little bit, definitely,” defensive end Mouf Adebo said. “Two years ago we beat them and last year they came back and beat them. This year we're going head-to-head with it. We're hoping it doesn't keep going back and forth.”
