Box Score
HOUSTON – The Sam Houston State Bearkats used a number of big plays and a 21-point second quarter to take down Houston Baptist, 42-20, on Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium in the 2018 season finale.
The Kats (6-5, 5-4 SLC) scored 21 points in the second quarter to take control of the game and got three of its scores from at least 45 yards away to hold off a Husky (1-10, 0-9 SLC) team that finished with 490 yards of total offense.
Dee Bowens closed out a strong freshman season with 133 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns, one of the 45-yard variety and one from 50 yards out, while Nathan Stewart reached the 1,000-yard mark for the season with a day that included seven catches for 100 yards and a score.
The Kats used a bevy of backs to total 109 yards on the ground, led by 48 from Kyran Jackson, while Ty Brock threw for 251 yards and a pair of scores.
Defensively, Zyon McCollum intercepted a pair of passes, including one for a touchdown and Derick Roberson tied the Kats' single-season sack record with his 15th sack of the year. Ernest Harris led all Bearkats with 12 tackles and a fumble recovery in the third quarter that set up a Bearkat score.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bearkats wasted no time staking themselves to an early lead, scoring on the opening drive when Eric Schmid went in from nine yards out to cap a 14-play, 74-yard drive. McCollum had the first of his two picks to end the first Husky drive of the game, but the Kats were not able to turn it into points and HBU kept it at 7-3 at the end of the quarter on a 44-yard field goal midway through the opening period.
The Kats' got back in the end zone early in the second quarter when Caleb Jolivette got in the end zone on a 2-yard jet sweep that ended a 13-play, 62-yard drive to put Sam Houston up 14-3 at the 13:45 mark. Sam Houston would add two more scores in a 21-point quarter, including when McCollum stepped in front of his second pass of the day, a screen pass he picked off and took 17 yards in for the Kats' second pick-six of the season.
Sam Houston added one more score two drives later when it got creative to go up 28-3 with 10:44 left in the half. The score came when Ryan Humphries, a true freshman who was just activated Saturday morning, connected on a double-pass with Dee Bowens for a 45-yard touchdown.
HBU finally got in the end zone on a 28-yard touchdown run from Dreshawn Minnieweather in the half's final minute after the second Husky takeaway of the half.
The Kats added their first touchdown of the third quarter after Harris stripped the ball from HBU wide receiver David Racine and returned the fumble to the Bearkat 46. Three plays later Brock found a wide open Bowens up the right sideline and the freshman did the rest for his second touchdown of the game.
HBU added a field goal to draw back to within 35-13 near the end of the quarter. But the Kats answered right back on the next drive when Stewart converted a 10-yard pass into a 56-yard touchdown, his third straight game with a touchdown.
Neither team would get much going in the fourth quarter, but the Huskies would add one more score on a 1-yard rush in the game's final minute.
NOTABLES
- With the win, the Bearkats secured the program's ninth consecutive winning season. The Kats have not had a sub-.500 season since going 5-6 in 2009.
- Derick Roberson finished with 10 tackles and a sack, closing out his season with 15.0 sacks for the year. That ties Andre Finley's 1988 record for single-season sacks at SHSU.
- Of the Bearkats' four touchdowns in the first half, three– Schmid, Jolivette, McCollum – were their first career touchdowns. The fourth, scored by Bowens, was thrown by Ryan Humphries who was on the field for his first collegiate snap.
- Zyon McCollum came into Saturday with just one interception for the season, but picked off a pair, including a pick-six in the opening half. It was the first multi-interception game of his career and the second this year by a Bearkat, joining DJ Curtis who also had two picks against Stephen F. Austin. Both of those performances included a pick-six.
- Nathan Stewart finished with five catches for 100 yards, giving him 1,063 for the season. He becomes just the fourth player in FCS history to reach the 1,000-yard mark in his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons.
- Stewart and Bowens each surpassed the 100-yard mark in receiving yards for the game. It is the third time this season the pair has gone over 100 yards in the same game this year.
