RICHMOND, Ky. – Seth Morgan nailed a go-ahead, 34-yard field goal with three seconds remaining and the Sam Houston Bearkats won their third game in a row, 25-17, over No. 23 Eastern Kentucky on Saturday night at Roy E. Kidd Stadium.
Morgan had already done his job in keeping the Kats (3-2) in front with three field goals of over 40 yards, including two in the second half, but his last one proved to be the biggest after EKU (3-3) had gone 83 yards on its last drive for a go-ahead touchdown. The four field goals by Morgan is only the fifth time in school history a kicker has made four or more field goals in a single game.
The 2-yard pass from EKU quarterback Parker McKinney to Jayden Higgins had the Colonels up 17-16 with only 1:01 to play; however, SHSU quarterback
Keegan Shoemaker quickly engineered another game-winning drive, directing the Kats 55 yards after a huge completion of 25 yards to
Cody Chrest to get into range for Morgan.
It was just Chrest's second catch of the night, the first coming from 10 yards out in the first quarter for a touchdown that put SHSU up 10-0. It would be the Kats' last touchdown until
Tony Williams fell on a fumble in the end zone on the last play of the game.
Running back
Zach Hrbacek turned in a big game on the ground with 111 yards on 17 carries, pacing a Bearkat running attack that netted 194 yards on the night. Shoemaker finished with 127 yards in the air with 41 of those yards coming on the final drive.
Defensively, Sam Houston was led by
Jaylen Phillips' 10 tackles, while
Kavian Gaither added nine and a pair of TFLs.
The Kats converted each of their first two drives into points in the opening quarter, getting a 45-yard field goal from Morgan on the first drive and then a 10-yard touchdown pass from Shoemaker to
Cody Chrest to cap a 15-play, 93-yard drive.
Sam Houston outgained EKU 115-27 in the opening quarter, but the second 15 minutes belonged to the home team as the Colonels racked up 148 yards of offense and knotted things up with 10 points of their own, evening the score on a 23-yard touchdown pass from McKinney to Jeremy Edwards and a 26-yard field goal by Patrick Nations.
Morgan was then the difference in the second half, nailing a 47-yard field goal late in the third quarter to put the Kats up 13-10 and then adding another three points from 45 yards out with 7:07 to play in the game.
The Kats will continue their 3-game road trip next week when it travels westward for a Saturday night game at Utah Tech.
