HOUSTON — Wide left has the Bearkats on a two-game winning streak.
Sam Houston fought off a feisty Delaware squad to rally from a 10-point deficit for a 26-23 victory at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday. The Blue Hens had a chance to tie the game in the final minutes but missed a 36-yard field as the Kats (2-8) were able to kneel out the clock.
Sophomore running back Coco Brown had a huge game, rushing for 109 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 62-yard burst in the third quarter that pushed the momentum of the night into Sam Houston's favor. Freshman quarterback Landyn Locke made his first career start and threw for 213 yards, 66 going to wide out Chris Reed.
The Bearkat defense harassed Blue Hens quarterback Nick Minicucci after he led Delaware to a 10-0 lead before Sam Houston sniffed a score. Minicucci was sacked eight times, the most Sam Houston recorded since setting a school record with 12 against Nicholls in 2010.
The Bearkats managed to tie the game at the half then picked up right where they left off to begin the final 30 minutes. Locke zipped a 49-yard pitch and catch to Reed to move into Blue Hen territory. Kicker Christian Pavon gave Sam Houston its first lead of the night at 13-10 with a 48-yard field goal.
That erased a 10-point first half deficit and the Kats were just getting started.
Brown broke free for a 62-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that featured some razzle dazzle. After he took the handoff up the middle, Brown hurdled a pair of diving defenders at the SHSU 45 and outraced everyone to the end zone to push the lead to 20-10 with less than nine minutes to go in the third.
Brown opened Sam Houston's next possession with a 30-yard run. Pavon was able to put another three points on the board with a 23-yard field goal before hitting about one from 48 yards as the Bearkats went up 26-10.
The Blue Hens added a pair of late touchdowns in the fourth but ran out of time in the end.
Sam Houston did not have much to show for offensively for most of the opening half except a 28-yard run by Alton McCaskill before that drive eventually stalled. The Kats were forced to punt, and the Blue Hens turned it into points to take a 7-0 lead in the closing minutes of the first quarter.
Delaware tacked on a 37-yard field to go up two scores before Sam Houston finally got a big play to ignite the offense.
Locke connected on a 20-yard pass to Brown to get a drive started after defensive lineman AJ Sargent came up with a loose ball near midfield for the Kats' first turnover. A short pass to Grady O'Neill and a defensive pass interference penalty set up a 2-yard scoring plunge by Brown to trim the lead to 10-7.
Sam Houston was able to tie the game heading into the half when Locke tossed a completion to Reed for 20 yards then found O'Neill along the left sideline for 18 more down to the Delaware 18. Offsetting penalties took a Bearkat touchdown off the board, but Pavon split the uprights from 32 yards out to knot it at 10.
UP NEXT
The Bearkats hit the road for the final time this season next weekend when they head to Murfreesboro to take on Middle Tennessee on Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. on ESPN+
