Texas State Football Team Storms Back To Defeat No. 3/4 Stephen F. Austin 27-24
Texas State 27, No. 3/4 Stephen F. Austin 24
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Texas State scored 27 points in the fourth quarter to come from behind and defeat third-ranked Stephen F. Austin 27-24 in front of 11,145 at Homer Bryce Stadium Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats evened their overall record to 4-4 and won their first Southland Conference game of the season.
"The defense played well enough throughout the entire game, but the offense stumbled in the first half," Texas State coach Brad Wright said. "At halftime, we told them that you have to keep playing and good things are going to happen sometime. We just don't know when it will be."
Those good things began in the final 9:21 of the game when Tim Hawkins threw his first touchdown pass of the season, a 17-yard pass to Darius Bolden to pull Texas State to within 27-6. On Stephen F. Austin's ensuing possession, Gralyn Crawford fumbled the kickoff at the 2-yard line and was tackled at SFA's 9-yard line. On the first offensive play, Jeremy Moses threw a 14-yard pass to Crawford, but Bobcat cornerback Darryl Morris knocked the loose and Ron Jackson recovered the ball for Texas State at SFA's 20-yard line.
After Karrington Bush gained 8 yards on the next play, Hawkins gained 3 yards to give Texas State a first down at SFA's 9-yard line. Then, Hawkins scrambled for 8 more yards before scoring a touchdown on a 1-yard run to pull the Bobcats to within 24-12. Hawkins completed a pass to Alvaro Garcia for the two-point conversion to make the score 24-14.
Texas State's defense forced the Lumberjacks to punt again and Da'Marcus Griggs returned the punt 73 yards for another touchdown and Jonathan Leeper kicked the extra point to pull the Bobcats to within 24-21.
On Stephen F. Austin's next possession, the Lumberjacks moved the ball down to Texas State's 40-yard line before Moses hit Jeremy Barnes with a 6-yard pass. However, Texas State linebacker forced Barnes to fumble on the play and the Bobcats' T.P. Miller recovered the ball at the Texas State 34-yard line.
The Bobcats moved the ball down the field rather quickly as Hawkins threw a pair of passes to Darius Bolden for a combined 10 yards. Then, Karrington Bush gained 15 additional yards on the ground. Later, the Bobcats faced a fourth-and-1 play at Stephen F. Austin's 33-yard line when Bush gained 5 more yards to give Texas State a first down. On the next play, Hawkins hit Daren Dillard for a 28-yard touchdown pass to give the Bobcats a 27-24 advantage after Leeper missed the extra-point try.
The Lumberjacks had one more chance to tie the game, but Thomas Henshaw's 47-yard field goal attempt was wide left to give the Bobcats the victory.
Hawkins, who made his second start of the season for Texas State, led the Bobcats with 121 yards rushing on 25 carries and completed 18 of his 25 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns. Bush also gained 41 yards on 13 carries, while Bolden led Texas State's receiving corps with six catches for 49 yards. Dillard finished with a game-best 95 yards receiving and a touchdown on five receptions, while Griggs caught four passes in the second half for 27 yards.
Moses completed 38-of-55 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns, while Barnes gained 66 yards on 11 carries for the Lumberjacks. Crawford caught eight passes for 72 yards and a touchdown.
With the victory, Texas State improved to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in Southland Conference play. The Bobcats return home next Saturday to play host to Central Arkansas at 2 p.m. on the Southland Conference Television Network. Stephen F. Austin falls to 6-2 and 3-1 in conference play and will play at Nicholls next Saturday at 4 p.m.
Northwestern State 23, Sam Houston State 20 (2 OT)
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Northwestern State dodged a bullet and instead made a giant leap forward Saturday night in a 23-20 double-overtime win against visiting Sam Houston State that vaulted the Demons into a three-way share of the lead in the Southland Conference football race.
Winning its third consecutive game to the delight of a Turpin Stadium Homecoming crowd of 9,151, Northwestern (4-4 overall, 3-1 in the Southland) got a 1-yard rollout and keeper by sophomore quarterback Paul Harris for the game-winning touchdown on third-and-goal from the 1,with the Demons trailing by 3.
The Bearkats (4-4, 2-2 Southland) failed to win on the last play of regulation when kicker Miguel Antonio missed a 36-yard field goal after Northwestern called three timeouts on the heels of a final Sam Houston timeout to kill the clock with 3.5 seconds left. That left the game tied at 10 going to overtime.
"I was glad we froze him. It was a gift from God, it really was. The guy's a good kicker and it kept us in the game," Demons' second-year coach Bradley Dale Peveto said. "But our players never flinched, they fought relentlessly, and they won a big game late for the third straight week."
The Demons had possession first and scored on their third play when true freshman flanker Louis Hollier caught a sideline pass for an apparent first down, shook off a tackler and scored from 20 yards on a pass from Harris. The Bearkats answered with a Hail Mary style catch by Seth Patterson on a fourth-down heave from Brian Bell from the 26.
Sam Houston opened the second overtime settling for a 31-yard Antonio field goal. On Northwestern's first play, Harris found tight end Justin Aldredge for 21 yards to the 4, and a Sterling Endsley run on first down left the Demons a foot away from the end zone. But Sam Houston stuffed a second-down run before Harris rolled out on third down, looking for receivers, but found a gash in the Bearkats defense and scampered in for the game-winner, setting off a wild celebration in the north end zone.
Northwestern moved into a three-way tie for first in the Southland after Texas State rallied from a 24-0 fourth-quarter deficit to shock No. 3/4 Stephen F. Austin 27-24, and McNeese State won 24-14 over Nicholls, leaving Northwestern, SFA and McNeese all 3-1 in the conference with three games left.
Harris threw for a career-best 290 yards on 23-of-37 aim with one interception and the two touchdowns. Northwestern outgained Sam Houston 389-294.
The Demons and Bearkats battled to a 3-all stalemate at halftime, then both teams made the most of halftime adjustments offensively by driving for touchdowns on their first possessions of the third quarter.
Northwestern took the second-half kickoff and drove 92 yards in 10 plays, the last a 5-yard Harris pass to Bradley Brown for a 10-3 advantage. Sam Houston promptly covered 57 yards in seven plays, tying the game with a 3-yard Bell to Patterson toss with 7:45 to go in the third quarter.
Sam Houston moved ahead on a 38-yard field goal from Miguel Antonio at the end of a seven-play, 45-yard drive that used 3:28 off the clock, finishing 10 minutes into the game. Otherwise, the Bearkats got no closer than Northwestern's 45.
The Demons got a jumpstart from consecutive pass interference flags on the Bearkats late in the first half, then got a 30-yard Harris to D.J. Palmer catch and down the left hash mark to the Sam Houston 26. Northwestern couldn't convert a third-and-6 at the 10 and settled for a 27-yard John Shaughnessy field goal with two minutes remaining in the half to tie the contest.
McNeese State 24, Nicholls 14
LAKE CHARLES, La. - McNeese State scored 21 first half points and went on to a 24-14 Southland Conference victory against Nicholls Saturday.
It was homecoming for the Cowboys and they responded for the 13,014 fans by dominating the game for the most part. The victory sent them into a first place tie in the league standings with Stephen F. Austin which dropped a 27-24 decision to Texas State in the afternoon. Also in that tie is Northwestern State, which turned back Sam Houston in double overtime.
The victory evened the Cowboys record at 4-4 and put them at 3-1 in league play, the same record as SFA and Northwestern State. McNeese has games remaining with Sam Houston State, Texas State and Central Arkansas.
The Cowboys scored on three of their first four possessions, jumping off to a 21-0 second quarter lead. They added three points in the final period while Nicholls scored in the second and third quarters.
Jacob Bower, seeing his first start at quarterback for McNeese since being injured in the SFA game, led the Cowboys on all of its scoring drives. He completed 12-of-21 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 40 yards, giving him 162 yards of total offense.
Andre Anderson, getting his third start at tailback, rushed for a career high 171 yards while Bernardo Henry ran three times for 71 yards. Defensively, linebacker Deron Minor led the way with nine tackles while tackle Desmund Lighten had eight along with a sack and three tackles for a loss.
McNeese took its first possession of the game on the 20-yard line after an early Nicholls punt and drove the 80 yards with Bower finishing off the drive from the 8-yard line. In that drive Anderson covered 48 yards of it on four running plays, including a 27 yard gallop.
The Cowboys came right back on their next possession and got a one yard touchdown run from Champlain Babin who was seeing his first action after sitting out two games with an injury.
A 31-yard punt return by Diontae Spencer had given the Cowbys possession on the Nicholls 29-yard line from which they scored in five plays. A 22-yard pass from Bower to Chris Royal was a key play.
A fumble recovered by Ford Smesy set the Cowboys up on the Colonel 40 early in the second period and led to the team's third touchdown of the first half. Bower connected with tight end Corday Clark on a one yard touchdown toss with 11:18 left in the half for the score.
Nicholls got a lick in at the end of the second quarter, punching off a touchdown in the final minute of play. Landry Klann capped an eight-play, 63-yard drive by going over from the one.
Even with that late touchdown, McNeese dominated play in the first half. The Cowboys totaled 217 offensive yards to 99 for Nicholls. Anderson ran for 75 yards while Bower completed 9-of-13 passes for 86 yards and a score and he also ran for 30 yards giving him 116 total offensive yards.
Coming back in the second half, Nicholls took advantage of a fumble recovery to pull within a touchdown of the Cowboys. Anderson lost the ball on a fumble and four plays later the Colonels had a score, Klann hitting Kenyad Blair with a 35-yard scoring toss.
That score was set up by the third of three turnovers early in the period. McNeese had a pass intercepted, then Nicholls lost a fumble and finally the Cowboys lost a fumble that set up the Colonel score.
McNeese got a 21-yard field goal from Josh Lewis, his 10th of the season. A 55-yard run by Bernardo Henry (end around) set up the field goal which was the last score of the game.
The Cowboys rolled up 404 total yards while Nicholls had 235.
Central Arkansas 30, Southeastern Louisiana 23
CONWAY, Ark. - On a day when the Central Arkansas offense struggled for the better part of the game, the Bears' defense turned in a 30-23 victory against Southeastern Louisiana before a homecoming crowd at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
Central Arkansas's defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns and got another late interception deep in its own territory to seal the victory. Redshirt freshman safety Jestin Love had two picks, including one he returned 25 yards for a touchdown, his second in as many weeks. Freshman cornerback Dominique Brown, in his first start, intercepted a fourth-quarter pass and returned it 33 yards for another touchdown and a 30-16 lead.
Love then sealed it with his second interception of the game at the Central Arkansas 8 after the Bears had turned it over on their own 28 with 1:54 left. Love, who was named the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, has four interceptions in the past two games.
The Bears (5-3, 2-2 Southland) had just 83 yards of total offense in the first half, but grabbed the momentum late when junior quarterback Nathan Dick threw a 28-yard scoring pass to sophomore receiver Dominique Croom, who made a jumping, acrobatic catch in the left corner of the end zone with 12 seconds left. That score gave the Bears an unlikely 13-10 halftime advantage.
The Lions (2-6, 1-3 Southland) had nearly as many penalty yards (10 penalties, 72 yards) in the first half as the Bears had offensive yards. Southeastern had 213 yards of offense and more than 18 minutes of possession time at halftime. However, they had only a 23-yard Seth Sebastian field goal and a 21-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Beatty to Brandon Collins to show for it.
Central Arkansas expanded its lead to 20-10 to open the third quarter, with a 10-play, 80-yard drive. Dick passed 12 yards to running back Terence Bobo for the touchdown at the 9:43 mark of the third. Bobo, a sophomore from Atkins, supplied a good chunk of the Bears' offense with his first career 100-yard rushing game. He had 105 yards on 13 carries (8.1 yards per carry) and also caught five passes for 52 yards and a touchdown.
Southeastern got a pair of field goals from Sebastian, both from 29 yards, and Carmona made one from 23 yards for the Bears before Brown's interception and return with 4:47 left gave the Bears a 30-16 lead. The Lions got within one score with a 54-yard touchdown pass from Beatty to Collins with 2:17 remaining. The Bears fumbled the ball back to Southeastern but Love intercepted Beatty at the 8.
Dick completed 26-of-44 passes for 209 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Beatty was 20-of-34 for 295 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Brandon Collins led the Lions with six catches for 164 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Junior linebacker Frank Newsome dominated the first half with nine tackles, and finished with a career-high 15, including two for loss. Senior linebacker Tok Opeloye followed with 10 tackles, while senior defensive end Markell Carter had nine tackles, and a forced fumble that he also recovered. Junior end Jermayne Lett had two sacks for 16 yards.
Love and Newsome were named co-recipients of the L.B. Jackman Award, which goes to Central Arkansas's most valuable player of the Homecoming game.
Central Arkansas hits the road next Saturday at Texas State. The 2 p.m. game will be televised by the Southland Conference Television Network.