Sam Houston State Locks Up Outright Title with 43-17 Win over Northwestern State
No. 4/3 Sam Houston State 43, Northwestern State 17
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Richard Sincere scored three
touchdowns and Tim Flanders tallied two to lead No. 4/3 Sam Houston State to a
43-17 victory over Northwestern State Saturday at Bowers Stadium.
The victory runs the Bearkats' season record to 10-0
and earned Sam Houston its first ever undisputed Southland Conference football
championship. The Bearkats won Southland titles in 1991, 2001 and 2004, but all
three of those were co-championships.
Sam Houston is the first team to go through the league
undefeated since McNeese State in 2007 and is the first Texas member to go
through Southland Conference play unbeaten and untied.
Flanders rushed 20 times for 145 yards including a 15
yard touchdown. Sincere gained 75 yards on 11 carries and earned 102 yards on
three catches.
Sam Houston took just 2:20 to put points on the board
as Sincere completed a five-play 82-yard drive after the opening kickoff with a
36-yard touchdown run up the middle.
Flanders tallied on a 15-yard run with 14:54 to play
in the second quarter, completing a seven-play 80-yard drive.
Craig Alaniz kicked a 38-yard field goal after a Gary
Lorance fumble recovery to give the Bearkats a 16-0 lead with 11:38 to play
before half.
On the Demons' next possession, Darnell Taylor
returned a interception 38 yards for a score as Sam Houston took a 23-0 lead.
Anthony Gilbert produced the only first half points
for the Demons recovering a bad Bearkat snap in the end zone for six points.
John Shaughnessy added the extra point as Sam Houston took a 23-7 lead into
intermission.
Bell hit Flanders for a 35-yard pass and run on Sam
Houston's first possession of the second half four minutes into the third
quarter.
Shaughnessy was successful on his school record 12th
consecutive field goal from 34 yards with 7:24 left in the third to cut the
Bearkat margin to 30-10.
Sam Houston scored two plays later after a 43-yard run
by Flanders and a 12-yard touchdown by Sincere. Sincere tallied his third
touchdown three minutes later on a 62-yard touchdown pass from Bell.
The Bearkats, who are riding a 12-game win streak and
are the only undefeated team in the Football Championship Subdivision, will try
to cap a perfect regular season next Saturday in a non-conference game at Texas
State.
No. 25/19 Central Arkansas 23, Texas State 22
CONWAY, Ark.
- Two long, time-consuming drives righted a lot of wrongs for No. 25/19 Central
Arkansas on Saturday, pushed a winning streak to seven games and set off a wild
celebration of a possible - and maybe even probable - trip to the NCAA Division
I Playoffs.
The Bears, in their final regular-season game, scored on drives of 13 plays and
11 plays in the final 6:26 to squeeze past the Texas State Bobcats 23-22 on
Senior Day at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
UCA, which
finished Southland Conference play last week with a 6-1 record, won its seventh
consecutive game, all against Division I teams, to improve to 8-3 overall. With
an open date next Saturday, the Bears will have to wait a week for what they
hope is their first invitation to the playoffs since moving to Division I in
2006 and becoming eligible last year.
Quarterback Nathan Dick threw for a career-high 457 yards on a school-record 64
attempts. The Bears dominated offensively finishing with 556 yards on 94 plays,
their second-highest output of the season. More importantly, the Bears' defense
was more than stingy. The Bobcats managed only 208 total yards on 55 plays and
had 10 first downs. They had just 17 yards in the first quarter but somehow
held a 13-0 lead. It was UCA's lowest yardage allowed this season, by 63 yards.
Visit ucasports.com for the complete recap.
Stephen F. Austin 28, Southeastern
Louisiana 20
NACOGDOCHES,
Texas - Stephen F. Austin got all it could handle from Southeastern Louisiana Saturday,
but the Lumberjacks held on for a 28-20 victory. SFA sent the 2011 class of
seniors off in victorious fashion on senior night, and pushed their current win
streak to four heading into the season finale next Saturday at Northwestern
State.
In similar fashion to the previous games during the current win streak, the
Lumberjacks recorded 474 yards of total offense, including 162 on the ground,
while holding their opponents to 292.
Attaway
finished the night 25-of-52 for 312 yards and three touchdowns, but was intercepted
four times. He connected with nine different receivers, including sophomore
Kris Lott who led the team with six catches for 94 yards. Sophomore Keith
Lawson led the Lumberjacks' ground attack with 12 carries for 83 yards. Junior
Jeremy Barnes added 11 carries for 51 yards.
Visit sfajacks.com or lionsports.net for more information about this game.
Lamar 34, Nicholls State 19
THIBODAUX, La. - Andre Bevil came off the bench Saturday night
to throw three touchdown passes as Lamar snapped its five-game losing streak
with a 34-19 victory over Nicholls
State.
Bevil connected with J.J. Hayes on scoring strikes of 8 and 32
yards and with Marcus Jackson for 14 yards. Bevil, who replaced starting quarterback
Doug Prewitt in the second quarter,
finished the game at 14-for-23 for 186 yards.
Jackson and Hayes combined for 171 of the Cardinals' 225 receiving
yards. Jackson
had five catches for 64 yards, while Hayes snared four balls for 107
yards.
Jackson also returned a kickoff 78 yards for
a touchdown, and the opportunistic Cardinal defense came up with four turnovers,
although it did allow Nicholls quarterback
LaQuintin Caston to run for 177 yards and one touchdown.
Visit lamarcardinals.com or geauxcolonels.com for additional
accounts of this game.
McNeese State 24, UTSA 21
LAKE CHARLES, La. - McNeese State ran its football record to 5-5
Saturday after a 24-21 non-conference victory over first-year program UTSA.
The Cowboys, now 5-5 overall, got touchdown runs of five yards
from Champlain Babin and 21 yards from Andre Anderson, a 29 yard pass from
Darius Carey to Josh Jordan and a 30 yard field goal from Josh Lewis.
McNeese ran for 251 yards, the second most in a game this season
for the Cowboys and Anderson got more than half of them, netting 158 yards on
26 carries. It was his highest total
this season and the third highest of his career.
Carey, a wide receiver who lines up behind the center in the
team's "Wildcat" formation, picked up 56 yards rushing while Ernest Celestie,
another wide receiver, had 23 and tailback Marcus Wiltz rushed for 20.
Cowboy quarterback Cody Stroud completed nine of 22 passes for 95
yards and had one intercepted. Carey had
one toss from the "Wildcat", that the 29 yard touchdown strike to Jordan.
Carey also had 26 yards on three pass receptions and returned
three punts for 28 yards.
Visit mcneesesports.com for a complete recap.