The season opener has been circled on the calendar since the 2008 Sam Houston State football scheduled came out back in February and the day is finally here.
After beating each other up for the past few weeks, the Bearkats will have a chance to hit a different colored jersey today at 6 p.m. when they battle East Central Oklahoma at Bowers Stadium.
“Going at each other for two or three weeks, it’s finally good to be going against some other people,” SHSU defensive lineman Kevin Smith said Wednesday afternoon. “It’s going to be a good competition with East Central Oklahoma.”
This will be the second year in a row that the Bearkats are opening the season against a Lone Star Conference opponent. Last season, Sam Houston had to hold on for dear life when Angelo State came to Bowers Stadium and almost pulled off the upset, falling 17-13.
The Kats jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the second quarter, but the offense sputtered in the second half as the Rams defense pitched a shutout. Sam Houston was finally able to let out a huge sigh of relief when Angelo State quarterback Josh Neiswander threw an incomplete pass on fourth and seven with 1:25 to go in the game which allowed the guys in orange to run out the clock.
There were some lessons learned from that near disaster and the SHSU players said they intend to come out more focused, not taking the Division II Tigers lightly.
“That game was a good lesson to learn from,” senior wide receiver Justin Wells said after a pregame walkthrough Wednesday. “A Division II team or anyone can come in here and give you just as good of a competition than other school if you aren’t focused.
“Our offense needs to come out gunning early. We had some question marks heading into the opener last year, and we really didn’t get things worked out until the North Dakota State game. We need our offense to go out (today) and put up good numbers and get rolling early.”
It’s been hard for the Bearkats to get a feel for the Tigers heading into today’s game. The players and coaches have been watching tape, but they aren’t sure exactly what East Central Oklahoma brings to the table personnelwise.
“We really don’t know much about them,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. “They have 20-something guys that transferred in and have never played for them before. We do know that they changed defenses from a 4-3 to a 3-4, so we are going to have to adjust to that. That is going to be the key offensively.”
The Tigers do have a talented young quarterback in junior Marcus Johnson, who was recently selected as the Lone Star Conference North Division preseason offensive player of the year.
As a sophomore in 2007, Johnson set several school records on his way to passing for 2,508 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was named the LSC North Back and Player of the Year despite the fact that East Central went 2-9 and 0-5 in league play.
“The film we have seen, they like to throw the ball a lot, so we are expecting to see 40 or 50 passes,” Smith added. “Their quarterback is very mobile, and we have to get out there and stay in our lanes on the pass rush to contain him. The emphasis is not letting him get out of the pocket because he is better at making plays on the run that when he is standing stationary.”
SHSU Sports
Time to go to Work
Bearkats hope to get rolling early in season opener
- SHSU Sports
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Time to crank it up
Sam Houston State head coach Willie Fritz knew coming into the season that he was going to have his hands full turning around the Bearkats’ football program.
The rest of the coaches in the Southland Conference apparently agree.
Coming off a 5-6 season, a fifth-place finish in league play and the loss of 15 starters, Sam Houston State has been tabbed to finish seventh in the SLC preseason coaches’ poll, which was announced Wednesday during the Southland Conference Football Media Day at the L’Auberge du Lac Resort. -
Pitching dominates Triple-A All-Star Game
Like the Major League All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif., pitchers dominated the Triple-A All-Star Game on Wednesday in Allentown, Pa.
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Almost there
After years of toiling in the minor leagues, Dustin Martin can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Rising through the ranks of the minor league system all the way from Rookie League, the former Sam Houston outfielder is playing some of his best baseball these days and will play in Wednesday’s Triple-A All-Star Game in Allentown Pa., which will be televised at 6 p.m. on the MLB Network. -
Gallant shining again in Cape Cod League
Maybe, just maybe, on the mound closing games is where Dallas Gallant needs to be if he’s going to make a name for himself.
For the second summer in a row, the Sam Houston State pitcher has performed marvelously when he finishes games for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks, a member of the distinguished Cape Cod Baseball League. -
Bearkats enjoy banner year in classroom
With the release of grade point averages for the more than 400 Bearkats participating in varsity sports, plus the announcement by the Southland Conference office of the annual Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll, the 2009-10 season goes in the books as another banner academic year for Sam Houston State University.
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Belcher, Vilardi golf tournaments help rival football programs
Golfers in the Huntsville area can help the football programs at both Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin, two longtime rivals that soon will be adding new excitement to their annual “Battle of the Piney Woods” when they kick off this fall at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
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Kelly ready for NCAA golf regional
When Sam Houston’s Scott Kelly tees off Thursday in the NCAA South Central Regional men’s golf tournament, his goal will be simple. He wants to become the first Bearkat golfer to earn a spot in the national tournament.
“As an at-large entry, it’s difficult to advance but it’s not out of the question,” Kelly said. “I’m going into the tournament with high expectations and will give it my best shot.” -
Dreaming big
His mind has been working overtime. Huntsville senior Quenntin Tucker has spent the past two weeks preparing for the Class 4A Region III track meet.
Tucker practices the discus by day, then dreams about it at night. Physically and mentally, he’s ready for the big meet.
“I had a dream about this,” Tucker said last week during a short break from practice. “In the dream I finished second in our region, then I finished second at state.
“I woke up that morning smiling.” -
Same old story
The Bearkats must’ve felt as if they had a little bit of déjà vu.
For the second straight Saturday, the Bearkats used a monster inning to climb out of a huge hole only to see it slip away.
This time, it was Stephen F. Austin, which rallied for five runs in the final two innings and held off Sam Houston for a 14-13 win. -
UCA has Bearkat softball team on ropes
The Bearkats saw the light dim on their Southland Conference tournament aspirations Saturday afternoon.
Desperately in need of a series win to gain ground in the chase for the sixth and final seed, the Sam Houston State softball team dropped both games of a doubleheader to Central Arkansas. - More SHSU Sports Headlines
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