Work to be done

Sports

Discussion

September 3, 2008

Bearkats making best of bye week, trying to stay focused on Prairie View

By Cody Stark The Huntsville Item Wed Sep 03, 2008, 09:52 PM CDT

If Sam Houston State was playing Prairie View A&M; on Saturday instead of next week, the Bearkats would be the first to say they aren’t ready.

Maybe it was how easily the 58-14 season-opening victory over East Central Oklahoma came or the fact that this is a bye week, but the effort has been lacking in practice this week.

And the Sam Houston coaches let the players know about it following Wednesday afternoon’s practice at Bowers Stadium.

“It’s been a rough week,” junior wide receiver Chris Lucas said. “We came out sloppy on Monday and picked it up a little today and Tuesday, but the coaches still feel like we can practice harder. That’s what we have to do in order to get better and not just take the week off.”

This is a tough week for the Bearkats to get the first bye in their schedule. Sam Houston was impressive in its debut on both sides of the ball.

The first-string offense put 52 points on the board in the first half against the Division II Tigers, scoring on all eight possessions. The Bearkats gained 474 yards of total offense, had one turnover (a fumble in the fourth quarter) and only punted four times, all coming in the second half when SHSU was mainly handing off the ball to keep the clock running.

Defensively, the Kats didn’t allow a score until midway through the third quarter. Sam Houston also forced five defensive turnovers (three fumbles and two interceptions) and recorded three sacks.

“Anytime you have a bye week, as an athlete, it’s hard to get mentally prepared,” senior linebacker Derrick Raymer said. “This week we really haven’t had a great practice. After getting that first game out of the way, it is almost like going back to camp since we aren’t playing this week.

“When you can really prepare for a game, your mind-set is different when you have something to look forward to. We just need to get in the mind-set that we have a game every week and bring our best effort in practice.”

The Bearkats haven’t had much to work on this week as far as preparing for the game against Prairie View on Sept. 13 at Bowers Stadium. Sam Houston has seen some tape of the Panthers’ 34-14 victory over Texas Southern this past Saturday.

After another practice today, Sam Houston will take a couple of days off then hit the field again Sunday to get down to business, hopefully with a little more information on the Panthers following their game against Texas College on Saturday.

But right now, all the Bearkats are concentrated on is the areas they need to improve despite how well they played last week.

“We need to be more focused but it hasn’t been horrible,” head coach Todd Whitten said. “The next bye week we will probably get more out of it.

“We are just trying to get better. We need to clean up some of the things in the kicking game. We had a bad penalty and had a bad play with a turnover in the kicking game. Other than that, I liked what I saw out of our starters and was glad we got some of those backups a chance to play.”

Text Only

Sports

Big week ahead for Bulldogs, Lady Bulldogs
To say that this is an important week for the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs basketball team would be a big understatement. With the regular season winding down, much is at stake for the New Waverly boys and girls.

February 6, 2012 2 Photos
Bulldog lifters gain experience at Shepherd meet
Looking back on his lifters’ performance at last Saturday’s meet in Shepherd, New Waverly powerlifting coach Mike Carolan lauded his team’s efforts. Senior Tucker Saxton won the 220-pound classification and freshman Dillon Silvis took fifth in the 114-pound division.

February 6, 2012
Running Shorts: First 50-miler in the books
February 6, 2012
Hornet powerlifters fare well at Shepherd meet
February 5, 2012 2 Photos
Huntsville’s Thompson cruises at Willis tennis tourney, wins singles title
Hard rain, blustery wind and a change of venue could not stop Huntsville senior Kyle Thompson last Friday. The Hornets’ top tennis player cruised to three consecutive victories and earned the championship trophy in boys singles at a dual match in Willis.

February 5, 2012
Who ya got, Pats or Giants?
February 4, 2012
Bearkats back on top
The Bearkats got caught playing down to Southeastern Louisiana’s level in the first half, but a lights-out second half led to a 67-46 victory over the Lions on Saturday.
Sam Houston State turned the ball over 10 times, which resulted in nine Southeastern points at the break. That’s why the Lions trailed by only three at halftime, though they only shot 26.5 percent (9-of-34) from the floor.
Southeastern played even worse in the final 20 minutes, but most of that had to do with Sam Houston’s raised intensity level, thanks to a firm halftime message that stuck.

February 4, 2012 1 Photo
Hornet wrestlers make marked improvements at district meet
Exhausted but still exhilarated, the young wrestlers on the Huntsville High School team are already talking about what they can accomplish next year.
Last-place finishers at the District 20-5A meet last winter, the Hornets made a major move in 2012, finishing fifth in the 13-team varsity boys field at the district meet Friday.
Huntsville’s girls finished sixth in the team standings and Lady Hornets freshman Marissa Dixon won a district championship in the girls 128-pound division.

February 4, 2012
Hornets fall in OT, must win three in row now
The Hornets had their chances in regulation and in overtime, but they couldn’t quite get a much-needed win at Kingwood Park on Friday night.
In a basketball game that was slowed to a crawl, Huntsville dropped a 51-46 decision to the Panthers in overtime.
The pressure’s now on Huntsville in the final week and a half in order to get into the postseason.

February 4, 2012
Whispering Pines golf pro Rowe recognized as one of country’s top 50 kids’ teachers
Whispering Pines golf professional Chris Rowe is among the class of the Top 50 Kids Teachers for 2011, as selected by U.S. Kids Golf.
Rowe has been a junior golf instructor for 22 years and is currently the head professional at Whispering Pines Golf Club near Trinity. This is the first time Rowe has been named a Top 50 Kids Teacher by U.S. Kids Golf.

February 4, 2012
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Work to be done

Bearkats making best of bye week, trying to stay focused on Prairie View

Site Map

Contact Us