The Demons put a big Halloween scare into Sam Houston State on Saturday night, but the Bearkats pulled out another thriller.

Senior quarterback Blake Joseph hit wide receiver Jason Madkins for the go-ahead touchdown with 5:37 left and the Bearkat defense came up with two late turnovers to seal a 34-30 victory over Northwestern State at Bowers Stadium.

The win snapped Sam Houston’s two-game losing streak and kept the Bearkats (2-2 in SLC, 4-4 overall) alive in the tight race for the Southland Conference championship.

“It was a great game and a hell of a way to make a living,” Sam Houston head coach Todd Whitten said. “We had some disappointing penalties and had some young guys make some freshman mistakes, but we hung in there and fought hard. ... Defensively we gave up a few big plays and that continues to be an issue, but we fought hard.”

Looking for their first win of the season, the Demons (0-4, 0-8) kept landing punch after punch, but couldn’t put the Bearkats away.

Northwestern State freshman quarterback Paul Harris played like a senior. He threw for 263 yards and four scores and rushed for 144 yards on 22 carries.

Harris put the Demons on top at 30-27 with an 8-yard scoring strike to William Griffin with just under two minutes to go in the third quarter.

After forcing the Bearkats to punt on the ensuing possession, Harris drove Northwestern State back down the field, but kicker John Shaughnessy missed a 45-yard field goal that would have given the Demons a six-point lead.

The Bearkats had a field goal blocked that would have tied the game early in the fourth. Sam Houston would get another chance, though.

Joseph hit senior Chris Lucas for 24 yards, then found senior Jake Lebens for 11 more to get to the Demons’ 39-yard line. That’s when Madkins made the biggest of his seven catches for 147 yards.

On first down, Joseph found Madkins on a slant over the middle and the 6-5 senior from Mart raced down the left sideline for a 39-yard touchdown to make it 34-30.

“Offensive line coach, coach (Lee) Hays, told us that whoever had the ball last was going to win the game. It was one of those games,” said Joseph, who threw for 332 yards and two scores, both to Madkins.

The Sam Houston defense had been pushed to the limit all night by a Demons’ offense that came into the game averaging 13.9 points a contest.

By the time the final seconds clicked off the clock, Northwestern State had gained 435 yards of total offense, the Demons’ best showing of the season.

But the Bearkats made the plays when it mattered.

Northwestern State mounted a drive following Madkins’ touchdown and got down to the SHSU 49-yard line. Harris broke free for what would have been a first-down run on third-and-11, but he got popped, fumbled and Bearkat defensive back Kenneth Jenkins recovered.

Sam Houston had to punt and Harris was intercepted by freshman safety Darnell Taylor with just under two minutes to go, which allowed the Bearkats to run out the clock.

“We hadn’t played great so far and we could make up for it by making a stop right there to make them give the ball back to our offense or win the game,” said SHSU senior linebacker Luke McCall about making those two stops in the end. “That would make up for whatever busts we had or missed tackles. We wanted a three-and-out or a turnover, whatever came first. I think we got it done when it counted.”

The Bearkats offense struggled in the red zone in the first half, coming away with only a pair of field goals by freshman Miguel Antonio on their first two trips inside the 20.

Joseph, who was making his first start since sitting out the loss at Stephen F. Austin two weeks ago, finally lit a spark. He broke loose on an option keeper and sprinted 65 yards for a touchdown to put SHSU up 13-9 at the 8:35 mark of the second quarter.

It looked like the Bearkats would go into the break up 20-16 when Joseph hit Madkins for a 13-yard score with two and a half minutes before halftime.

Northwestern was facing a third-and-24 at its own 15-yard line and SHSU dropped Harris for a 1-yard loss. But Victor Carmichael was called for a late hit out of bounds. Four plays later, Harris hit Justin Aldredge for a 32-yard touchdown to send the Demons into the break on top 23-20.

“We lost points right there. It was kind of a double whammy,” Whitten said about the late penalty. “We were going to have great field position and another chance to move the ball. As a result, they took it down the field and scored. That is what I told the guys, ‘Mistakes like that kill you and you can’t recover from them.’ That was a game-changing play and I was very disappointed in that particular play.”

Junior running back Chris Poullard, who rushed for 89 yards, scored the Bearkats’ first touchdown of the second half on a 3-yard run to give the Bearkats a 27-23 advantage.



Game notes

A big loss — Sam Houston State senior running back James Aston left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury. He didn’t return to the game and was on the sideline with crutches and an ice pack.

“We are going to find out more Monday morning,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. “All I know is that he has a knee injury. It has been frustrating for this ’09 season with all the injuries we have had. James is a great kid, a great Bearkat and a great football player. I hope that he is OK.”