Bearkats slips past SFA in final meeting

Oct. 2—HOUSTON — Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin squared off for the 96th time.

While the Lumberjacks held the lead until the final 35 seconds, the Kats transfer running back Dezmon Jackson rushed for a game tying score. Sophomore kicker Seth Morgan would kick the game winning extra point to secure the Kats 17-16 win over the rival.

"To win this thing for the very last time, it will go down forever," Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler said. "A lot of our guys came back for these reasons. A lot of our guys are redshirting and they all asked to play in this game. This was the game they wanted to play in."

Sam Houston's offense struggled throughout this game behind junior Keegan Shoemaker.

Shoemaker would make the start after coming in for transfer Jordan Yates against Texas A&M Commerce. Shoemaker was tabbed to make better reads and hopefully have a quicker release time than Yates, but he went 14-40 in this game for 188 yards.

The big thing was he came through when it mattered.

Shoemaker has made back-to-back Battle of the Piney Woods starts and in each led a fourth quarter comeback drive. Today was no different.

With 2:41 left on the clock, the Kats offense got the ball back needing six points for the tie. On a third down play, Bearkat receiver KeSean Raven fell incomplete but SFA would be flagged for a personal foul that gave Sam Houston another chance.

The Kats would then travel down the field getting themselves within goal to go behind Shoemaker and Jackson. While the Kats would fail to convert on fourth and goal, they had a saving grace. SFA's BJ Thompson, who was flagged last season for a face mask, would get called for lining up in the neutral zone, giving Sam Houston the ball on the one and a half yard line with one more chance.

"I thought we should have run it one more time down there," Keeler said. "I jumped in on the fourth down play and said 'we're gonna run this ball and win this game.' I thought John [Perry] did a good job mixing the run in even with time against us."

While the offense scored the game winning points, Sam Houston's defense is the reason they had a chance to win this game. SFA's offense was held to nine red zone points on four attempts.

The Jack's were also held scoreless on their last seven drives as the Kats locked in. Led by linebacker Toby Ndukwe, SFA's offense had nowhere to go despite being able to go 256 yards and score 10 points in the first half.

Sam Houston's defense would allow 141 second half yards and make two pivotal stops in the red zone, which wasn't all they had. With 35 seconds left, they needed one more stop in what could be the forever game.

The Bearkats Simeon Evans called game on a first and 10 as time expired as he hauled in Trae Selfs pass for an interception marking the Kats 11th straight win."

Now, with the rivalry placed on pause, the Kats will bring home the trophy and have it on display for the foreseeable future.