#2 Sam Houston State Bearkats (2-0, 1-0 SLC) at HBU Huskies (2-1, 1-1 SLC)
Saturday, Sept. 24 – 7 p.m.
Husky Stadium – Houston
TV: FOX College Sports (Tom Franklin/John Harris/Jeff Power)
Satellite Channel Listings: DirecTV 608, Dish 440 (
Local Cable Listings)
Audio (Lonnie King)
Live Stats
Game Notes
Gameday Information
Tickets
Game Program
HOUSTON - HBU has won the first two games in its current three-game homestand, the first back-to-back victories in program history, and will put those streaks on the line in Southland Conference action against second-ranked Sam Houston State on Family Weekend Saturday at 7 p.m. at Husky Stadium. The game will be televised live on Fox College Sports, while the Legacy Sports Network audio broadcast will be avaiable on HBUHuskies.com.
The Huskies (2-1, 1-1 SLC) are coming off a win in their first-ever overtime game, 27-24, over Abilene Christian on their first play of the extra period -- a 25-yard touchdown pass by senior quarterback
Tony Dawson to junior wide receiver
Wesley Lewis. Dawson completed 13-of-25 passes for 239 yards and the touchdown, while adding 70 yards on the ground and a score. Lewis caught two passes for 94 yards, while junior running back
Terrance Peters rushed for 48 yards and a pair of touchdowns and caught four passes for 49 yards.
Junior linebacker
Garrett Dolan is tied for third in the nation with 14.0 tackles per game and had 17 tackles and a sack against ACU and junior safety
Taylor Thompson recorded a career-high 14 tackles. Junior defensive end
Terrance Manderville posted 11 stops against the Wildcats and returned a fumble for a touchdown against Texas Southern. Junior cornerback
Derek Broussard made eight tackles and broke up a pair of passes against ACU.
Junior punter
Christian Guzman is returning to form after a knee injury and has crept up to a 39.9-yard average, including a season-best 57-yarder last week. Sophomore kicker
Alec Chadwick is 3-for-6 on field goal attempts and 7-for-7 on extra points. Sophomore linebacker
Kyle Bowling was named Southland Conference Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking ACU's 37-yard, go-ahead field goal attempt with 58 second left in regulation. The honor was the Huskies' first league football player of the week award in the program's history.
SHSU (2-0, 1-0) jumped on Lamar early for a 44-31 victory last Saturday in Beaumont. Running back Corey Avery rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown and Yedidiah Louis made eight receptions for 113 yards. Jeremiah Briscoe completed 24-of-35 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns against the Cardinals.
Justin Johnson leads the Bearkats with 16 tackles and Sammy Webb has 12, all solo. P.J. Hall has made 10 tackles, 5.5 for losses and broken up a pair of passes.
On special teams, Jose Figenshaw has averaged 40.3 yards on seven punts and Tre Honshtein has made the Bearkats' only field goal attempt and all five extra points, while Luc Swimburghe has made nine PATs.
SHSU leads the all-time series against HBU, 2-0, as the Huskies' dropped last year's meeting in Huntsville, 63-14, on Sept. 26. Peters recorded the longest play from scrimmage in HBU history in the contest with an 82-yard touchdown run.
The Huskies will hit the road for the first matchup against an FBS opponent when they face defending Conference USA champion Western Kentucky Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. in Bowling Green. HBU will be off the following week, before hosting Nicholls for Homecoming Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at Husky Stadium.
HBU Head Coach Vic Shealy quotes:
On Abilene Christian: "That was a big win. Any time you win in the conference, you'll hear everyone say that, whether you're at home or on the road. We've been needing to have a game where confidence increases even moreso than the week prior against Texas Southern. Beating a team, where Coach (Ken) Collums does a phenomenal job at ACU, beating them was really important for our program's growth."
On Sam Houston State: "I think we all know there's not a more talented roster in our league, Coach (K.C.) Keeler and his staff do a phenomenal job coaching, so there's a reason they're ranked as high as they are and continue to have the success they've had. Certainly, we understand who they are, you go about breaking them down as coaches, installing your plan and go about preparing your kids and your kids take on the plan and you do that in order to find a way to compete and to win. If you never approach it that way, then you'll never beat a team like Sam. So, we're going to work hard and believe that if we do the things that we do well we'll find a way to compete, but it's a great opportunity, where Coach Keeler has that program is a measuring stick for all of us to compare to. One day we'd like to be in their shoes, so you go out and play those guys, see where they are, and it gives us a reference point to where we want to be."
On the final play vs. ACU: "It helps whenever you can be on defense first and our defense played really well. ACU got the three on the kick and it gives you an opportunity to know how you'll play it out. We had talked in the fourth quarter about just some of the natural progression offensively, RPO stuff, where it was just a double cut and we feel like we've got a tall kid with a favorable matchup, so it was just a natural progression of the call. Being in the driver's seat a little bit there after their field goal, gives you an opportunity to take a shot and it was a good call by our offensive staff."
On sophomore linebacker Kyle Bowling: "The ball got down there in the high red zone and they had an opportunity to go for the win there with about a minute left. The ball was kicked kind of low, which probably helped us, and Kyle got his left arm up and tipped it, but it was short enough that it still maybe could've driven in, but we'll take it, whether it's a fingertip or whatnot, we'll take whatever opportunity to send it into overtime. Kyle's one of those really good, feel-good stories, coming from a storied program at Katy High School and Coach Joseph, and he was a walk-on in our program who has gone to work everyday. Against TSU, we lost our sam linebacker in Cody Moncure, his backup, Avery Wright, we lost to a knee injury, so Kyle had an opportunity to come in and play the entire second half. We felt like he held up and did some good things there. It's just one of those feel-good moments as a coach, to see a kid who came in, because he loved the game, he's a winner through-and-through and I'm grateful we got him."
