By KEVIN GORE
Sentinel Staff
Photo by Jeff Abt |
SFA's Brandon Scott scores a touchdown against Sam Houston Saturday at Homer Bryce Stadium.
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Stephen F. Austin's talk leading up to its big showdown with rival Sam Houston was about the Bearkats being merely another step on the ladder to winning a championship.
This, from a Lumberjack football program that had lost five straight and eight of the last nine games to their bitter rivals.
But when push came to shove Saturday, the Lumberjacks proved they had more than enough to back up their pre-game spill.
Junior quarterback Jeremy Moses threw five touchdown passes, and the Lumberjacks' defense held Sam Houston to 186 yards offense in a 42-3 dismantling of the Bearkats before a homecoming crowd at Homer Bryce Stadium Saturday.
Sam Houston, a team that has owned the series against SFA, had no answer on offense or defense for the Lumberjacks, who improved to 3-0 in the Southland Conference with their sixth straight victory.
Playing without starting quarterback Blake Joseph — who was out with an ankle injury — Sam Houston settled for a 23-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the lead to 35-3.
SFA tacked on a late touchdown on backup quarterback Dalton Williams' 12-yard pass to Garrett Williams to make it 42-3.
Sophomore linebacker Devin Ducote collected 16 tackles in leading SFA's defense, which smothered just about every play the Bearkats tried. Sam Houston was limited to 12 first downs.
This rivalry game, which is headed to Houston's Reliant Stadium for the next four years, was pretty much decided in the second quarter, when SFA scored 21 points to lead 21-0 at the break.
After defeating McNeese and Central Arkansas by 3 points the previous two Saturdays, SFA crushed the Bearkats chances early, then cruised late.
The Bearkats didn't have their starting quarterback, but they didn't do much in any phase of game to make up for it.
"They still got to come out and play," SFA senior defensive end Tim Knicky said. "It's been a long time coming — I've waited four years for this win."
"It didn't matter to us," SFA coach J.C. Harper said about the Bearkats' quarterback issue. "We play every play, every game, every week.
"We're just concerned about getting better."
Moses was 27-of-38 for 372 yards with two touchdown passes to senior Aaron Rhea and one each to Brandon Scott, Contrevious Parks and Duane Brooks.
Rhea caught seven passes for 133 yards, including a 49-yarder on a post route that came fewer than two minutes after his 26-yard catch from Moses opened the scoring.
SFA's offense didn't turn the ball over. About the only hint of trouble from Sam Houston's defense came on a 10-yard sack of Moses and five other tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
"It isn't really big because of Sam Houston," Moses said. "It's big because it got us the next win — closer to a championship."
Sam Houston (3-4) fell to 1-2 in the SLC.
Playing in place of Joseph, a talented transfer from the University of Houston, backup Bryan Randolph was 14 of 28 for 84 yards. Jeff Welch was 0-for-2.
Randolph's passes were mostly quick throws in the flat. When he dropped back in the pocket, Randolph was oftentimes hurried by the Lumberjacks' pressure and was tackled for short gains when he tried to scramble.
While the game lacked suspense, it did offer some big plays.
Sophomore punter Drew Nelson had a 72-yard punt. SFA true freshman linebacker Ryan Epperson sent a Bearkat player sprawling to the turf with a block on a special teams play.
Sam Houston running back James Aston rushed for 60 yard on 19 carries.
But in need of big plays with their quarterback sidelined, the Bearkats couldn't manufactor any. Sam Houston's longest running play was a 13-yarder by Randolph. The longest passing play was a 15-yard reception by Jason Madkins.
