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By paul ridinGS Jr. For the huntSville item
The Castillo sisters, Ceciliaand Tiffany, and Hillary Adamscombined for 13 of SamHouston’s 26 hits as theBearkats swept a SouthlandConference softball double-header from Northwestern Stateon Saturday in Natchitoches,La.
Sam Houston defeated theDemons 7-5 in extra innings inthe opener and took the night-cap 6-3.
The victories extended theKats’ current winning streak tofive games. The SHSU womennow stand 20-17 for the yearand 9-5 in Southland action.Northwestern State dropped to17-17 for the season and 6-7 inthe league.
Cecilia Castillo went 5-for-9
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SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2014 THE HUNTSVILLE ITEM 1B
By Brandon K. SCott
The Bearkats realize they to have playwith measured precision when the refer-ees come to practice. Penalty flags pointout the sloppiness.
Those are aspects of the player devel-opment Sam Houston State coaches areobserving with only two practices leftbefore the Orange-White Spring Game
this Friday.Overall, first-year Sam Houston coach
walKer County Fair and rodeo
GENE SCHALLENBERG/THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMSam Houston State running back Cory Idlebird carries the football at the Bearkats’ spring practicesession. The Orange-White game at Bowers Stadium is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m.
Making progressFriday: Orange-White SpringGame, Bowers Stadium, 7 p.m.
Tailgating party: Before the spring game,Sam Houston students and fans can partici-pate in Bearkat Alley tailgating. StudentServices will provide free food for students withvalid BearkatOne I.D.s.
Bearkat Football Experience: Children areincluded in the excitement as well. At 6 p.m.,youngsters ages 6 through 13 can do drillswith the Bearkats on the turf.
BearKat FootBall
See proGreSS, page 3B
while learning up newsystems, Kats get crash course with officials enforcing rules
By Kevin rodriGuez
For the huntSville item
Jason Simms allowed justone run in nine innings on themound to lead the Sam HoustonState baseball team to a much-needed 2-1 win over OralRoberts. Today’s series finalewill be huge for a Bearkat teamthat is looking for its secondseries win in league play as wellas improved position in theSouthland Conference stand-ings.
Third baseman CarterBurgess was the offensive cata-lyst for Sam Houston (5-6 inSouthland play, 20-11 overall).The junior from Houston led offthe seventh inning with a singleand scored on a pinch-hit singleby Ryan Farney. Then in the topof the ninth he led off with adouble and scored on an RBIsingle by designated hitterDylan Ebbs.
Simms was making just thethird start of his career and itwas his best yet. The seniorallowed a first-inning run andnothing from that point on. Hestruck out six batters andwalked just one, the first batterof the game.
Center fielder Colt Atwood
Bearkatsrebound,even series
JOSHUA YATES/THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMJake Brown of Hillsboro tries his best to stay atop of Mike-O during Saturday’s performance of the Walker County Rodeo. Cowboys like Brown, who competed inbareback riding, as well as others competing in saddle bronc, say that riding horses in rodeo provides an adrenaline rush unlike any other.
HORSIN’ AROUNDBy Gene SChallenBerG
From the time they mount their horses inthe chute until the eight-second horn goesoff, plus a little extra time on occasion,there’s thrills all around.
The cowboys and cowgirls competing ineither bareback riding or saddle bronc rid-ing have a short time to make the most oftheir turn atop their horses every time out.
“It’s the ultimate adrenaline rush. It’scrazy,” said Huntsville native Cody Ziober,who competed in bareback atop FlamingDesire. “Supposedly, it’s controlled chaos.That’s how you’re supposed to do it.There’s no feeling like it. You’re scared atfirst when you first start out. Over the years,it becomes just an excitement and you wantto do well.”
A host of riders put their skills on displaySaturday night at the Walker CountyFairgrounds for the final performance of theWalker County Rodeo.
For most riders, they all started out doinga little bit of everything as youngsters, buteventually stuck with riding horses in rodeocircuits.
“It fits my personality and it pushes youto your limits,” said bareback rider EvanJayne, a native of Marseille, France, whohas lived in Texas for the past 16 years.“That’s a good feeling when you can get offthe horse and say you gave it your all. It’s abig rush of adrenaline.
“It’s challenging. It’s fun. You learn alot.”
Whether they’re competing in barebackor in saddle bronc, the riders know theyhave an animal that weighs between 1,000to 1,300 pounds trying to buck them off asbest they can and the cowboys and cowgirlsare simply trying to hold on for dear life.
“You get numb to it. You don’t weigh anyof that stuff. If you’re thinking about num-
bers or danger, you’re getting on for thewrong reasons,” said saddle bronc riderJacobs Crawley, who competed in lastDecember’s National Finals Rodeo in LasVegas and rode Swagger Jacked.
“It never dawns on you until you’reunderneath them. Then you think about itreally fast. It’s more of you’re controllingyour own body weight. It’s more of howyou control your weight is what holds youon the animal. The animal’s doing every-thing it can and you’re trying to hold on.”
Bareback riding, the first event, presentedmore of a hometown feel with a pair ofcowboys, Bill Tutor and Ziober, fromWalker County as well as Jayne, who stillhas a home in Huntsville.
“It’s always great to come back to yourhometown and do what you love to do. Igrew up watching this rodeo, so it’s cool toride in it.
“With me and Tutor and even Evan beingaround Huntsville, it’s just cool that we’reall from around the same place. We grew upin high school rodeoing together. We’re allgetting to that point where we’re all com-peting really competitively in pro rodeo.”
Simms tosses complete game inthird career start
See even, page 3B
Sam Houstontakes twofrom DemonsKats continue softballhot streak, climb upSouthland standings
See two, page 2B
Competing in rodeos gives bareback, saddle bronc riders ‘adrenaline rush’
More to check out fromWalker County Rodeo For more coverage of Saturday’s rodeoperformance, check out page 4B, whichincludes pictures of competitors in variousevents.
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FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2014 THE HUNTSVILLE ITEM 7A
By gene scHallenBerg
BRENHAM — The compe-tition was a little tougher thistime around.
In the end, nothing couldkeep the Lady Hornets squadfrom winning their fourth con-secutive District 18-4A trackand field championship onThursday night at Cub Stadium,while the Huntsville boys fin-ished fourth.
The Lady Hornets got strongperformances from freshmanBlake Thomason in the 800-meter run and the relay teamsall finished second.
“I was in tears tonight,” LadyHornets girls track and fieldhead coach Kathy Lehman said.“I’m excited. I’m excited for thegirls.”
“We could not have done thiswithout all of our coaches likeJason Holbrook, Torie Oliphant,Denver Price, Terrence Bell and
Jaleesa Thomas. It takes every-body.”
Competing in her first districttrack and field meet, Thomasonshowed no signs of nervous-ness.
With Brenham’s CesiliInglehart and Willis’ VictoriaBurkhardt hot on her heels atthe front, Thomason turned onthe afterburners and pulled
away down the final stretch.With a time of 2:26.38,Thomason won a district title bya little more than two seconds.
“I felt like I would need topace myself,” Thomason said.“On the first 400, I felt good. Itwas a really fast 400. When the(final lap) bell rang, it was justone of those things that youknow to push past a wall or a
mental block.“I pushed past that and I tried
to open my stride. It was a goodrace. It was my second-besttime. I’m real happy.”
The 4-by-100 and the 4-by-200 relay teams helped keep theLady Hornets in the title pictureafter a pair of second-place fin-ishes.
The sprint relay team ofJalynn Archie, AminaOlajuwon, Moesha Straughterand Missy Archie crossed thefinish line in a time of 49.00seconds to take second.
In the 4-by-200 relay, Ashleygot it started in the opening legfor the Lady Hornets. ThenOlajuwon and Straughter putHuntsville in position to make arun.
“Knowing I was the first one,I had to be the energetic one andstart off good,” Ashley said.
After the final turn, Archiestarted kicking and found herway to the front. The Huntsvillegirls nearly won the race, finish-ing just 34 hundredths of a sec-ond behind Willis’ squad.
“I felt that if we had a littlemore time or space, wewould’ve caught up to Willis,”Archie said.
The Lady Hornets also got
By kevin roDriguez
For tHe Huntsville iteM
Sam Houston State welcomesAbilene Christian to Huntsvillethis weekend for the first timesince 2002. The series startstoday at 6:30 p.m. at DonSanders Stadium, continueswith a 4 p.m. contest Saturdayand the finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Bearkats (6-6 inSouthland Conference, 22-11overall) and Wildcats (2-4, 12-17) met every year from 1973 to1979 with the Kats holding a24-6 all-time advantage. Thetwo teams will meet regularlyonce again as Abilene is one offour new schools to have joinedthe Southland Conference thisyear.
Sam Houston has won threestraight games after rallying totake the crucial series at OralRoberts and again coming frombehind to beat Baylor at home
Kats hostAbileneChristiansam Houston statebaseball teambegins home seriestonight againstslc newcomers
FOUR the win ...
GENE SCHALLENBERG/THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMThe Lady Hornets squad was all smiles Thursday night after winning their fourth straight District 18-4A track and field championship. The Huntsville girls placedsecond in all three relay races and freshman distance runner Blake Thomason also won the district title in the 800-meter run. Those finishes helped the LadyHornets outlast Willis for the district title. Next up is the area-round meet, which is set for next Wednesday in Bastrop.
By BranDon k. scott
With a new coaching system anddozens of unproven players, theBearkats have hardly arrived towhere they want to be.
The way they see it, spring foot-ball has been the start of SamHouston State attempting a valiantreturn to its championship form of
two and three years ago, rather thana rebuild for one of only three teamsto make the Football ChampionshipSubdivision playoffs in each of thelast three seasons.
Sam Houston caps four weeks ofspring football practice withtonight’s Orange-White game atBowers Stadium.
The Kats bring back 13 startersfrom the 2013 playoff team and thebar has been set higher this season.
“It’s about getting back to wherewe’re used to being as champions,”said defensive back Desmond Fite.“But we want to be the SouthlandConference champions and win the
Time for a show at Bowers
lady Hornets winfourth consecutivedistrict title with
top two finishes inall three relays
GENE SCHALLENBERG/THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMSam Houston State quarterback Don King III (8) has taken mostof the first-string reps for the Bearkats at sping practice. King willcompete for the starting quarterback position this fall. Tonight’sspring game at Bowers Stadium begins at 7 p.m.
By Jason BarFielD
For tHe Huntsville iteM
WICKLIFFE, OHIO — TheBearkats had an up and downstart to the 2014 NCAABowling Championships onThursday, finishing the day witha record of 2-5 and will be the8th seed for Friday’s double-elimination bracket play.
The Kats finished the day ona high note, closing out day onewith their best score, beatingWisconsin-Whitewater 1087-974.
Cardona got the Kats goingearly, rolling strikes on her firstfive frames. She finished withthe high game of the day forSHSU with a 238. Right behindher was Groce who got it goinglate, finishing with a 237 after astretch of four straight strikesfrom the fifth through eighthframes.
Rough startfor SamHouston atbowlingchampionshipBearkats finish dayon high note, closewith best score
See Host, page 8A
See Four, page 8A
First look at newkats football teamcomes tonight atorange-White game
District 18-4a track anD FielD Meet
Tonight: Orange-WhiteSpring Game, BowersStadium, 7 p.m.
Tailgating party: Before the springgame, Sam Houston students and fanscan participate in Bearkat Alley tailgat-ing. Student Services will provide freefood for students with valid BearkatOneI.D.s.
Bearkat Football Experience: Childrenare included in the excitement as well. At6 p.m., youngsters ages 6 through 13can do drills with the Bearkats on theturf.
Bearkat FootBall
See spring, page 8A
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FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2014 THE HUNTSVILLE ITEM 7A
2014 NFl DraFt
a standout athlete for the Huntsville Hornets and oklahoma state,Justin Gilbert will now look to shine in nFl with Browns.
cleveland rocks
CRAIG RUTTLE/ASSOCIATED PRESSFormer Huntsville Hornet Justin Gilbert poses for photos after being selected by the Cleveland Browns as the eighth pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft on Thursday in New York. Gilbertbecame the fourth high school product from Huntsville to be selected in the NFL Draft and was the highest-overall selection at No. 8.
by geNe ScHalleNberg
Justin Gilbert’s future will be with theCleveland Browns.
Gilbert, a standout player with theHornets and then with Oklahoma State,became the highest draft pick in
gilbert becomes first
Huntsville Hornet
selected in first
round of NFl Draft
Huntsville’s historywith NFL Draft 1968 — Robert Holmes selected in14th round (375th overall) by Kansas CityChiefs (AFL).
1984 — Terry Hoage drafted in thirdround (68th overall) by New OrleansSaints
1997 — Chuck Clements picked insixth round (191st overall) by New YorkJets.
2014 — Justin Gilbert selected in firstround (No. 8 overall) by Cleveland Browns
See gilbert, page 8A
After a successful careerat Oklahoma State, whichwas capped when hewas a finalist for the JimThorpe Award presentedto college football’s bestdefensive back in 2013, itcame to no surprise toJustin Gilbert that he wasselected by the ClevelandBrowns in the NFL Drafton Thursday. Gilbertlooks forward to learningfrom Browns veteran cor-nerback Joe Haden.
SUE OGROCKI/ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS — Thisweekend, theProfessional Bull Riders’
tour will stop in Las Vegas.The show is called the LastCowboy Standing and the win-ner will receive $100,000.
The fourth annual LastCowboy Standing is scheduledfor Friday and Saturday, May9-10, at the Mandalay BayEvents Center.
A field of 50 credentialedbull riders will compete in thetwo-day show. Each rider hasto make the buzzer in order to
advance. The winner will bethe one, last cowboy who hascontinued to advance through-out a series of eliminations.
The preliminary rounds willbe broadcasted on CBS SportsNetwork on Friday, May 9, at11 p.m. ET. CBS NetworkTelevision will carry the finalrounds at 4 p.m. ET onSunday, May 11.
At the PBR’s May 2-4 tourstop in Colorado Springs,Brazilian Fabiano Vieiraearned a $25,000 check afterstaying on a bovine named
King Buck(BMCBuckingBulls) duringa promotioncalled the$25,000 BadBoy MowersBounty Bull.He turned ina score of89.25. Vieiraalso pocketed$10,055 afterfinishingfourth at the Built Ford Tough
Series show in ColoradoSprings.
Renato Nunes, the 2010PBR world champion, won thetitle in Colorado Springs andearned $36,741. Nunes haswon on back-to-back week-ends. He finished No. 1 at theApril 27 tour stop in DesMoines, Iowa, and pocketed$35,750.
In the Ford Series world titlerace, Nunes is ranked 19thwith 3,298 points. Vieira is
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SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2014 THE HUNTSVILLE ITEM 9A
uil StatE tRacK and FiEld mEEt
Gold standard
GENE SCHALLENBERG/THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMHuntsville senior Audie Wyatt blows kisses to the crowd after clearing 17 feet in the pole vault at the UIL Track and Field State Meet on Friday. After a clear-ance of 16-9, Wyatt clinched the Class 4A boys state title when runner-up Noah Gilfallen of Corsicana took a risk and opted out of his final attempt at 16-9 inorder to have one shot at 17-0 that fell short. Wyatt is the first Huntsville athlete to win gold at the state track and field meet since Justin Gilbert won the 200-meter dash in 2010.
By gEnE ScHallEnBERg
AUSTIN — Huntsville sen-ior Audie Wyatt couldn’t havescripted a more fitting conclu-sion to his high school track andfield career.
Competing at the UIL Trackand Field State Meet for thefirst time, Wyatt cleared barafter bar in the pole vault,including a best of 17 feet, andcame away with gold on Friday.
Wyatt outlasted practice part-ner Antionio Ruiz of TomballMemorial and Corsicana’sNoah Gilfillan to win the Class4A boys pole vault state cham-pionship at Mike A. MyersStadium on the campus of theUniversity of Texas.
“It means everything to me.This is all I’ve been aiming forall year,” said Wyatt, who willpole vault on scholarship atTexas A&M in the fall. “All I
wanted was 17 feet and a goldmedal and I got it.
“I was really excited with myperformance. It was a toughcompetition.”
Before Wyatt even began,the competition was halted after20 minutes of action due tolightning in the area whileWyatt and a few others werewarming up and ready to maketheir first runs down the run-way.
After the nearly hour-longdelay, Wyatt struggled at first ashe entered the competition at 15feet, 6 inches and scratched onhis first two attempts.
Facing elimination and pos-sibly not recording a mark,Wyatt cleared the bar on hisfinal attempt.
“We had a delay, so it waspretty tough for everyone,”Wyatt said. “I can understandwhy a few people messed up.You just have to get your head
right.“I almost no-heighted today.
I brought myself back fromthat. I got my confidence backup.”
One of his competitors and
practice partner, Jacob Wootenof Tomball Memorial, didn’ttake to the delay well. Wooten,the field’s No. 1 seed whocleared 17 feet to win the Class
Huntsville senior audie Wyattclears 16 feet, 9 inches, wins state gold medal
in pole vault event
GENE SCHALLENBERG/THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMHuntsville's Audie Wyatt flies over the bar during the Class 4A boys polevault on Friday. After nearly not recording a mark on his first height, Wyatt goton a roll and cleared heights of 15 feet, 9 inches, 16-3 and 16-9 on his firstattempt.
See gold, page 10A
Last cowboy standing in Las Vegas gets 100 large
See laSt, page 10A
BRETTHOFFMAN
RodEo
inSidER
By KEvin RodRiguEz
FoR tHE HuntSvillE itEm
Tyler Eppler tossed his thirdcareer complete game and struckout a career high nine batters tolead the Sam Houston baseballteam to a 3-1 win over HoustonBaptist on Friday in Houston.The Bearkats (35-14, 17-8 SLC)and Huskies (22-24, 11-14 SLC)play game two today at 1 p.m.
Sam Houston took an earlylead when shortstop Corey Toupsled off the second inning with ahome run to left center field. Thehomer is Toups’ fifth this seasonand his first since the AbileneChristian series.
Houston Baptist tied the gamein the fourth after three straightone-out singles. Eppler was ableto work out of the jam withoutany more damage.
The junior right-hander retiredthe next 12 batters after allowingthe RBI single in the fourth. Abunt single in the eighth inningprovided the only other base run-ner from the fifth through ninthinnings.
Designated hitter HaydenSimerly gave the Kats the leadright back in the fifth inning.
By William JonES
SpEcial to tHE itEm
HAMMOND, La. – Due toinclement weather, SouthlandConference Softball Tournamentgames scheduled for Friday havebeen postponed. Tournamentofficials will meet again today at7 a.m., to reassess field condi-tions. There are currently no setgame times for the remainder ofthe tournament.
The tournament’s next game(weather permitting) will featureNo. 3 Sam Houston State andNo. 5 Houston Baptist followedby No. 4 Stephen F. Austin andNo. 6 Central Arkansas. Thethird game in line will pit No. 1seed McNeese State against No.2 seed Northwestern State, witha berth in the tournament cham-pionship on the line.
For immediate updates on theSouthland Conference SoftballTournament, check www.south-land.org, Facebook or Twitter.
Southlandtourneypostponeddue toweather
Kats winseriesopener inHoustonEppler tosses 9 Ks,Sam Houston beatsHouston Baptist 3-1
DAVID BARFIELD/FOR THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMSam Houston State junior pitcher Tyler Epplerstruck out nine batters in the Bearkats’ 3-1 vic-tory against Houston Baptist on Friday.
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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2014 THE HUNTSVILLE ITEM 1B
coloraDo state-PueBlo 47, sam Houston state 21
ThundersTruck
By Paul rIDIngs Jr. for tHe HuntsvIlle Item
For the second time in twodays, Sam Houston State ralliedto take a strong opponent to fivesets. Houston held off theBearkats in the Kats’ final matchof the Flo Hyman CupChallenge in Houston.
The Cougars won a hard-fought 25-22, 25-28, 13-25, 23-25, 16-14 match to up their sea-son record to 6-2. Sam Houstonreturns to Huntsville with a 6-4season mark.
Friday, in their first twomatches of the tournament, theBearkats rallied from two sets toone down to defeat Oral Robertsin five, then lost in three tounbeaten Louisiana-Lafayette.
Deveney Wells-Gibson ledthe Bearkats with 22 kills.Brooke White and CarlingUrben each added 12 kills.
Setter Michelle Griffithassisted on 51 of Sam Houston’s71 kills. Breana Homer andWells-Gibson led the Katdefense with dig totals of 26 and18, respectively.
Sam Houston fought hard ineach set. Behind for much of thefirst set, the Kats fought back to
Sam Houston State edged by Houston in five sets in tourney finaleAfter winning afive-set affair overOral Roberts andfalling in straightsets toLouisiana-Lafayette onFriday, SamHouston Statelibero ClaireKirkpatrick (2)and the Bearkatsfell in five sets toHouston onSaturday to wrapup the FloHyman CupChallenge inHouston.
JOSHUA YATES/THE HUNTSVILLE
ITEM
Wells-gibson leadsBearkats with 22kills against cougars
See fInale, page 2B
By Paul tIerney
Sam Houston State walked throughthe narrow hallways of Ron MafrigeField House in total silence and mostly insingle file after its 47-21 defeat at thehands of Division II Colorado State-Pueblo on Saturday at Bowers Stadium.As the 15th-ranked Bearkats straggledinto their locker room, theThunderwolves could be heard chantingat the top of their lungs down the hall.
Senior running back Keshawn Hillsaid the game was over before halftime,and not just because the score was 27-0 atthe break.
“We lost the game in the second quar-ter,” Hill said. “Some people gave up.Some people started pointing fingers.Some people were cussing each otherout. You lost right there. No composure.No composure at all.
“Yeah, things were getting a little fran-tic but we can’t point fingers and wecan’t fight each other. Because not onlywere we fighting each other, we had tofight somebody else on the field. Oncewe started doing that, we lost the battleright there. The game was over.”
In a game where the Bearkats (1-3)were supposed to put its 56-0 defeatagainst LSU behind them and run ram-pant over a Division II school, theyinstead made CSU-Pueblo look like theytoo were a perennial SEC power.
At halftime, Sam Houston had oneyard of total offense. Quarterback JaredJohnson had been sacked six times andfumbled the ball inside the Bearkats’ 15-yard line early in the second quarter.
Although the Thunderwolves’ defen-sive line was able to create pressure,most of Johnson’s struggles stemmedfrom his inability to get rid of the footballwhile in the pocket. He was pulled fromthe game toward the end of the thirdquarter in favor of backup Don King III.
After the game, Keeler acknowledgedthat he may have been better off pullingJohnson even earlier than he did. Moreimportantly, Keeler would not commit tonaming Johnson the starter for the team’sSouthland Conference opener at Lamaron Sept. 27.
“It’s one of those things where youhave to look at the film,” Keeler said.“We feel really good about Jared’s talent
Home winning streak snapped as Bearkats blown out by second-ranked Division II squad
JOSHUA YATES/THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMSam Houston State quarterback Jared Johnson is corralled by Colorado State-Pueblo defensive end Morgan Fox in the second quarter of Saturday’s game at Bowers Stadium. Johnson felt the pressureas soon as the Bearkats took their first snap. Johnson was sacked six times as the 15th-ranked Bearkats struggled to move the ball at all in Sam Houston’s 47-21 loss to the Thunderwolves, who areranked No. 2 in Division II. Sam Houston State finished with 226 yards of offense, but only had 1 yard at the break with one first down.
JOSHUA YATES/THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMBearkats defensive tackle Jacoby Hunter (98) tries to get a hold of Colorado State-Pueblo runningback Cameron McDondle (30) on Saturday. Along with the offensive struggles, the defense found ithard to contain the Thunderwolves offense. By halftime, Colorado State-Pueblo had 206 yards anda 27-0 lead. The Thunderwolves finished with 446 yards of total offense. See kats, page 4B
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2014 THE HUNTSVILLE ITEM 1B
CMYK
sam Houston state 42, no. 24 stePHen F. austin 28
Four times as sweetBy Paul tierney
HOUSTON — In the hotelprior to taking the field for hisfinal Battle of the Piney Woodsshowdown against 24th-rankedStephen F. Austin, Sam HoustonState senior running backKeshawn Hill joked with histeammates that he was going toscore six touchdowns.
He wasn’t far off.Hill gashed the Lumberjacks
for four touchdowns on runs of59, 31, 3 and 32 yards to spur theBearkats on their way to a 42-28victory on Saturday at NRGStadium in the latest edition ofthe Battle of the Piney Woods.
Hill became one of just fourSam Houston players ever toscore four rushing touchdownsin a game. The senior tailbackfinished with 154 yards on 14carries.
Sam Houston has now wonfour consecutive rivalrymatchups against Stephen F.Austin and four of the fivegames that have been played at
NRG Stadium.“I was imagining,” Hill said.
“Last year I had a good game. Iwasn’t even starting and I scoredtwice. Coming into this game, Ifelt like there was somethingspecial I could do.”
Earlier in the week, Bearkatscoach K.C. Keeler stressed theimportance of grabbing the earlymomentum. The Lumberjacksnearly put the Bearkats on theirheels on their first drive of thegame. Stephen F. Austin widereceiver Aaron Thomas hauledin a 32-yard touchdown, but itwas negated by an illegal shiftpenalty.
After forcing a punt, it tookSam Houston (4-1 in SouthlandConference, 5-4 overall) justfour plays to sprint 80 yardsthrough the Lumberjacksdefense to the end zone on Hill’sfirst explosive run of the game.The shift in momentum forcedthe Lumberjacks into an earlyhole.
“If you have a mature football
Hill’s four-touchdown performance leads Bearkats to fourth straight Battle of Piney woods victory
JOSHUA YATES/THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMSam Houston State running back Keshawn Hill breaks free for a 31-yard touchdown in the second quarter of Saturday’s 42-28 victory over 24th-ranked Stephen F. Austin on Saturday at NRG Stadiumin Houston in the Battle of the Piney Woods rivalry game. Hill ran for four touchdowns and 154 yards as the Bearkats won comfortably. After Saturday’s games, Sam Houston is tied for first place in theSouthland Conference.
Bearkats safetyMichael WadestopsLumberjackswide receiverAaron Thomas(81) dead in histracks after acompletion.Despite givingup 516 yards oftotal offense,Sam HoustonState’s defensekept Stephen F.Austin in check,especially asthe Bearkatsgot on a rolland took a 35-14 lead early inthe third quar-ter.
JOSHUA YATES/THE HUNTSVILLE
ITEM See sweet, page 4B
