Nov. 16, 2007

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SAN MARCOS - Records tumbled. Generators exploded. And amidst the mayhem Sam Houston State scored 19 unanswered points including a five-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds to play as the Bearkats defeated Texas State 29-28 Thursday.

Texas State wide receiver Cameron Luke set new season records for receiving yards (1035) and touchdown receptions (12) and tied a school record with 60 catches. Both Sam Houston's Chris Poullard and Texas State's Karrington Bush reached the 1,000-yard rushing plateau. Poullard rushed for 114 yards to give him 1,038 for the year while Bush wrapped up his red-shirt freshman season with 1,039 yards.

Bobcat senior punter Chris MacDonald averaged 48.4 yards on five punts en route to setting school records for punting average (45.9 yards) and career punting average at 44.7 yards.

A lot of the highlights went unseen by a Fox Sports Net Southwest regional television audience as a generator failure blacked out the broadcast in the first quarter.

The power came on at the start of the second half and as more fans clicked their remotes back to FSN, Sam Houston began to mount a comeback.

Texas State quarterback Bradley George had two straight passes intercepted, leading to a pair of Poullard one-yard touchdown runs.

A play after Sam Houston State quarterback Brett Hicks was intercepted by Bobcat senior safety Daniel Varvel, George was picked off by Bryan Richmond at the Sam Houston 23 and returned 36 yards to the Texas State 41.

Poullard would run for 13 yards on third-and 10 and Hicks would complete a 27-yard pass to Chris Lucas down to the one. From there, Poullard dived into the end zone to cut the Bobcats' lead to 28-16.

The Bobcats started the next drive inside their own 10 thanks to a holding flag on the kickoff. After a one-yard run by Stan Zwinggi, George had a pass deflected at the line of scrimmage by Chris Brown and intercepted by Jerod Brown. Brown dived toward the end zone with the ball and ended up at the one. Poullard bulled into the end zone on the Bearkats' next play and cut the lead to 28-22.

After both scoring series Sam Houston State elected to go for a two-point conversions but failed. The missed point after tries meant the Bearkats needed another touchdown to tie.

Texas State had an opportunity to run the clock when the Bobcats took possession with 4:23 to play.

Bush rushed for 13 yards to near midfield on the first play from scrimmage but the drive quickly stalled. Bush ran for no gain and then lost one to set up third-and-11. George would throw an incompletion and MacDonald came back on the field for his fifth punt.

The Mesa, Ariz., product angled for the corner and the ball hit at the three and bounded toward the goal line. A Bobcat defender pushed the ball back out to the one but the play was ruled a touchback and Sam Houston started its game-winning drive from its own 20 with 2:47 to play.

The series started with Hicks completing a 17-yard pass to Catron Houston. Poullard would rush for nine yards after a false start. An eight-yard Hicks pass was completed to Justin Wells near midfield for a first down.

Hicks would later hook up with Lucas for a 20-yard completion to the 26. The Bearkats faced third-and-two from the 18 when Hicks connected with Houston for eight yards.

Poullard rushed for five yards on first-and-goal from the 10. Hicks then tossed a pair of incompletions before finding Lucas at the goal line for the game-winning score with 13 seconds to play.

Hicks completed his first seven passes on the game-winning drive and finished the night completing 23-of-43 passes for 254 yards. George completed 19-of-29 passes for 230 yards and two scores.

The Bobcats had 485 yards of total offense compared to Sam Houston's 365 and dominated the time of possession with 35:53 of clock time on offense.

Texas State needed only four plays to put the game's first points on the scoreboard, marching 77 yards downfield. Luke had two catches for 46 yards on the possession, including an 11-yard touchdown reception that tied the school record for touchdown receptions in a season and put the `Cats up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.

The Bearkats also staged a scoring drive their first time out, moving 55 yards in 10 plays over a four minute span. After moving down to the Bobcat 16 yard line, Mike Rutledge broke up Hicks' pass intended for Josh Brown, forcing Sam Houston State to settle for a 33-yard Taylor Wilkins field goal that made it 7-3 with 9:21 remaining in the opening quarter.

Bush keyed Texas State's next possession with 47 rushing yards on five carries that set up a first and goal from the six. The `Cats failed to capitalize though, as a holding penalty erased an Alvin Canady touchdown before Bush threw an interception at the goal line on a halfback pass.

After a pair of punts, Texas State found the end zone again in the second quarter. An 18-yard completion to Galen Dunk brought the Bobcats back to the Sam Houston State six yard line, only this time three running plays capped by George diving in from a yard out resulted in a touchdown. The drive totaled 73 yards on 11 plays while taking 4:23 off the clock.

Poullard broke the Bearkats back within four on the ensuing possession. After Hicks threw a 36-yard pass to Houston on the drive's opening play, Poullard did the rest with five carries for 35 yards and a touchdown that trimmed the lead to 14-10 with 6:29 left in the half.

Texas State ran out the rest of the first half clock with a 14 play, 54-yard drive that failed to produce points, as Andrew Ireland's 37-yard field goal attempt was blocked by the Bearkats' Wonsele Brewer just before half time.

The Bobcats finally looked to break the game open in the third quarter. Marcus Clark forced the game's first turnover when he intercepted Hicks at the Sam Houston State 40 and returned it 14 yards to the 26. On the very next play, Luke caught his record-setting touchdown after finding an opening in the middle of the field to extend the lead back to double digits at 21-10 with 9:12 to go in the third.

Another turnover, this time when Rutledge broke up a pass on fourth and nine from the Texas State 31, gave the `Cats an opportunity to build a three-possession lead. A 12 play drive that included nine runs milked nearly six minutes off the clock while Stan Zwinggi's three yard score put Texas State up 28-10 through three quarters.