THORN REMOVED
Bearkats hold on to unseat typically dominant Bison in quarterfinals
HUNTSVILLE — In the minutes before one of the biggest games in Sam Houston history — and certainly its grandest (and only) football game in May — Bearkats coach K.C. Keeler allowed himself a moment to glance into the Bowers Stadium stands.
“It felt like football,” a satisfied Keeler said.
With a rowdy crowd of about 5,000 on hand, easily its largest of the season, Sam Houston slipped past a longtime thorn in its side, North Dakota State, 24-20 on Sunday in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
“You saw two heavyweights throwing punches,” Keeler said. “The big difference in the programs is they’ve won the national championships and we haven’t.”
The Bearkats (8-0) are two victories from their first FCS national title and first of any kind since they split an NAIA championship in 1964. They will face James Madison in the semifinals in Huntsville on Saturday.
Another victory would mean playing in the title game May 16 in Frisco. The FCS season was pushed from the fall to this spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re going to enjoy this for 10 hours,” Keeler said, “and after that, North Dakota State doesn’t even exist in our minds.”
Sam Houston seemed on its way to a comfortable victory, leading 17-2 in the third quarter, but a couple of big-time special teams breakdowns allowed the Bison (7-3) to climb back into the contest.
North Dakota State’s Christian Watson returned a kickoff 94 yards to tighten Sam Houston’s lead to 17-9, and the Bison’s Braylon Henderson followed with a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown. North Dakota State converted its twopoint conversion, and the score was tied at 17-17 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bison managed their first kick and punt returns for a touchdown in the same game since 2013 at Indiana State. North Dakota State scored its first 17 points Sunday on a safety and the two returns before adding a 33-yard field goal with 8:17 left in the game to grab its first lead at 20-17.
Sam Houston coolly responded with a nine-play, 72-yard drive capped by quarterback and The Woodlands alumnus Eric Schmid’s 6-yard touchdown run up the middle. Schmid’s score had been set up by the play of the game: a 47-yard completion from Schmid to Ife Adeyi along the left sideline on a third-and-10 heave.
“He made a great catch — he ran by the dude,” said Schmid, adding that Adeyi promised him earlier in the game he’d do as much when called upon in a clutch situation. “We picked a good time to do that.”
Keeler watched in wonder as Adeyi deftly pulled in the pass just inbounds, setting up Sam Houston inside the Bison 10-yard line.
“There was no panic,” Keeler said of the offense’s approach leading to the game-winning drive. “Ife has such phenomenal speed — he’s maybe the fastest player I’ve ever coached. You talk about a big-time catch. There wasn’t a lot of room on the sideline, and that was an over-the-shoulder (grab).”
The Bearkats then held tight on a final Bison offensive possession that ended with an incompletion in the Sam Houston end zone on fourth down with 29 seconds remaining. Bison defensive end Logan McCormick described Sunday’s loss as “shocking” to a program accustomed to winning in the playoffs.
“We have to be able to make plays when given the opportunity. It’s not just going to fall in our hands,” McCormick said.
The Bison stomped the Bearkats 55-13 in December 2017 in the FCS semifinals in Fargo, N.D., and a handful of Sam Houston veterans were on hand for that road stumble in the postseason.
“Since my freshman year, that one loss was stinging the most,” Bearkats safety Tristin McCollum said. “We’ve come so far since that loss. The confidence is booming, and we want to keep our foot on the gas pedal and play that great defense. We pride ourselves on swarming and competing.”
North Dakota State also was in the news this past week after quarterback Trey Lance was selected No. 3 overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL draft Thursday night. But Lance played in only one game before opting to begin preparing for the NFL draft, so he was not part of the equation Sunday.
The Bison had won eight of the last nine FCS titles, all in Frisco. North Dakota State defeated Sam Houston and then-Bearkats coach Willie Fritz in the 2011 and 2012 championship games — long before any of the current Sam Houston players were on board.
“Our guys were warriors,” Keeler said of Sunday’s effort, “and we got it done.”