Huskies lose in finale to cap best season
HUNTSVILLE — Winning seasons have become the norm at Sam Houston State. For Houston Baptist, a .500 record would be a milestone for the fledgling football program.
Each team was in position to achieve their respective goals on Saturday afternoon at Bowers Stadium in the season finale for both.
HBU still has some work to do. The tandem of quarterback Eric Schmid and wide reciever Chandler Harvin proved to be a winning combination for the Bearkats, and the duo teamed up for three touchdowns in Sam Houston’s 37-14 victory over Houston Baptist.
The Southland Conference win for the Bearkats (7-5, 6-3) secured a winning season for the 10th straight year, a program high. HBU ends its most successful season at 5-7 and 2-6 in the SLC.
“This was a first for me,” Bearkats coach K.C. Keeler said. “Twenty-six years as a head football coach, and I’ve never coached a game angrier like I coached today. Watching us play and knowing what we could have been.
“It’s just so disappointing because the talent, the attitudes, the leadership. This is what championship teams are made of. I’ve been around enough to know. An opportunity (this season) was missed here.”
Sam Houston ends the decade with 99 wins, second only to North Dakota State (132) in FCS. Sam Houston shut out SLC champion Nicholls 17-0 last month.
Sam Houston’s five losses in 2019 were by a combined 22 points. The Bearkats’ top three quarterbacks have been hampered by injuries, including Schmid, who missed parts of four games with a broken hand.
Schmid is now at full strength and had a healthy game against the Huskies, who were attempting to finish with an even record for the first time. Schmid, a redshirt sophomore from The Woodlands, played at a high level, passing for 420 yards and four touchdowns, completing 34 of 57 passes, accounting for a big part of the Bearkats 561 yards.
Harvin was Schmid’s favorite target, hauling in 13 catches for 188 yards. By halftime Harvin, a walk-on, had 10 receptions for 184 yards and three touchdowns. Harvin caught scoring passes of 50, 38 and 10 yards from Schmid.
“He (Harvin) came out and did everything he was supposed to and made some plays,” Schmid said.
Bailey Zappe threw for 367 yards and two touchdowns, completing 29 of 64 passes, in a losing effort as the Huskies only amassed 22 rushing yards.
“Our main focus every game is to stop the run,” Sam Houston senior linebacker Royce See said. “If you stop the run and make a team one-dimensional, that changes the game completely.”
With its running game struggling, HBU went full-go on the passing game. In the first half, Zappe threw 25 incompletions, completing 12 of 37 passes as Sam Houston scored the first 27 points en route to a 27-7 halftime lead
After the first quarter, Schmid had completed 12 of 14 passes for 229 yards and three scores. By halftime, Schmid had accumulated 342 yards passing. Schmid completed eight of his first nine pass attempts for 117 yards and a touchdown. Zappe started 2 of 9 for 27 yards.
HBU wide receiver Ben Ratzlaff caught 13 passes for 178 yards and scoring passes of 25 and 17 yards from Zappe. Zappe also targeted Jerreth Sterns, whose nine receptions for 57 yards gave him 105 catches on the season.
On special teams, Matt McRobert’s 74-yard punt following Sam Houston’s first possession, tied a school record for longest punt.
HBU’s five wins is most in the six-year history of the program, started under coach Vic Shealy with a partial developmental season in 2013. The Huskies’ previous high was a 4-7 record in 2016.