HAMMOND - Sam Houston State's D.D. Terry ran for 278 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries to lead Bearkats past Southeastern Louisiana, 28-23, in the Lions' 2006 season finale on Saturday night in Strawberry Stadium.
Terry's performance - the second-highest rushing yardage total in SHSU history - spoiled Senior Night for the Lions (2-9, 1-5 SLC), who honored 21 seniors in a special ceremony prior to the contest. The Bearkats (6-4, 4-1 SLC) remained atop the Southland Conference standings with the victory.
Southeastern senior quarterback Seth Babin received the starting nod for the Lions in his final career game and responded with his best-ever statistical performance. The St. Amant native completed 34 of 63 passes for a career-high 325 yards and two touchdowns.
Freshman Crawford Kilpatrick was on the receiving end of 11 of Babin's passes for a career-high 128 yards and a touchdown. Senior Josh Wilson and freshman Krishna Muhammad also recorded touchdown receptions for the Lions, with Muhammad's coming on a three-yard halfback pass from sophomore tailback Jay Lucas.
The Lions simply could not stop Terry, who averaged nine yards per carry and rushed for 186 yards in the second half. The Bearkats, who led 7-3 at the half, ensured the Lions would be playing catch up the rest of the game with the opening drive of the second half.
On the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Terry rolled for a 41-yard to the Southeastern six-yard line. Three plays later, Terry powered in from a yard out to give the Bearkats a 14-3 lead.
Both teams were stopped on downs on the two ensuing possessions. On the next Lion drive, Babin opened the march with a 39-yard strike to Kilpatrick. After a incomplete pass and a short Babin rush, the Lions were faced with third-and-nine at the SHSU 33.
With all his receivers covered, Babin rolled for a 19-yard scamper to the SHSU 14 to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, Lucas faked out the Bearkat defense, pulling up short on a toss sweep and finding a wide open Muhammad open in the back of the endzone to pull the Lions to within 14-10.
On the ensuing kickoff, SHSU returner Derrick Harris gave the Bearkats great field position at midfield. But the Bearkats could not take advantage, as quarterback Brett Hicks was intercepted by diving sophomore cornerback Demerious Johnson at the Southeastern 15.
The Lions could not get a sustained drive going and was forced to punt. On the fourth play of Sam Houston State's drive, Terry burst around the right side and out-ran everyone to the endzone with a 51-yard touchdown run to put Sam Houston State up, 21-10.
Southeastern came right back with an 11-play, 69-yard drive that took 4:26 off the clock. Babin completed the last nine passes of the drive, including a nine-yard scoring strike to Wilson to close the SHSU gap to 21-17 with 7:01 left.
Any hope of a Southeastern comeback was dashed on the next drive. Facing a third-and-six from his own 44, Hicks found an open Brian Christian on a 29-yard seam route. A 15-yard facemask on cornerback Corlando McChristion was tacked on, giving the Bearkats a first down on the Southeastern 14. Terry did the rest, capping the drive with a 12-yard scoring scamper to give the Bearkats a 28-17 edge with 2:58 left.
Babin tried valiantly on the final drive, marching Southeastern 85 yards on 15 plays in just over two minutes. Kilpatrick made a leaping grab over a SHSU defender on a 12-yard scoring pass to pull Southeastern within five at 28-23. Lucas' halfback pass attempt on the two-point conversion attempt failed and SHSU recovered Jim Hall's onside kick to clinch the victory.
The Lions were fortunate to come out in the second half within striking distance, as SHSU squandered several scoring opportunities. Curtis Parks missed two field goals under 35 yards and another promising SHSU march was ended by a Hicks interception. The Bearkats only score came on the second drive of the first quarter, with Hicks hitting Blake Martin on a 15-yard score.
Southeastern had trouble moving the ball throughout the opening period. On the final drive of the half, the Lions marched to the SHSU eight-yard line and Jeff Turner connected on a 25-yard field goal to pull the Lions within four at 7-3.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Sam Houston State... 7 0 7 14 - 28 Record: (6-4,4-1)
Southeastern La..... 0 3 7 13 - 23 Record: (2-9,1-5)
Scoring Summary:
1st
SHSU - Martin 15 pass from Hicks (Parks kick) 6:13
2nd
SLU - Turner 25 FG 0:00
3rd
SHSU - Terry 1 run (Parks kick) 12:21
SLU - Muhammad 3 pass from Lucas (Turner kick) 2:36 14 - SLU 10
4th
SHSU - Terry 51 run (Parks kick) 11:36
SLU - Wilson 9 pass from Babin (Turner kick) 7:01
SHSU - Terry 12 run (Parks kick) 2:58
SLU - Kilpatrick 12 pass from Babin (Lucas pass failed) 0:33
SHSU SLU
FIRST DOWNS................... 20 24
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 38-286 23-53
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 113 328
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 25-10-2 65-35-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 63-399 88-381
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-17 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 3-90 5-83
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-8 2-21
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 2-44.0 6-33.3
Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards............... 6-36 6-53
Possession Time............... 28:16 31:44
Third-Down Conversions........ 4 of 11 11 of 22
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 2 1 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-5 4-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 1-8
RUSHING: SHSU-Terry 31-278; Audelin 3-6; Hicks 3-3; TEAM 1-minus 1. SLU-Babin, 5-17; Lucas 9-16; Gilbert 5-11; Garrett 1-7; Adams 3-2.
PASSING: SHSU-Hicks 10-25-2-113. SLU-Babin 34-63-0-325; Lucas 1-1-0-3; Hall 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING: SHSU-Perry 3-40; Terry 2-16; Malone 2-11; Christian 1-29; Martin 1-15; Houston 1-2. SLU-Kilpatrick 11-128; Wilson 7-56; Lucas 5-35; Ross 4-48; Garrett 3-32; Muhammad 3-11; Adams 2-18.
