Box Score Huntsville, Texas—Although the expectations may not have been high, the spirit, pride and passion of Panhandle State was prominent both on the field and in the stands Saturday evening as the Aggies faced their most challenging opponent in recent history. Sam Houston State entered the season ranked No. 2 in the nation at the Division I level, and proved their status with a 59-21 victory over a strong-willed Aggie team.
The Bearkats season-opening Orange Out brought over 8,600 fans to Bowers Stadium, including a small but spirited group of Aggie fans who gathered to support their team. Among the group was Panhandle State's newly appointed president, Dr. Tim Faltyn, and his family, wife Kelly and son Max. Taking great pride in the people of Panhandle Faltyn commented after the game, "We made the trip down for our season opener because we believe in our student athletes and coaching staff. We may not have won, but Coach Gaskamp's team played tough, showed a lot of grit and did us all proud."
Not only were the Aggies taking on six-time Southland Conference Champions and Semi-Finalists in last year's FCS playoffs, they were competing on the national stage of ESPN3. Panhandle's defense showed great composure holding the Bearkats' to a punt on the opening drive of the game. Senior QB
Shane Truelove came out with a pass complete to wide receiver
Andrew Hernandez, who played with poise and maturity scoring two of the Aggies' three touchdowns later in the game.
An action-packed first quarter saw a combined five touchdowns with Sam Houston taking a 21-14 lead after the first fifteen minutes of play. The Bearkats scored on two consecutive drives midway through the quarter, but were surprised after their second TD as junior wide receiver
Devyn Williams took the kickoff return 90 yards downfield, putting Panhandle on the board with their first touchdown of the day.
The following series Sam Houston's quarterback Jeremi Briscoe connected on three of four passes moving the ball 61 yards into Aggie territory; on the fifth play of the drive their star running back Corey Avery rushed 15 yards into the end zone to increase the Bearkat lead 21-7. A ten-yard Williams return on the ensuing kickoff put the Aggies on their own 22 yardline with 1:13 left in the first quarter. Running back
Rod Moore grounded out seven yards on the next play and Truelove followed up with a two-yard completion to Hernandez; just one yard shy of the first down. On third and one Truelove looked long to Hernandez who made a great double-move for the reception and a 69-yard touchdown as the quarter ended. Kicker
Sterling Claphan added the extra point for Panhandle, his second of the game; the true freshman performed well under the pressure of his first collegiate appearance in front of a big crowd.
A 23-yard field goal by Sam Houston to start the second quarter sent the Aggies down by ten points (24-14). A well-placed kickoff by the Bearkats was caught on the OPSU one yardline by receiver
Steven White, Jr. who was only allowed seven yards on the return. The Aggies were held in their own red zone forcing a punt by sophomore
Jacob Test which was caught at the Panhandle 45 for no return. Briscoe then marched the Bearkats 50 yards on four plays for another home team touchdown bringing the score to 31-14. Sam Houston scored again at the five-minute mark which would be the final points added by either team in the first half. However, the Aggies made things interesting at the end of the quarter by going for it on a fourth-and-fifteen play with a fake punt that saw Claphan send a 25-yard pass to defensive back
Olen Brown which was caught for the first down. The Aggies were held at the SHSU 33 and went into the locker room trailing by a score of 38-14.
After halftime the Bearkats shifted to their running game and took 11 plays for 52 yards (39 rushing) and a touchdown on their opening drive of the third quarter. The Aggies maintained an even offense in the third but were unable to find the endzone. On their second series the Aggies converted on a third-and-three play with a Truelove pass complete to sophomore
Eddie Thomas IV and moved the chains for another first down pass completion to
Dorion Barnett good for 37 yards. Three consecutive rushes by
Xavier Jones left the Aggies just shy of the first down, but the decision was made to go for it on fourth-and-two and Truelove came through with a pass to tight end J.B. Frontz putting the Aggies in scoring range on the SHSU 24 yardline. The Bearkat defense held them to five yards and left the Aggies sitting at fourth-and-four where they were denied a second opportunity to advance the markers. Sophomore
D.J. Scott took over for Truelove towards the end of the third quarter and did a good job in his first performance as an Aggie.
Scott notched his first collegiate touchdown at the 13:10 mark of the fourth quarter with a 35-yard pass to
Andrew Hernandez on the first play of the Aggies' opening drive. Claphan's PAT added the final point of the game for Panhandle, but the Bearkats weren't finished and went on to score two more TDs ending with a 38-point victory over the Aggies.
Sam Houston's defense put a stop to the Panhandle State running game, allowing the Aggies only 55 yards rushing for the game; the Bearkats ran for 279 yards led by Corey Avery who totaled 70 yards and one rushing touchdown. Senior RB
Rod Moore led the Aggies on the ground with 29 yards rushing. Both teams were productive in the pass game with Sam Houston earning 389 yards and four TDs passing, and the Aggies totaling 311 yards and two TDs with the pass. Truelove connected on 17 of 27 attempts for 219 yards and one touchdown in the air; Sam Houston's Briscoe went 26 of 39 for 338 yards and three TDs. The Aggies' young backup, Scott, had a 61 percent completion rate with eight catches on 13 attempts and one touchdown. Panhandle's
Andrew Hernandez led the game in receiving with 133 yards and two TDs on seven receptions; the Bearkats' leading receivers were Derrick Dick and Grant Finley with 72 and 67 yards apiece respectively.
The Aggie defense was led by D-lineman
Charles Stone, Jr. and defensive back
Shecari Johnson who totaled five solo tackles each. Sam Houston's leading tackler was Sammy Webb with six solos. Panhandle DB
Jermaine Wright brought down the only interception of the game for 17 yards, and Sione Latu was credited with the game's only sack for SHSU. The Bearkat defense combined for 17 yards on eight tackles-for-loss and had one pass breakup. Senior linebacker
Brandon Gipe was credited with the Aggies' only TFL and
Marcus McCants was credited with two of the Aggies' five pass breakups.
Head Coach
Russell Gaskamp said this of the Aggies' first outing, "It was good to get the first one in the bank. We will be a better team next week." Of their opponent he stated, "Sam Houston is an outstanding football program that is going to have a great year. That said, I wasn't happy with our execution tonight at all. We are a better team than what we showed, and I expected us to play better; especially on the offensive side. We didn't run the ball at all, and defensively we didn't tackle anyone in space. We have a lot to clean up before next week; but historically, we have always made big strides between games one and two. I expect us to improve a lot this week."
Another long road trip this week will take the Aggies to face the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, another Division I matchup before entering Lone Star Conference play. The Golden Lions hold an 0-1 record after an opening loss to Tennessee State (44-0). Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 at Golden Lion Stadium in Pine Bluff.
