The Bearkats (10-2), who scored on each of their first four possessions, advance to face Eastern Washington — a 35-31 winner over top-seeded Southern Illinois — next weekend in the quarterfinals. It was the most points ever allowed in the postseason by the Hilltoppers, who ended the season 9-3.
The Bearkats started their first offensive possession with a short field after Greg Brown forced a Lerron Moore fumble on the WKU-24 that was recovered by Chadd Oliphant. Dustin Long completed 2-of-3 passes as SHSU picked up a pair of first downs before a 2-yard touchdown run from Robert Garmon gave the Bearkats a 7-0 lead with 12:10 remaining in the opening quarter.
WKU answered with a 54-yard scoring pass from Justin Haddix to Maurice Perkins on 3rd-and-10 with 8:48 to go, but Long led an eight-play, 67-yard march that culminated with a 6-yard scoring pass to Vincent Cartwright that made the score 14-7 at 7:22 as SHSU would lead the rest of the way. Robert Herron blocked Brian Claybourn’s first punt attempt of the day, with the Bearkats taking a 21-7 lead with four minutes left in the opening period when Garmon scored one play later from 4 yards out.
After a 3-and-out, SHSU blocked another punt through the back of the end zone for a safety and a 23-7 advantage at the end of one period. Western had allowed 21 first-quarter points the entire regular season.
“Our hats are off to Sam Houston State, they did a heck of a job in all three phases of the game,” said WKU head coach David Elson. “The early turnover and blocked punts were a big factor in the outcome — they got out to an early lead that we couldn’t come back from.”
Although the Toppers settled down in the second quarter, SHSU responded to a Chris James 25-yard field goal late in the half with an 80-yard drive over 14 plays that resulted in a 2-yard touchdown pass from Long to Jarrod Fuller 10 seconds before the break — the Bearkats held a 37-10 lead at the half.
The Kats outgained the Hilltoppers in the opening 30 minutes, 238-133, with WKU picking up just 73 yards after its only touchdown of the first half.
Long ended the game 30-of-43 for 323 yards and three touchdowns, as eight different Bearkats caught at least one pass. Fuller led all players with eight receptions for 77 yards, while Jason Mathenia added six for a team-best 86 and Cartwright also posted six catches.
Jason Godfrey posted a game-high 53 yards on the ground as the Kats finished with 435 yards of total offense. The Bearkats converted 8-of-15 tghird downs and scored on all eight trips to the red zone.
The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, with both quarterbacks picking up scores through the air. Long connected with Corey Roberts from 6 yards out as the Bearkats marched 80 yards on the first drive after the break, while Haddix found Aaron Scott for a 13-yard score with just over five minutes left in the period on a 73-yard drive keyed by a 57-yard catch from Earl Clayton.
Haddix had 291 yards of total offense to pace the Toppers, running for a team-best 49 yards while completing 14-of-26 pass attempts for another 242 with a pair of scores. Perkins collected his fourth 100-yard game of the season — he led all players with 103 yards on five receptions — while Clayton had the first 100-yard contest of his career after grabbing two passes for 101.
Braylon Linnear and Patrick Robinson topped the Kat defense — which surrendered 344 yards while forcing three turnovers — with eight tackles each.
Brian Porter closed out the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run with 56 seconds left in the contest after Cartwright’s second touchdown catch and a 29-yard field goal by Lance Garner added 10 SHSU points in the final quarter.
Deont Smith had a game-high 14 total tackles to lead the Hilltoppers, with Marion Rumph adding 12 stops. Antonio Thomas picked off his team-leading seventh pass of the season in the fourth quarter, and Dennis Mitchell recovered a fumble as well.
