HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The Sam Houston State Bearkat football team could not overcome four costly turnovers on Saturday as the Northwestern State Demons pulled a 31-28 upset at Bowers Stadium.
The Kats (6-5, 5-3 SLC) led 21-7 in the first quarter and saw sophomore running back Donovan Williams go for 152 yards and three touchdowns on the day; however, the Demons (3-8, 2-5 SLC) had answers throughout the day behind both the arm and legs of quarterback Shelton Eppler.
The Navasota native passed for 306 yards and a pair of scores before his 5-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave the Demons the lead for good and helped them snap a 4-game losing streak in the series with SHSU.
Two touchdown runs by Williams in the first quarter was backed up by a pick-six by Dwayne Williams that had the Kats in control early on. SHSU was in position to take a lead into the break at halftime, but the game immediately turned when Shemar Bartholomew intercepted Ty Brock inside the red zone and raced 96 yards the other direction to put NSU ahead 24-21 with just 19 seconds left in the half.
Brock completed half of his 20 pass attempts in the game for 146 yards, but was intercepted three times in the opening two quarters before being relieved by Eric Schmid at halftime. Schmid would go on to throw for 78 yards and was picked off once in the second half.
The Kats got good day from Chandler Harvin with four grabs for 108 yards as one of eight Bearkats who caught a pass.
Despite the loss, the Bearkats are still alive for a share of the conference title. They would need to win in their finale vs HBU on Saturday and receive help from others around the league.
