HUNTSVILLE, Texas _ A big rally was thwarted as the No. 19/12 Sam Houston State Bearkats kicked a 34-yard field goal in overtime to knock off the No. 12/13 University of Central Arkansas Bears in Southland Conference action on Saturday at Bowers Stadium.

The Bears (2-2, 1-1), who fought back from a 31-17 deficit with 11 minutes remaining in regulation, had the first shot in overtime but Matt Cummins' 34-yard field goal attempt was blocked by SHSU's Scean Mustin. UCA's defense held the Bearkats (2-2, 1-1) on their extra possession but senior Tre Honshtein connected from 34 yards to win it for the Bearkats. 

"The fight and grit that our guys showed in a very adverse situation,' said UCA head coach Nathan Brown. "Down two scores late in the game and we found a way to do it. All in all, it was just a great effort there towards the end of the fourth quarter on both sides of the ball. It's just unfortunate that we couldn't find a way to come away with the win.' 

The Bears trailed by two scores after Honshtein made a 32-yarder with 10:55 remaining. UCA answered with a 7-play, 82-yard drive, capped by a 38-yard run up the middle by sophomore running back Kierre Crossley that cut the deficit to 31-24 with 8:56 left. After the Bears' defense held, UCA drove deep into SHSU territory but lost starting quarterback Breylin Smith to a right ankle injury. Junior Kirk Baugh came on and, on fourth and goal from the three, Baugh hit sophomore tight end Jack Short for the touchdown, his first career reception, that tied the game at 31-31 with 2:20 remaining.

UCA stopped SHSU on the ensuing possession and then ran the clock out in regulation.
 

In overtime, UCA got the ball first but gained only eight yards on a pair of Carlos Blackman runs, setting up UCA's field goal attempt. On SHSU's possession, Kyran Jackson ran for 7 yards and then was stopped for loss of 2 by Roy Sutton and Juan Jackson on second down. He got four yards on third down, and after timeouts by both teams, Honshtein connected on the game winner.

"I thought we left so many plays out there,' said Brown, "and that's the unfortunate part of it.  It was a tough spot losing Breylin down there and knowing that Kirk had to come in there freezing cold. That's kind of what he's done his whole career. And you know what, he rose to the challenge. The fourth-down call, a good call by Coach (Ken) Collums, and a great catch by Jack Short to give us an opportunity. We knew it was the ballgame on those third and fourth down plays.

"And our defense had a big stop there on their two-minute drive. But obviously we didn't finish the job in overtime. But I told our guys, we can learn from this. This isn't our season. This game isn't going to define us. Obviously you want to come down here and win in one of the toughest places to play in the country, but we got to brush ourselves off and make the long trip back to Conway and stand up and practice tomorrow and get ready for whoever we play next week. 

"There's no moral victories in this, and I say that all along. We expect to win when we come out on Saturday night. Credit goes to Sam Houston, they got after us tonight.' 
 

Cummins gave the Bears an early 3-0 lead on Cummins' 29-yard field goal midway through the first quarter. SHSU quarterback Ty Brock, a surprise starter for the Bearkats, scored on a two-yard run to give SHSU a 7-3 lead at the 8-minute mark of the second quarter. The Bears re-took the lead at 10-7 with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Breylin Smith to a wide open senior Jakari Dillard down the left sideline with 6:26 left in the second quarter. 

UCA started that drive at its own 1 after downing a kickoff there. Two solid runs by Carlos Blackman got the Bears out of the hole before Smith found Dillard for his second touchdown reception of the season. Sam Houston got an 8-yard scoring run from Brock with just 27 seconds left in the half to take a 14-10 halftime lead.

SHSU pushed its lead to 21-10 with an early touchdown drive in the third quarter but UCA answered with a 3-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to close the gap back to 21-17. The Bears got possession after a one-handed inteception by sophomore defensive back Jackie Harvell. Smith connected with Lester Wells for 42 yards on first down and Blackman went for 30 yards down to the one before scoring on the next play to make it 21-17.

SHSU receiver Davion Davis caught a one-handed 7-yard touchdown pass from Brock with 2:46 left in the third period before Honshtein stretched the margin to 31-17.

Blackman, a junior from Gosnell, finished with 135 rushing yards on 24 carries for a 5.6-yard average per carry. Dillard caught four passes for 133 yards while Smith finished 14 of 25 for 234 yards and a touchdown before exiting. Brock, a redshirt freshman from College Station, Texas, completed 27 of 43 passes for 305 yards and rushed for 73 yards.

"It's difficult, you just don't know what to expect,' said Brown about facing a backup quarterback from the start. "You don't know what kind of speed they have, what kind of runner they are, what kind of poise they have in the pocket. I think they found them a quarterback. He's a young kid and he made some plays for them down the stretch, and obviously throughout the game. 

"It's a difficult deal because you prepare for a kid who has been playing for them and it just didn't work out that way.'

UCA sophomore safety Jackie Harvell led the Bears' defense with 12 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. UCA recorded seven tackles for loss on the night.

The Bears return home to "The Stripes" next Saturday, hosting Houston Baptist at 6 p.m.