Stephen F. Austin
Houston Baptist
Lumberjacks Outlast Huskies 59-27 in Houston
10/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON – Stephen F. Austin outlasted both a two-hour electrical delay and an upstart Houston Baptist team, notching a 59-27 victory at HBU Husky Stadium. The Lumberjacks improved to 5-2 on the year and 2-1 in Southland Conference play while Houston Baptist dropped to 1-6 and 0-4 in SLC action.
“It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was a big win for us here tonight,” said head coach Clint Conque. “We didn’t do everything right, but I thought our special teams and kicking game really helped us out tonight. With this win, we control our own destiny in the conference race, so we’re happy to get out of Houston with a win tonight.”
On paper, HBU had the better stats, compiling 446 yards of total offense while the Lumberjacks managed just 409, racking up 209 through the air and 200 on the ground.
Gus Johnson once again led the way, rushing 17 times for 133 yards and three touchdowns on the night, moving into second place among SFA’s all-time leading rushers. Johnson now has 3,210 career rushing yards, surpassing Andy Hopkins’ 3,080 and trailing just Leonard Harris’ 3,771.
Zach Conque completed 11 of his 17 passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to Aaron Thomas, who had touchdown snags of 36 and five yards. Conque also rushed six times for 11 yards and a touchdown on the night.
Tyler Boyd led the SFA receivers with four catches for 44 yards while Thomas notched three receptions for 40 yards. Justice Liggins also had three catches on the night, accounting for 24 yards.
Defensively, Collin Garrett posted 12 tackles for SFA while Ahmad Muhammad finished with six stops for the ‘Jacks. Alex Miller had a pair of interceptions for the SFA defensive secondary with Justin Owens recording a big blocked punt in the third quarter.
SFA made a statement early as Braxton Bearden took the opening kickoff five yards deep in the endzone, then raced all the way back to the Husky 2-yard line, a 98-yard return to open the game. Johnson punched it in on the next play to give the Lumberjacks the early 7-0 lead just 25 seconds into the game.
On HBU’s ensuing drive, the Huskies ran one play and were lining up for their second of the game when the lights went dark at Husky Stadium. 90 minutes later, power was restored to the field as play resumed at just shy of 9 p.m.
Once play resumed, SFA struck again quickly as Johnson rambled off a 35-yard rush, followed by a 36-yard pass from Conque to Thomas who eluded defenders and found the endzone, putting the ‘Jacks up 14-0 just four minutes into the game.
Houston Baptist responded with a touchdown drive of its own, trimming the deficit to 14-6 following a missed extra point. But that score just seemed to awaken the Lumberjacks as Conque punched it in from eight yards out, followed by a 33-yard field goal from Jordan Wiggs to push the ‘Jacks lead to 24-6 at the end of the first.
Early in the second, Johnson continued his Walter Payton Award push, finding the endzone for the 15th time this season with a 15-yard scamper to extend SFA’s lead to 31-6.
HBU started to find its rhythym late in the opening half, using a 16-play, 79-yard drive that chewed up 7:11 off the clock, punching it in to trim SFA’s halftime lead to 31-13.
The Huskies pounced quickly in the second half, driving the length of the field to pull to within two scores at 31-20 with 12:41 left in the third. But the ‘Jacks responded later in the third as Johnson notched his third touchdown of the game, taking it in from 17 yards out to put SFA on top 38-20 at the end of the third quarter.
The Lumberjacks added some breathing room early in the fourth quarter as Conque connected with Justice Liggins for a seven-yard strike, putting SFA on top 45-20 with 13:57 remaining.
The Huskies weren’t going down without a fight, notching a 58-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing drive to pull to within three scores at 45-27 with just over 13 minutes remaining.
But a big three-and-out by the SFA defense, followed by a blocked punt by Justin Owens, gave the ‘Jacks the ball at the five. One play later, Conque and Thomas connected for the second time on the night as the ‘Jacks pulled ahead 52-27 with just under 11 minutes to play. A late touchdown by Cameron Washington, his first of his SFA career, pushed the ‘Jacks to the final 59-27 victory.
SFA now gets set to return home facing reigning SLC champion Southeastern Louisiana next Saturday at Homer Bryce Stadium. Kickoff against the Lions is set for 3 p.m. as the game marks the Southland TV Game of the Week.
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