Kats fall behind early in loss to ACU

HUNTSVILLE — Turnovers plagued Sam Houston in a 45-28 loss to Abilene Christian on Saturday at Bowers Stadium.

The Bearkats (5-3) turned the ball over three times and once on downs that the Wildcats (7-3, 4-0 in WAC) turned into 28 points. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak by Sam Houston.

Quarterback Keegan Shoemaker threw for a career-high 307 yards and added a pair of rushing touchdowns to go along with scoring passes to Shane Johnson and Al’von Woodard. Cody Chrest had four catches for 105 yards, and KeSean Raven had a career-high five catches for 86 yards.

The Kats fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter because of some costly mistakes.

On the first play of the game, the Wildcats recovered a fumble on a botched snap and turned it into seven points. The ensuing possession ended with a blocked punt that ACU again took advantage of to find the endzone to go up 14-0 with 12:13 left in the quarter.

The Wildcats scored again before Sam Houston got rolling offensively.

Shoemaker found Cody Chrest for a 60-yard pass to move into the redzone. Two plays later, Shane Johnson caught his first-career pass for a 13-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-7.

The Bearkats used another explosive play to get back on the scoreboard. This time Shoemaker broke free on a quarterback keeper and raced 42 yards for the score to pull Sam Houston to within 21-14.

ACU broke the game open again on two more turnovers.

After the Wildcats kicked a 35-yard field, Sam Houston failed to catch the ensuing kickoff and ACU recovered it in Bearkat territory to set up touchdown. The Wildcats then turned an interception into score right before the end of the half to head into the break with a 38-14 lead.

The Bearkats trimmed the lead to 38-22 right before the end of the third quarter. Shoemaker scored on a four-yard run and found Dalton Meyer for the two-point conversion.

Sam Houston did get in a position to get within one score in the fourth quarter when Al’von Woodard reeled in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Shoemaker. The two-point conversion attempt was dropped in the end zone.

The Bearkats wrap up the season at home on Nov. 19 when Southern Utah comes to Huntsville for a noon kickoff.

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