Huntsville, Texas – Sam Houston State withstood a late rally from Delaware, โsecuring โฃa 26-23 victory Saturday fueled by two touchdown runs from Landon Brown. The winโค improvesโ Sam Houston’s record to 2-8 overall and 1-5 in Conference โUSA play, while Delaware falls to 5-5, 3-4 in conference action.
The game saw several lead โฃchangesโฃ and a dramatic finish, with Delaware โคattempting toโฃ tie โฃthe contest in the final seconds.โข Brown’s rushingโ performance proved pivotal, providing the Bearkats with crucial scoring drives throughout theโ afternoon. This result marks โa challengingโค seasonโ for both programs, as Sam Houston aims โto โbuild momentum andโค Delawareโข seeks to regain its footing in Conferenceโ USA.
Delaware opened the scoring in โฃthe first quarter with a โข7-yard touchdownโข run by Nickโ Minicucci, establishing a 7-0 lead.โ Nate reed extended the Blue Hens’ advantage to 10-0 midway โthrough the second quarter with a 37-yard field goal. Sam Houston responded before halftime, as Brown found the end zoneโ on a 2-yard โคrun, and Christian Pavon added a 33-yard field goalโค as time expired, knotting the score at 10-10.
The third quarter belonged to the Bearkats. Brown broke free for a โฃ62-yard touchdown run, and Pavon connected on field goals from 33 and 48 yards, giving Sam Houston a 23-10 lead โentering theโฃ final frame.
Delaware โคmounted โa comeback in the fourth quarter. Viron Ellison Jr. scored on aโ 3-yard run,โ and Minicucci connected with Max Patterson for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 2:36 remaining, narrowing the gap to 26-23. โThe Blue Hens recovered the โensuing onside kick, driving to the Sam Houston 12-yard line, โคbut a sackโ by Dylan Frazier and an โฃincomplete โpass stalledโฃ the drive.โข A final 36-yard field goal โฃattemptโ by Reed sailed wide with 21 seconds left, โsealing Sam Houston’s victory.
landon Locke completed 16 of 38 passes for โค213 yards โคfor Samโ Houston, whileโฃ Brown โrushed โfor 10 carries. Minicucci finished with 338 passing โคyardsโฃ on 24-of-36 attempts with one โinterception for Delaware.โ Sean Wilson โขwas hisโ primary target,โ hauling in nine receptions for 162โค yards, and ellison contributed 97 rushing yards on 19 carries.Pavon finished the day with four successful field goals.