Huntsville, Texas – A&M-Commerce, ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division II, had Sam Houston State, ranked No. 8 at the Division I FCS level, knotted at 24 late in the third quarter before the Bearkats scored 14 unanswered points to escape with the 38-24 win Saturday night at Bowers Stadium.
 
The Lions trailed 24-10 at the half, but opened the third quarter with 14 points to tie the game at 24 forcing the Bearkat rally.
 
Turning Point
- Sam Houston's Cory Avery scored on a 4th-and-1 with 2:14 left in the third quarter to give the Bearkats a 31-24 lead.  Sam Houston tacked on a final touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. 
 
Highlights
- Harrison Stewart threw for 432 yards and three touchdowns.  He was 23-of-47 with one interception. He averaged 18.8 yards per attempt and 9.2 yards per completion.
 
- Lance Evans caught five passes for 160 yards and a score. Derrick Mason added 44 yards on five catches, while Darby Smith tallied 87 yards on three catches. Mason and Smith each had receiving touchdowns.
 
- Charles Woods led the Lions with 13 tackles.  He also had one tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a pass break up.
 
- Jeremiah Walters led the Lions with three tackles for loss, with Toni Pulu adding two tackles for loss.
 
Summary
1st Quarter
- Sam Houston opened the scoring following a 12-play, 84-yard drive on the first drive of the game.  Cory Avery capped off the drive with a 3-yard run.
 
- A&M-Commerce marched down the field with a 7-play, 41-yard drive that resulted in a 31-yard Kristov Martinez field goal.  Stewart hit Smith and Evans for 23 yards and 15 yards respectively on the drive. He also scrambled for 15 yards.
 
- The Bearkats took a 14-3 lead with 4:28 left in the first quarter on an Avery 4-yard rush.  The touchdown plunge capped off a 5-play, 80-yard drive that took 1:53 off the clock.
 
2nd Quarter
- Jaleen Overstreet gave the Bearkats a 21-3 lead with 13:11 left to play in the 2nd quarter following a 12-play, 45-yard scoring drive.
 
- The Lions cut the lead down to 21-10 following a 55-yard catch-and-run by Smith. Stewart hit Smith over the middle and Smith did the rest breaking loose down the sidelines for the score.  The Lions defense set up the score holding the Bearkat offense to three straight plays for a loss. Toni Pulu made two of those tackles including one for a sack.
 
- Steven Baker forced a Bearkat fumble with 6:08 left in the quarter when he striped Yedidiah Louis on a screen pass at the Lions 48 yard line. Tyree Barton jumped on the loose football.  The Lions could not take advantage of the turnover with points.
 
3rd Quarter
- The Lions cut into the Bearkat lead, 24-17, with a 10-yard strike from Stewart to Macon with 10:10 showing on the clock in the third quarter. The score capped a 3-play, 88-yard drive.  Stewart hit Evans for 76 yards to set up the score.
 
- The Lions knotted the game at 24 with 5:07 left in the 3rd quarter, when Evans broke loose on a screen pass and scampered 39 yards down the sidelines for the score.  Cooper turned a screen pass into a 40-yard gain on the drive.
 
- A&M-Commerce attempted an onside kick following the score, but could not come up with the ball.  Sam Houston drove 44 yards in nine plays for the go ahead score, 31-24, with 2:14 left in the quarter. Avery punched the ball over the goal line on a 4th-and-1 run.
 
4th Quarter
- Sam Houston State added an insurance touchdown to give the game a score of 38-24 with 9:19 left when Jared Johnson broke containment and ran 24 yards for the score capping off a 4-play, 64-yard drive.
 
Inside the box score
- With the loss, the Lions fall to 7-2 on the season.
 
- Stewart finished with 432 yards surpassing the 2,000-yard mark in 2015. He is the second straight Lion quarterback to throw for over 2,000 yards in season following Tyrik Rollison's 3,764 yards.  All told six, Lion quarterbacks have thrown for over 2,000 yards in a season.
 
- Stewart's 2,309 yards in 2015 is the third best mark for single-season passing.  He trails only Buster Faulkner, 2,861 yards in 2004 and Rollison's 3,764 yards in 2014 on the list.
 
- Stewart also moved into eighth all-time on the Lions career passing list with 4,152 yards surpassing Cole Cayce, 3,763 yards, from 1993-1996 and Adam Farkes, 3,913 yards, from 2009-2010.
 
- Stewart's 432 yards through the air was a new career-high for the senior and the most yards since Rollison threw for 460 yards against East Central in the C.H.A.M.P.S Heart of Texas Bowl.
 
- Evan's 160 receiving yards was a new career-high and the most yards receiving since Vernon Johnson's 191 yards in the Heart of Texas Bowl.
 
- Smith hauled in his seventh touchdown of the season with his 55-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter. He has caught touchdown passes in seven of the nine games in 2015.
 
- Metrelle Taylor ended with three catches for 38 yards, both of which were career-highs.
 
- Walters' three tackles for loss was a new career-high. 
 
- Baker forced his second career fumble and first of the season.  Both of his forced fumbles came against FCS opponents. His first one came at Stephen F. Austin on September 13, 2014.
 
- Charles Woods forced his third career fumble.
 
- The Lions continue to dominate the turnover margin. After the 2-1 turnover advantage against the Bearkats, A&M-Commerce continued its streak of not turning the ball over more times than its opponents.  Of the nine games in 2015, the Lions' opponents have turned the ball over more times in seven games. On the season the Lions hold a 28-8 turnover margin.
 
What's Next?
- The Lions will enter the Lone Star Conference Playoffs as the No. 1 seed and will await the results of a coin flip to determine the third, fourth and fifth seeds between Angelo State, Eastern New Mexico and West Texas.  The flip will take place Sunday.  Kickoff for the November 7 game will be at 3 p.m. 
 
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