Getting down to business

By Cody Stark
Assistant Sports Editor

August 20, 2008 11:20 pm

— Senior linebacker Frank Simon’s face lit up the moment he started talking about East Central Oklahoma on Wednesday.
That’s because for the past two weeks the Sam Houston State football team had just been going through the motions to get back into playing shape following a long summer break.
All of that is over now because it is time for the Bearkats to get down to business.
Fall camp officially ended for Sam Houston State on Tuesday morning, so on Wednesday the players finally were able to shift their focus to the Tigers and the season-opening showdown a week from tonight at Bowers Stadium.
“We have been hitting each other for weeks now, looking at the same people and going through the same stuff, this, that and the other,” Simon said. “Now we have a chance to go against somebody else the opposite color, and for me and the rest of the guys, we are all looking forward to it.”
The Bearkats began preparing for East Central Oklahoma on Wednesday, working on establishing a game plan against a relatively unknown opponent.
The Tigers were recently picked to finish last in the Lone Star Conference North Division, mainly because they have a lot of new faces on a team that went 2-9 overall and 0-5 in league play in 2007.
“It’s going to be a typical first game in that we don’t know much about them,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. “They have gotten a lot of new personnel, a lot of transfers that have never played for them. There will be a lot of unknowns, so we just need to work on different ways to adjust to what they might be doing.”
The Bearkats have plenty of work to do and still need some guys to step up in order to make a run at a Southland Conference title following back-to-back runner-up finishes the previous two seasons.
During camp, both the offense and defense looked good and bad at times, which is to be expected. But now that the guys have an opponent to focus on and game action to look forward to, it’s beginning to feel like football season around the field house.
“It’s exciting now that camp is over because we finally get to work on an opponent,” tight end Paul Mansfield said. “We have come a long ways, but we still need to work on the little things. The intensity is picking up and we can’t wait until (next) Thursday.”
One thing is for sure as game day approaches: The Bearkats aren’t going to take the Tigers lightly. Last season, Sam Houston got a huge scare against another Lone Star opponent — Angelo State — in the season opener.
The Rams took the game down to the wire before the Kats eventually held on for a 17-13 victory. Things didn’t fare as well for fellow Southland schools Stephen F. Austin and Texas State, which lost to the LSC’s Tarleton State and Abilene Christian, respectively.
“It’s always scary to go into an opening game against a team that you don’t know very well,” Whitten added. “Last year I think our league played three Lone Star Conference teams and went 1-2. There is no question that a talented team from that league can come into our league and compete.
“We don’t want to end up like last year when we had a nail-biter. It’s important that we get off to a good start because we really don’t know that much about them.”

Season opener: Sam Houston State hosts East Central Oklahoma, Aug. 28, 6 p.m.

Last year’s records: Bearkats were 7-4; Tigers were 2-9

Tickets: Available at the Ron Mafrige Field House or by calling (936) 294-1729