Published: August 30, 2008 10:56 pm      

Worries laid to rest

Bearkats quarterback looks sharp in return from injury; offense clicks in opener

Anybody who had questions as to whether Sam Houston State quarterback Rhett Bomar was fully recovered from last year’s season-ending knee surgery got the answers they were looking for Thursday night.

Making his first start since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last November, Bomar was sharp in the Bearkats’ 58-14 dismantling of East Central Oklahoma. He led Sam Houston to scoring drives on all eight of its first-half possessions, completing 14-of-22 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns before being pulled at halftime.

About the only concern was how Bomar would react after getting hit for the first time, and it didn’t take long to squash those thoughts.

With the Bearkats driving deep in Tiger territory on the game’s opening possession, Bomar took off and picked up six yards on an option keeper before being tackled at the ECU 7-yard line. He bounced up, ran back to the huddle and two plays later hit wide receiver Catron Houston for a 7-yard score.

No worries, no problems.

“I thought maybe (getting hit) would (worry me) and I would think about it until I got hit first,” said Bomar, who also added a 30-yard run in the second quarter. “But I ran an option and I cut it up and the guy actually dove at my knee. But after that, I really didn’t think about it, and when I got hit, it was normal. I didn’t even think about my knee at all, and it felt good out there.”

With Bomar’s health concerns laid to rest, another question was answered — just how much had the wide receiving corps improved from a year ago?

The Bearkats had an awful lot of drops during the 2007 season, but that wasn’t the case Thursday night.

Houston, who steadily progressed in spring drills, had a solid outing against the Tigers. Aside from a fumbled punt, he caught five passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns, which equaled his ’07 total of visits to the end zone.

Houston’s best catch came with 9:44 to go in the second quarter when he leaped up and snagged a high pass from Bomar to haul in a 24-yard score to help put the Kats up 38-0.

The much-anticipated debut of 6-5 transfer Jason Madkins went well. After he dropped a wide-open pass over the middle on Sam Houston’s first drive of the game, the former Mart High School standout caught three passes for 39 yards.

Madkins also showed why the Bearkats covet his size so much, especially around the goal line, catching an 11-yard fade route in the right corner of the end zone that put SHSU up 13-0.

Senior Justin Wells showed steady hands as usual and sophomore Chris Lucas made a solid catch over the middle and held on to the ball despite getting blasted from behind by an ECU defender.

“Some of them like Catron and Justin Wells, they were playing as sophomores and now they are seniors,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said Thursday night. “Lucas had a fabulous camp. He didn’t hardly drop a pass all fall. Madkins brings a big target for us.

“Trey Payne — we just have five guys that are older and can do a good job for us. I think it is really one of the strengths of our team right now.”

If the Sam Houston State offense is going to continue to be this explosive, the Bearkats are going to need more performances like the one they got from junior running back James Aston to keep opposing defenses honest.

With the loss of Chris Poullard, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season, and sophomore TyMagic Robinson nursing a hamstring injury, Aston got the start in the backfield for Sam Houston on Thursday.

The Texas State transfer and Katy High School’s all-time leading rusher didn’t disappoint. Aston bulled his way to 115 yards on eight carries and scored two touchdowns on the ground against the Tigers. Like Bomar, all of Aston’s production came in the first half.

Aston also gives the Kats another receiving threat out of the backfield. He caught three passes for 41 yards Thursday. He also reeled in a pass from Bomar, raced down the sideline and jumped over an ECU defender for a 21-yard touchdown.

With Robinson’s ability to score every time he touches the ball when he gets back to full strength (he had two carries for 18 yards Thursday), the Bearkats should have one of the most dangerous backfields in Southland Conference this season.

“(Aston) had a good camp as well,” Whitten added. “We had thought through camp that he is a good ball carrier and a good back. He cramped up a little bit today, but he has good vision and is really strong. He has great balance and we are going to continue to work with him. I think he has a chance to do a lot of good stuff for us.”

One down, 10 to go but the SHSU offense is off to a much better start than last season.