Box Score HUNTSVILLE – Sam Houston State's No. 1-ranked offense was every bit as advertised but the top-ranked team in the FCS had its hand's full against McNeese as the Bearkats escaped with a 56-43 win over the Cowboys here Saturday night.
 
The two teams combined for 1,204 offensive yards – 630 by Sam Houston State and 574 for the Cowboys. McNeese racked up 403 yards in the second half and scored touchdowns in its first five possessions of the second half with the only time being stopped was when James Tabary threw an interception late in the fourth quarter with the Cowboys attempting to cut into the Bearkat lead.
 
Tabary finished the night completing 25 of 46 for 357 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown passes. He also set single-season records for most completions (231) and pass attempts (386) in a season.
 
McNeese (5-5, 4-4 SLC) rolled up 217 yards rushing led by Justin Pratt's 146 yards on 15 carries for a 9.7 yards per carry average. It's his second 100-yard rushing game in the last three outings and is the most by a Cowboy running back this season.
 
"He's going to be a very special player for a long time for us," said head coach Lance Guidry.
 
SHSU (9-0, 7-0 SLC) built up a quick 14-0 first quarter lead despite McNeese forcing it into a three-and-out in its first possession then stopped the Bearkats again on their next possession but an unsportsmanlike penalty on Ashari Goins extended the drive and led to a 28-yard Jeremiah Briscoe touchdown pass to Davion Davis to make it 7-0.
 
"The got out in front of us and that was probably the difference in the game," said Guidry. "We'd love to have those points back. We stopped them too to start the game and stopped them again but then we got that personal (foul) and that hurt us.
 
"We competed hard. We really did."
 
Gunnar Raborn put the Cowboys on the board with a 41-yard field goal with 11:04 to play in the second quarter to cut the gap to 14-3 but the Bearkats stormed back with two quick touchdowns – a 45-yard Briscoe pass to Yedidiah Louis and a 1-yard Ragan Henderson run – to make it 28-3 with 6:33 to play in the first half.
 
The Cowboys got a spark from freshman running back Justin Pratt on their ensuing possession as Pratt marched the Cowboys down the field behind runs of 8 and 25 yards, then quarterback James Tabary connected on passes of 9, 11 and 14 yards to set up a 4-yard scoring strike to Kent Shelby with 1:29 to play to make it 28-9 after the extra point failed due to a bad snap.
 
The second half was all offense.
 
McNeese received the ball to start the third quarter and scored on a 39-yard Pratt run to cut the gap to 28-16 with 12:39 to play. The two teams traded touchdown blows over the next six possessions until the Cowboys finally held the Bearkats to turn the ball over on downs midway through the fourth quarter after McNeese cut the gap to 49-36 after a Shelby 11-yard touchdown catch with 11:25 to play.
 
Facing a fourth-and-3 at the McNeese 34, Briscoe's completed pass to Tyler Scott was stuffed short of the first down thanks to the tackling of Chris Livings.
 
Three plays later Tabary found Tavarious Battiste over the middle who then pulled away from a tackler and sprinted in for a 55-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 49-43 with 6:51 to play.
 
Briscoe and the Bearkats quickly answered after a 58-yard pass to Stewart got the ball down to the 2-yard line where Ragan Henderson bulled it in for the score to make it 56-43.
 
The Cowboys were driving again on the ensuing possession and got into striking distance after Tabary found Darious Crawley for a 46-yard gain on first down to get the ball to the Sam 34. But two plays later, Darion Flowers stepped in front of a Tabary pass on the sideline for the interception. Sam then ran out the clock to hold on for the win.
 
Briscoe completed 29 of 44 passes for 504 yards and six touchdowns while Stewart hauled in 12 passes for 268 yards and three scores.
 
Crawley and Shelby each pulled in eight passes to lead the Cowboys. Crawley also had 115 yards receiving while Battiste made four catches for 129 yards.
 
McNeese will take the next week off before returning for its season finale against Lamar on Nov. 19 in Cowboy Stadium.
 
 
GAME NOTES:
• James Tabary set single season school records in pass completions (231) and attempts (386).
• With 87 rushing yards, Ryan Ross increased his career total to 2,069 and became the 14^th player in school history to top 2,000 rushing yards in a career.
• True freshman Justin Pratt rushed picked up his second 100-yard rushing game in the last three outings.
• Kent Shelby extended his streak to 23 straight games with at least one reception.
• McNeese sacked the QB three times on the night. SHSU allowed just three sacks on the season coming into the game.