HOUSTON, Texas – Three long punt returns – two for touchdowns – sparked a Bearkat comeback as Sam Houston defeated Stephen F. Austin 34-28 in the 90th “Battle of the Piney Woods” presented by H-E-B Saturday before a record crowd of 26,990 at NRG Stadium.

Gerald Thomas returned SFA’s first punt of the second half 78 yards for the Kats’ initial touchdown of the game. Yedidiah Louis raced 53 yards for another score as Sam Houston took a 24-21 lead with 3:01 left in the third. Louis later dashed 47 yards on a return that set up a field goal opportunity.

The 195 yards in punt returns set a Sam Houston school single game record. The old mark was 138 yards versus Lamar in 2013. Thomas’s 78-yard run is the sixth-longest punt return for in Sam Houston history. The return marked the longest since 2006 when Derrick Harris set the school mark with 90-yard returns for scores against both Central Arkansas and Texas State.

The College Football America 2015 Yearbook features 936 college football teams from the United States and Canada in 455 striking, full-color pages. That includes every team from the NCAA (FBS, FCS, Division II and Division III), NAIA, NJCAA and CCCAA, along with all 27 of the Canada Interuniversity Sport (CIS) programs. It also includes updates on club football, one-year postgraduate prep/sports academies and Mexican college football, along with dozens of action shots and stadium photos.