By Rodrick Anderson

American Press

Success at home in the playoffs continues to elude the Sam Houston Broncos and so did Mandeville running backs Nate Sheppard and Isaiah Baham on Friday.

Sheppard broke tackles nearly every play or spun out of them as he ran for 328 yards and three touchdowns to lead the No. 21 Skippers to a 50-36 win over No. 12 Sam Houston in the bi-district round of the Nonselect Division I playoffs.

“You have to give it to that kid,” Sam Houston head coach Chad Davis said. “He is a heck of a player. He was hard to tackle tonight.”

Since 2009, the Broncos have lost five home playoff games — 2009, 2010, 2018, 2019. Their last postseason win at home was in 2006.

Baham added 116 yards and two touchdowns as the Skippers (7-4) picked up all 509 of their yards on the ground.

Another part of the Skippers’ success was the ability to keep drives alive with third-down conversions, going 8 for 12.

“They sustained a lot of drive and won the field position battle,” Davis said. “We had to drive long field and you have to give them credit.”

Baham opened the scoring with a 47-yard score after the Skippers were flagged for a holding penalty.

Sheppard added a 9-yard score on Mandeville’s second drive.

After the team traded a pair of touchdowns each in the first quarter, Baham scored on a 9-yard run with 39 seconds left in the first quarter to put the Skippers up for good (21-14).

Sam Houston (7-4) trailed 42-22 with 1:21 left in the third quarter when Michael White scored on an 85-yard kickoff return, but the Broncos created some big plays to get back in the game in the fourth quarter.

On third and goal from the Skipper 1-yard line, a high snap got away from Bronco quarterback Gavin Stout, but he was able to track down the ball, scramble to his left and throw a left-handed scoring strike to Ayden Rose. Stout completed 13 of 31 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns.

Linebacker Wyatt Fontenot recovered a fumble with 6:27 left in the game, giving the Broncos’ another chance to get back in the game. With 5:26 left, Gavin Stout hit Drew Dronet in the end zone with a 14-yard pass to cut the Skippers’ lead to 42-36.

But the Broncos’ rally fell short. Mandeville got with a short field after the kickoff and kept handing the ball off to Sheppard, who scored his third touchdown with 3:51 left in the game.

“We made a little run at them and got a little confidence going there for a few minutes,” Davis said. “We just couldn’t finish it there at the end.”

Despite the loss, Sam Houston finished with their best record since going 8-3 in 2019.

“I am proud of these kids. They had a great season this year. It is obviously not the outcome we wanted in the playoffs, but we have a great group of kids. We have a great community behind us and great administrators. It was still a good year for Sam Houston.”