Utah Tech saw a furious fourth quarter rally come up just short as the Trailblazers dropped a hard-fought 18-13 home decision to Sam Houston on a rainy Saturday night inside Greater Zion Stadium. The loss, UT's fifth-straight, moved the Blazers to 1-6 overall. 

After UT forced a Sam Houston (4-2) three-and-out to open the game, the Trailblazers covered 65 yards on 12 plays for what was should have been the game's first touchdown when Quali Conley ran in from 15-yards out.
 
However the Blazers were called for holding on the play, negating the touchdown, and Utah Tech had to settle for a 28-yard Connor Brooksby field goal three plays later.
 
Sam Houston tied the game at 3-3 in the second quarter thanks to a Seth Morgan 20-yard chip shot, and the score remained deadlocked until Morgan connected for a 31-yard field goal with nearly five minutes gone in the third quarter.
 
The Bearkats would tack on another Morgan field goal, and registered a safety when Sam Houston defensive back Caleb Weaver got home on a blitz and stripped-sack UT quarterback Victor Gabalis in the end zone with 1:46 to play in the period.
 
SHSU took advantage of the short field on its ensuing possession with the game's first touchdown just 53 seconds later when Keegan Shoemaker found Al'Vonte Woodard from 8-yards out to make it an 18-3 game.
 
Utah Tech's defense kick-started the Blazer rally early in the fourth when sophomore linebacker Will Leota jumped in front of a Shoemaker pass at the SHSU 21 for his first interception of the season and second of his career.
 
However the Trailblazers again would have to settle for a Brooksby field, which he nailed from 40-yards out, to trim the deficit to 18-6.
 
UT then forced another Bearkat three-and-out, and this time the Blazers cashed it in with a touchdown when Gabalis hooked up with Joey Hobert on a 10-yard toss to make it an 18-13 game with 6:33 remaining. 
 
After the Blazer defense once again forced another Sam Houston three-and-out, the Utah Tech special teams came up clutch as David Fisher fielded the Bearkat punt and returned it 40 yards to the SHSU 34-yard line with 5:21 to play.
 
Utah Tech then drew a roughing the passer penalty, which moved the ball to the Bearkat 19. Unfortunately for the Trailblazers that would be as close as they would get to the end zone as Sam Houston forced three Gabalis incompletions, and sacked the redshirt freshman quarterback on fourth down. 
 
Sam Houston would run the clock out from there to escape with the road victory. 
 
Utah Tech tallied 262 yards of offense on the night, with 204 of those yards coming from the passing game. Gabalis finished with 193 yards on 16-of-36 passing, while Conley finished with 64 yards on 15 carries and caught three passes for 27 yards. 
 
Meanwhile Hobert made seven catches for 55 yards to go with his touchdown, which was his seventh of the season and moved him into a tie for fourth place on UT's single-season TD receptions list. 
 
Senior linebacker Malaki Malaki made program history on Saturday night as he became Utah Tech's all-time leader in tackles (277) after he racked up a season-high 12 tackles to lead a strong Trailblazer defensive effort, while Leota finished with seven stops to go with his interception and one pass breakup. 
 
Shoemaker threw for 278 yards on 23-of-40 passing with the one touchdown, and he also rushed for 70 yards on eight carries. Sam Houston finished with 371 yards of total offense. 
 
Utah Tech will make its penultimate road trip of the 2022 season with a trip to Nacogdoches, Texas, for a date at WAC co-leader No. 20 Stephen F. Austin. Kick-off inside Homer Bryce Stadium is set for 1 p.m. (MT).