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Defense leads Southeast Missouri State football team in upset win over No. 13 Eastern Illinois
Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Adrian Davis carries the ball on a 62-yard touchdown run against Eastern Illinois during the first quarter Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
The potential of the Southeast Missouri State football team’s defense had been noticeable all season, but it had yet to turn in its signature performance.
That all changed on Saturday night.
Against one of the most dynamic offenses in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Redhawks held 13th-ranked Eastern Illinois to only one offensive touchdown and came up with several key plays en route to a 21-14 victory at Houck Stadium.
“That was a good offense, and we held them to seven points. And that was spectacular,” Southeast third-year coach Tom Matukewicz said. “They did a good job and kept battling. We gave them some tough situations ... and they just responded.”
Southeast Missouri State's Omardrick Douglas cheers for the Redhawks against Eastern Illinois during the first quarter Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
It was the fifth win for Southeast against a nationally-ranked Football Championship Subdivision team and the third in the Matukewicz era, but perhaps none was sweeter than against a top 25 conference foe.
“This one’s up there for me in my eyes because we had a top-25 win, but it was an OVC win,” Redhawks senior strong safety Eriq Moore said. “It was at home, and it was a time where it could keep us rolling. I think this is probably one of our bigger ones.”
Clinging to a 14-all tie in the third quarter, Southeast (2-3, 2-0 OVC) provided the game-winning score on third-and-1 in EIU territory. Junior quarterback Jesse Hosket looked downfield on a play-action pass and found sophomore tight end Marquette Murdock wide open along the right sideline for a 45-yard touchdown reception that put Southeast back on top 21-14 with 11 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the period.
“It’s just kind of one of those things where it develops a little bit in time,” Redhawks offensive coordinator Jon Wiemers said about the play action. “You have to have some rhythm and some timing to it. Obviously it’s something we’ve been working on since last spring, and it hit tonight.
“They had some good alignments for us to be able to do it as well, and we ended up capitalizing. Those were some huge, huge plays for us. ... Murdock’s catch was huge. He really shined tonight.”
Murdock finished with three catches for a team-high 86 yards receiving, enjoying a career performance in front of his home crowd.
Southeast Missouri State's Marquette Murdock carries the ball on a 45-yard touchdown run against Eastern Illinois during the third quarter Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
“I’m blessed,” Murdock said. “My teammates, I told them I was going to give my heart for them and play hard for them. I’m happy.
“We’re up there now. We’re 2-0 in the OVC.”
Southeast’s defense forced EIU (3-2, 1-1 OVC) to go three-and-out to start the game, setting the offense up with good field position to start its first drive at the Southeast 49-yard line. Hosket directed a seven-play, 51-yard scoring drive that was capped with a 1-yard QB sneak on fourth-and-goal to give the Redhawks a 7-0 lead with 10:55 left in the first quarter.
Nearly three minutes later, Southeast extended the lead to 14-0 on its next drive when Hosket used play action on first-and-10, connecting with wide receiver Adrian Davis downfield for a 62-yard TD with 8:00 left in the period.
“We’ve got to be able to throw the ball down the field and take advantage of everybody loading the box because we run the ball well. We’ve struggled with that at times, but that was just a great job,” Matukewicz said. “It was just a beautiful ball in stride, and he scored. That’s just how you draw it up.”
Hosket finished 12-of-20 passing (60 percent) for 223 yards with a pair of TDs and no turnovers. He also added 16 yards rushing on five totes.
“I thought he did a nice job, managed the game well, didn’t turn it over,” Matukewicz said. “He ran the ball a little bit, too, doing exactly what we want him to do.”
EIU pulled within 14-7 when Christopher Anderson capped an eight-play, 78-yard scoring drive with an 18-yard TD run at the 4:26 mark of the quarter, but the Redhawks’ defense didn’t allow another touchdown the rest of the way.
Southeast forced a turnover inside its own red zone when defensive tackle Josh Wilson came up with the fumble recovery on a bad toss with 8:20 to go in the first half. A missed 46-yard field goal by Panthers kicker Nick Bruno and a drive that stalled out as the halftime clock expired allowed the Redhawks to carry a 14-7 lead into the break.
EIU swung momentum back in its favor on the second play from scrimmage in the second half when Hosket’s lateral pass intended for Tremane McCullough went backwards and was bobbled. McCullough was unable to bring in the ball, and Pono Choy scooped it up and ran it in 22 yards for a TD, drawing the Panthers even at 14-all with 14:11 left in the third quarter.
Matukewicz was pleased to see his team respond on the ensuing drive, as Hosket found Murdock for the game-winning score.
Southeast Missouri State quarterback Jesse Hosket looks to pass against Eastern Illinois during the fourth quarter Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
“When we’ve stubbed our toe in the past, we just tank it, and that was the thing we really harped on all week — it’s going to happen,” Matukewicz said. “They’re coached, too. They’re on scholarship, too, but we’ve got to respond, and that’s exactly what they did. They went out and responded, didn’t get down. They just kept responding.”
The Redhawks forced EIU to punt the ball three straight times until a 37-yard field goal by Ryan McCrum sailed just wide with 9:54 left in the game, giving the Panthers’ offense one final opportunity.
After back-to-back 3-yard losses pushed EIU back to the Southeast 31, QB Austin Green’s pass intended for Paul Gossage sailed incomplete on fourth-and-16, turning the ball over on downs.
“We were able to get off the field because some of those third downs were long. And then, how about that last fourth down? How huge was that? They responded and did a good job,” Matukewicz said. “We’ve got good senior leadership. Coach [Bryce] Saia does a good job with those guys. I’m not surprised.”
Junior outside linebacker Chad Meredith led the Redhawks defense with a game-high 12 tackles, while junior OLB Kendall Donnerson accounted for two of the team’s seven tackles for loss. Southeast allowed the Panthers to gain 316 yards of total offense but only gave up 93 in the second half alone.
Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz reacts to a third-down stop by his players against Eastern Illinois during the third quarter Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
“We just looked back towards Indiana State and knew that we had to come out and finish this game because this was a huge one,” said senior inside linebacker Roper Garrett, who finished with eight tackles. “We let one go at home that we shouldn’t have, and we knew that we had to come together.”
The Redhawks moved the chains three times to salt the game away on the final drive. They were aided by two personal fouls, including an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on second-and-18, that gave them automatic first downs. Will Young had a 5-yard carry on third-and-4, allowing Southeast to run out the final seconds and end the game in a victory formation.
Young led the Redhawks with 43 yards on the ground, as six different players combined for 114 yards rushing.
Southeast held EIU to 128 yards on the ground. The Panthers were paced by running back Devin Church, who racked up 86 yards on 15 carries. Church also added 45 yards receiving on four catches.
“I think we did a great job,” Matukewicz said about defending Church. “I think when we watch the film, we’ll talk about how we’ve got to tackle a little better, but they had a lot to do with that, too. But we can’t miss those tackles.”
Southeast will try for its third win in a row when it travels to face Eastern Kentucky on Saturday in Richmond, Kentucky.
“Everybody’s checking the top-25 scores and you’re in there, and now they’re talking about SEMO, which raises and elevates our program,” Matukewicz said. “This team will now have their roster on that Rosengarten board forever, so when we walk by, we’ll talk about tonight forever. And that’s what it’s all about.
“Hats off to this team.”
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