Southeast Missouri State football team overwhelmed in road loss to Eastern Kentucky

Southeast Missouri State's Adrian Davis makes a catch between two Eastern Kentucky defenders during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016 in Richmond, Kentucky. (Nathan Hutchinson/Richmond Register)

RICHMOND, Ky. — A culmination of things caught up to the Southeast Missouri State football team on Saturday at Roy Kidd Stadium.

Altogether, it hardly gave the Redhawks a chance against the Ohio Valley Conference’s most electrifying offense.

Redshirt senior quarterback Bennie Coney threw for 337 yards and four touchdowns, and Southeast was never able to slow down Eastern Kentucky, which shook off a slow start and cruised to a 31-16 win.

“We didn’t play well. Eastern Kentucky certainly had a lot to do with that,” Redhawks coach Tom Matukewicz said. “Their players made plays, but at the end of the day, we did not play well. We turned the ball over, had penalties.

Southeast Missouri State's Chad Meredith tackles Eastern Kentucky's Henry Enyenihi during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016 in Richmond, Kentucky. (Nathan Hutchinson/Richmond Register)

“Every time it felt like we got a little momentum and got something going, we just shot ourselves in the foot.”

EKU (2-3, 1-1 OVC) took the lead for good in the second quarter when Coney drove his team 83 yards in 16 plays. The Colonels converted four third downs on the scoring drive before Coney found Devin Borders for a 7-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal that gave EKU a 7-6 advantage with 8 minutes, 47 seconds left before halftime.

Southeast (2-4, 2-1 OVC) struggled to get off the field throughout the game on third down, allowing the Colonels to convert on 58 percent (11 of 19) of their chances.

“We try and pride ourselves on getting off the field on third down, but we didn’t get off the field,” said Southeast senior inside linebacker Terrance Hill, who finished with nine tackles. “We’ve got to make plays, make a stop. We weren’t able to do that.”

Southeast senior ILB Roper Garrett, who finished with a game-high 12 tackles, got an interception off Coney on a deflection, but a penalty on first down followed by a sack moved the Redhawks out of field-goal range.

Later in the quarter, the Colonels showed a sense of urgency in extending their lead to 14-6 on an eight-play, 91-yard scoring drive. Coney connected with redshirt junior Cameron Fogle for an 18-yard TD reception over the middle, leaving only 6 seconds left before the break.

Southeast Missouri State's Cameron Sanders runs the ball while being brought down by Eastern Kentucky players on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016 in Richmond, Kentucky. (Nathan Hutchinson/Richmond Register)

Southeast was forced to punt on the opening drive of the second half, and Coney quickly made the Redhawks pay. He found Borders for a 28-yard reception on second-and-14 before finding him again with a deep ball on the following play, a 56-yard bomb that pushed EKU’s lead to 21-6 with 10:00 left in the third quarter.

The play stood as the longest by either team, as the Colonels gouged the Redhawks’ defense for 527 yards of total offense.

“They’re an explosive offense,” Hill said. “We didn’t eliminate the big plays, and they were able to put up points. We weren’t able to stop them as much as we should have.”

Both teams exchanged field goals — a 49-yard kick by EKU redshirt junior Lucas Williams and a 22-yarder by Southeast senior Ryan McCrum — before the Colonels struck their final blow with 8:42 left in the game. After Southeast WR Tremane McCullough’s second fumble, Coney found Borders for the third time on a 1-yard TD reception that extended EKU’s lead to 31-9.

Borders was the top target for Coney, who completed 23 of his 37 pass attempts (62 percent). The 6-foot-6 redshirt senior wideout had seven receptions for a game-high 119 yards.

“Coney was outstanding. We don’t have any 6-6 corners,” Matukewicz said. “Every ball was contested. It’s not like guys were wide open. They were there. As coaches, we’ve got to put them in better positions, and as players, they’ve got to make plays — one ball, two athletes.”

Southeast Missouri State's Jamarl Holloway attempts to tackle Eastern Kentucky's Devin Borders during the first half on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016 in Richmond, Kentucky. (Nathan Hutchinson/Richmond Register)

Southeast was finally able to find the end zone later in the quarter, but it was far too late. Junior QB Jesse Hosket hit redshirt freshman WR Kristian Wilkerson in stride over the top of a Cover 2 defense, pulling the Redhawks within 31-16 with 3:42 remaining.

Hosket finished 24-of-41 (59 percent) passing with a touchdown and no picks. McCullough was his top receiver with 103 yards on a game-high eight grabs, but he committed two costly fumbles.

Senior running back Will Young led the Redhawks on the ground with 81 yards on eight carries. He had a 45-yard burst up the middle late in the third quarter that moved the ball into goal territory, however, the Redhawks were unable to come away with anything more than a field goal. In all, Southeast racked up 101 yards rushing.

“We just couldn’t finish it,” Matukewicz said. “We had a long pass and fumbled it. We got it down there, had to settle for field goals. I think that’s the key to the game. We couldn’t get off the field on third down on defense, and we couldn’t score touchdowns in the red zone on offense. And they did.”

The Redhawks went 45 yards in 11 plays on their first drive and settled for a 50-yard field goal by McCrum with 9:43 remaining in the opening quarter.

On SEMO’s next drive, McCullough caught a 42-yard pass from Hosket to get the Redhawks deep into EKU territory, but he coughed up the ball at the 6.

After Southeast freshman ILB Zach Hall jumped on top of a bad snap on the ensuing drive, the Redhawks’ offense went three-and-out and was forced to settle for another field goal, a 30-yard kick by McCrum that extended SEMO’s lead to 6-0 with 14:09 left in the first half.

Sophomore running back Ethan Thomas led EKU’s ground attack with a game-high 92 yards on 20 rushes. SEMO’s defense gave up a season-high in rushing yardage, allowing the Colonels to finish with 190 on the ground.

“It comes back to playing your technique and making plays, and we didn’t do enough of that,” Hill said. “They were able to get yards, and we weren’t able to stop them.”

The Redhawks get a much-needed bye week before returning to action, and Matukewicz called it a breath of fresh air for his squad, which was already set back at nose tackle coming into the game without 337-pound senior Marlon Hampton.

“I really felt like we looked slow out there today. We looked tired, so this bye week’s coming at a good time,” Matukewicz said. “We’ve got to get them healthy and regroup. ... We had lots of injuries tonight that really affected us, so we’ll see what that looks like.

“We’ll go on this second half of the season in the OVC. Fortunately it flips even though we’re on the road again coming out of the bye. After that, at least it’ll run through Houck [Stadium]. Hopefully we can get our breath, get our legs back and go try and make a run at it.”

Coming off the bye, Southeast travels to face Tennessee Tech on Oct. 22.

“We’ve just got to come out and pound the ball and keep scoring,” McCullough said. “As long as you let them stay in the game, they’re going to keep fighting.”