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Southeast Missouri State football falls to No. 2 Jacksonville State on homecoming
Southeast Missouri State's Kristian Wilkerson carries the ball for a touchdown with Jacksonville State's Tramel Terry in tow during the third quarter Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
A fourth-quarter game was what Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz wanted from his team heading into Saturday's homecoming contest against the No. 2 team in the nation, and in the end, that's what he got.
The Redhawks shut out the Gamecocks in the second half, but it wasn't enough to erase a three-score deficit at halftime against Jacksonville State, which relied on its defense to secure a 17-10 victory at Houck Stadium.
Jacksonville State's Jamari Hester hauls in a pass from Eli Jenkins before he is tackled by Southeast Missouri State's Steve Durosier during the third quarter Saturday at Houck Stadium. The Gamecocks won 17-10.
Fred Lynch
"It was a really physical game," Redhawks senior inside linebacker Roper Garrett said. "We knew this was one of the teams in the conference that plays really physical, and we know as a defense and offense and special teams that we have to come out and get really, really physical.
"We can't let them push us around and had to show them that we were ready to come out."
After back-to-back defensive stops to start the second half, Southeast (3-6, 3-3 Ohio Valley Conference) was able to manufacture an eight-play, 73-yard scoring drive that trimmed its deficit to 17-7. The drive was extended by a fake punt on fourth-and-2, as Garrett retrieved the snap and buried his way across the first-down marker for a 3-yard gain.
"We knew we were going to have to try to create some plays depending on how it was," Matukewicz said. "It was really well-executed by our punt team, and Roper was right at the down marker and was kind of be-your-own-blocker there -- BYOB -- and got the first down."
Three plays later, junior quarterback Jesse Hosket connected with redshirt freshman wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson for a 49-yard TD strike in single coverage, pulling the Redhawks within 10 points with 7 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The play stood as the longest by either team.
Southeast Missouri State's Cameron Sanders returns a kickoff 33 yards before he is tackled by Jacksonville State's Nate Craft during the second quarter Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
Southeast made a concerted effort to take shots down the field against a vulnerable secondary, as Hosket finished 14-of-39 passing (36 percent) for 206 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Wilkerson led the Redhawks in receiving with two catches for 93 yards.
"We knew we could make some plays against their secondary, and we hadn't been able to up until that point," Matukewicz said. "We finally got one loose, and Jesse did a good job. And Kristian did an outstanding job."
Things got heated on the ensuing kickoff when both teams were flagged for off-setting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and both sidelines cleared as extra-curricular pushing and shoving caused a referee to spill to the ground.
The Gamecocks were flagged an additional 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, with tensions reaching their boiling point. Both teams combined for 25 penalties that negated 206 yards, with JSU (8-1, 5-0 OVC) being the main culprit (16 penalties for 138 yards).
"I don't think we're going on vacation any time soon with Jacksonville State's coaching staff," Matukewicz said. "At the end of the day, they came in, and their style is kind of an intimidation style. And I told our players, 'You will not be intimidated by this team. You don't take anything. You don't do anything that should cause a flag or anything, but you don't back down. You're not going to back down and let them intimidate us out here.' And they didn't.
"They had a lot of penalties that were pretty embarrassing, so it was just one of those games where it was starting to get away from us a little bit. I'm just glad that nothing really bad happened."
Southeast had its best starting field position of the second half when it took over at the Gamecocks' 47-yard line with 9:29 left in the game, but an aborted snap on first down led to a 25-yard loss.
On the ensuing possession, Southeast was flagged for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in one play before the defense forced a 36-yard field goal attempt on fourth-and-2 that was blocked by senior Fernando Whigham with 4:51 remaining.
"I think the officials thought they were losing control, and so all of a sudden, they were going to call anything. And all of a sudden, we get a 30-yard penalty," Matukewicz said. "That was huge because that just gives you life in a two-score game. ... He did a great job, and then our offense came out and responded there."
On the next drive, Hosket threw a deep pass over the middle and was intercepted by Jaylen Hill. JSU's Reggie Hall was flagged and ejected for targeting on the play, negating the return and setting the ball up at the Southeast 46.
The Gamecocks drove inside the red zone before backup QB Bryan Horn fumbled the ball at the 14. Junior cornerback JJ Flye forced the fumble, while senior safety Eriq Moore got the recovery for the Redhawks.
Southeast took over with 2:03 to go and went 83 yards in 14 plays. Hosket connected with Wilkerson on a 44-yard pass down to the JSU 6 before the Gamecocks' defense stood tall to force the Redhawks to settle for a 23-yard field goal by senior kicker Ryan McCrum, cutting SEMO's deficit to seven points with 24 seconds remaining.
JSU's Dalton Campbell bobbled the ball on the onside kick before it was scooped up by a Southeast player and returned into opposing territory. However, officials ruled that Campbell's knee had touched the ground, therefore ruling him down with possession.
"That's the thing at this level -- you wish you had instant replay. Because with even a catch or some of these other things, let's just get it right," Matukewicz said. "I know they just voted that, so that will actually go into effect next year. And this level needs it.
"I think even the officials, they want that, too, because they're human, and it happens so fast. But the question mark is, 'Did he bobble it, and then it come out?' You've got to have a caught ball before that because if that was a receiver that did that, that's incomplete."
With a few seconds remaining in the game, Jacksonville State's Dalton Campbell reaches to catch the on-side kick as Southeast Missouri State's Devin Alexander (22) moves in to claim the ball during the fourth quarter Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
McCrum missed a 40-yard attempt on the opening possession of the game, and the Gamecocks took a 7-0 lead at the 1:44 mark of the opening quarter when redshirt senior WR Josh Barge made a one-handed grab on a 20-yard pass from senior QB Eli Jenkins in the left corner of the end zone.
Barge finished with a game-high eight receptions for 145 yards.
"I think that was a really, really good ball and a really, really good catch," Matukewicz said. "That team, they have just exceptional players. I'm proud of our defense because we were right there every single play. A couple of their players were able to make some plays, but for the most part, I think any defense in this whole league will take what we did."
Cameron Sanders returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, but a late holding call negated the score and positioned the Redhawks 44 yards away from the end zone.
"I asked them what they saw. We were double-teaming the guy," Matukewicz said. "They were on the guy already. Then he called it after the fact, so he said he saw one of our players pull him and hold him. So obviously if that's the case, we'll coach it. That was certainly a big turning point."
Jenkins finished 10-of-19 passing for 144 yards but was slowed by an ankle injury and replaced by Horn late in the second quarter.
Redshirt sophomore Cade Stinnett knocked through a 45-yard kick with 5:02 remaining in the first half before Horn led the Gamecocks on a 49-yard scoring drive and capped the series with an 11-yard pass to redshirt senior Josh Clemons with 1:19 remaining before the break.
Jacksonville State quarterback Eli Jenkins throws a pass while covered by Southeast Missouri State's J.J. Flye during the third quarter Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016 at Houck Stadium.
Fred Lynch
Meanwhile, Southeast struggled with field position in the second period, starting back-to-back drives at its own 1 and 16.
"They were on a short field the whole time, and defensively to be able to hold them to a field goal once was really pretty good," Matukewicz said. "We weren't able to establish the run game like we wanted, and it caused some of those field position issues that we had."
Clemons and junior RB Roc Thomas accounted for 92 of the Gamecocks' 151 yards on the ground. JSU averaged 3.5 yards per carry, while Horn led the way with five rushes for 55 yards.
Senior RB Will Young was bottled up for 36 yards on 11 rushes to lead the Redhawks, who finished with zero net yardage on 28 rushes -- Tremane McCullough was held to minus-6, Hosket was limited to minus-12 and the team had minus-27 on two bad snaps.
"Our passing game's really built off of our run game, and so when defenses have to get more guys out in the box to defend the run, that's when Jesse opens up a lot of the passing game," Matukewicz said. "That wasn't effective, so we were just kind of off."
The Gamecocks have now won 22 straight conference games, but Matukewicz was pleased to see his team inch ever so closer against the league's best.
Southeast returns to action at UT Martin before closing the season at home against Tennessee State.
"I'm not going to walk out of here holding my head," Matukewicz said. "They imposed their will on us the last two years. It was like there wasn't anything you could do about it. They just came out and were going to dominate you, and they didn't do that. And so I think we have closed the gap.
"I think it's hard because of their facilities and the finances and where they're at in their location to get those type of transfers, but we're going to get it. It may take us a little bit, but we're going to try to get there."
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