Late turnover dooms Southeast Missouri State football to 19-16 loss at Eastern Illinois

Southeast Missouri State's Kendall Donnerson (81) and Zach Hall combined to bring down Eastern Illinois' Scotty Gilkey on Saturday at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois.

Sandra L. King ~ Special to The Southeast Missourian

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The Southeast Missouri State football team managed to claw its way back into contention Saturday despite a putrid first-half performance from its offense.

But all hope seemed to wither away in a flash.

Facing a three-point deficit in the final seconds, the Redhawks were well within field-goal range with the ball spotted at Eastern Illinois' 16-yard line. On third-and-4, Southeast quarterback Jesse Hosket uncorked a pass that was intercepted at the goal line by Panthers safety Bradley Dewberry, as Eastern Illinois held on for a 19-16 win in both teams' Ohio Valley Conference opener at O'Brien Field.

The loss drops the Redhawks to 0-4 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.

"Everybody wants to win so bad that he was trying to win us a football game, but at the end of the day, we left a field goal on the table that could've taken us into overtime," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said. "It's hard. You've got to lay off of that if it's covered and throw it away.

Southeast Missouri State's Eddie Morris carries the ball against Eastern Illinois on Saturday at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois.

Sandra L. King ~ Special to The Southeast Missourian

"It's always hindsight, so we'll watch the film and just see what it looked like."

The Redhawks converted two fourth downs on their final drive to keep the game alive. Both were receptions by wide receiver Trevon Billington, the latter of which came when Hosket surveyed the field and connected on a 24-yard pass across his body.

"It was pretty clutch," sophomore wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson said about Billington on the final drive. "Trevon is always there when you need him. He's a great player. You can always rely on him to make a big play whenever. He's just got that in him to make big plays."

The decisive turnover was eerily reminiscent of what occurred at the end of the first half.

Down 12-0 with 1 minute, 11 seconds left on the clock, Southeast drove deep into opposing territory, a drive that was jumpstarted by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. However, with the ball spotted at the Panthers' 18 and no timeouts, Hosket misfired on a pass and was intercepted by Mark Williams, leaving the Redhawks scoreless at halftime.

The senior Hosket completed 22 of 43 passes (51 percent) for 249 yards with two interceptions.

"It should never even be close to a pick," Matukewicz said. "When in doubt, hit me with the football, and we'll kick a field goal. So I don't know if it's a lack of communication from the coaches to him or what.

Southeast Missouri State's Kristian Wilkerson runs with the ball against Eastern Illinois on Saturday at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois.

Sandra L. King ~ Special to The Southeast Missourian

"He's smarter than that, but that's why you lose football games, when you do things like that. Those are points. You can't have breakdowns like that right there."

EIU (2-2 overall, 1-0 OVC) cashed in on the opening drive of the game, converting on third down five times and going 87 yards in 17 plays. Panthers redshirt freshman QB Scotty Gilkey, who was named the starter at game time in place of injured QB Mitch Kimble, capped the drive on a 1-yard touchdown run with 7:48 remaining in the first quarter. A missed extra point by EIU kicker Nick Wilson kept the score at 6-0.

"They went with a different quarterback, so there were some different plays in there, some different formations," Matukewicz said. "They had changed up some things, so we were just kind of trying to settle in and get used to some of the new things. But they made some plays on those third downs.

"The first one was a third-and-15 that they hit a corner on. That's the one you just really wish you could have back."

The Panthers added to their lead with a 13-play, 83-yard drive. It ended when Gilkey delivered a 32-yard pass to wideout Alexander Hollins in the left corner of the end zone at the 6:25 mark of the second quarter. Once again, Wilson missed the PAT, keeping the score at 12-0.

"It was a good throw, good catch," Matukewicz said. "It was a back-shoulder fade. We were there. We looked to play the ball, which is what we've been working on, and [the receiver] makes a play."

Southeast struggled to get going in the first half and was doubled up in total offense, 251-125 yards.

Through the first four weeks of the season, the Redhawks have been outscored 74-24 in the opening half, including 37-3 in the first quarter alone.

"We have better players," Matukewicz said. "They're not playing well together, or we're not putting them in the right positions. It's four games in a row. We've got to figure out how to get our offense going."

After both teams traded possessions to start the third quarter, SEMO's offense put together its lone scoring drive of the game. A 60-yard deep pass from Hosket to Wilkerson positioned Southeast in goal-to-go territory before running back Marquis Terry dashed into the end zone from 4 yards out, cutting the Redhawks' deficit to 12-7 with 8:33 to play in the period.

Southeast Missouri State's Clarence Thornton attempts to tackle Eastern Illinois' Scotty Gilkey on Saturday at O'Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois.

Sandra L. King ~ Special to The Southeast Missourian

"That was a huge momentum swing," Matukewicz said. "It was good to see Terry punch it in out of that wildcat formation. He's been really good for us."

Despite sitting out of practice for much of the week due to an injury, the sophomore Wilkerson led all receivers, finishing with seven receptions for a career-high 134 yards.

"I had fresh legs since I was out this week," Wilkerson said. "Just having my legs, I felt like I was able to run a little bit faster."

On the ensuing drive, Gilkey broke free down the right sideline for a big gain, but safety Omar Pierre-Louis jarred the ball loose from behind, as cornerback Mike Ford scooped it up and returned it 19 yards to the Redhawks' 30.

"They kind of caught us in a bad defense, and he takes off running down the sideline," Matukewicz said. "What a smart play to punch it out. We did a great job scooping it."

Later in the third, the Panthers were pinned back at their own 15 when defensive lineman Bryson Donnell broke free in the backfield and forced Gilkey to scramble for the loose ball, falling on it in his own end zone for a safety that pulled Southeast within 12-9 with 44 seconds left in the quarter.

"I thought our defense played great," Matukewicz said. "... They weren't quite ready, and the ball was snapped. And our D-lineman jumped in there. It was a great job by our defensive line to make something happen there."

The Redhawks finished with three turnovers in the game, including a fumble on the ensuing possession when Terry was stripped at the Panthers' 38 on a rush up the middle.

Southeast Missouri State's Mike Ford runs with the ball after recovering a fumble against Eastern Illinois on Saturday at O Brien Field in Charleston, Illinois.

Sandra L. King ~ Special to The Southeast Missourian

Terry finished with 68 yards on 20 carries. As a team, Southeast was held to 103 yards rushing, averaging 3.5 yards per carry.

"That was kind of rough," Matukewicz said. "That took away a lot of our momentum. We were kind of on a little bit of a drive. He's done a great job with the ball for the most part, so I know he hates that. He's got to just try to take that off the film."

Both teams went three-and-out before a short punt allowed EIU to take over at its own 46. It took the Panthers just four plays to find the end zone, as Gilkey found Hollins wide open down the sideline on a hitch-and-go that resulted in a 38-yard score, extending EIU's advantage to 19-9 with 11:19 left in the game.

It didn't last long, though, as the Redhawks scored 13 seconds later.

On the ensuing kickoff, Redhawks junior Cameron Sanders bolted down the sideline and returned it 93 yards for a TD, pulling the visitors within 19-16.

"All the momentum was over there," Matukewicz said. "To be able to rebound and get Cam Sanders going, that was huge."

Gilkey finished 9-of-20 passing (45 percent) for 142 yards with a pair of TDs. Hollins was his top target, finishing with seven receptions for 118 yards.

The Panthers racked up 372 yards of total offense, compared to 355 for Southeast.

"I can't say enough for how we practiced, how we competed," EIU coach Kim Dameron said. "We didn't do everything right. We weren't perfect, but I will take one any way I can get one, especially in the league.

"I know they've had their struggles. We've had our struggles, but our kids found a way tonight to get it done."

Senior outside linebacker Kendall Donnerson paced SEMO's defense with 12 tackles, including one for loss, while inside linebacker Zach Hall added nine stops.

The Redhawks' defense recorded three sacks. Senior defensive lineman Josh Wilson went down with an injury late in the fourth quarter and didn't return.

Southeast returns home for Family Weekend at 6 p.m. Saturday to take on Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels opened OVC play Saturday with a 24-21 win over Tennessee Tech.

"Nothing I'm going to say is going to make anyone feel any better, and there's nothing I'm going say that you don't already know," Matukewicz said. "You know why we lost this football game. We know why we lost this football game.

"At this point, it comes down to pride and how you're going to prepare for next week and how you're going to try and improve. It's easy to start pointing fingers. It's easy to say the season's over and all those things, but I don't believe that. You can't believe that. We've got to go and try to win at home in front of a great crowd."