Southeast Missouri State football rallies in second half to beat Stony Brook and claim first-ever postseason win

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com

Southeast defensive lineman Clarence Thornton (50) and linebacker Demarcus Rogers celebrate after sacking the Stony Brook quarterback during the Redhawks 28-14 win at Houck Stadium Saturday.

With the 14-point comeback completed, and a historic victory secured, Southeast Missouri State football quarterback Daniel Santacaterina took a few seconds to survey everything going on around him and soak in all the joy.

A year ago, Santacaterina wasn’t on the roster at SEMO, which was coming off its seventh consecutive losing season. A playoff berth, let alone a victory, seemed far-fetched to most outside observers.

But there Santacaterina was Saturday, standing on Houck Field and celebrating one of his most memorable football moments, SEMO’s first-ever win in the Football Championship Subdivision postseason.

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com

Southeast running back Marquis Terry (3) tries to hurdle a Stony Brook defender during the Redhawks 28-14 win at Houck Stadium Saturday.

Behind Santacaterina’s four third-quarter touchdowns and the defense’s four turnovers, SEMO overcame a double-digit halftime deficit and beat Stony Brook 28-14 in a first-round game in front of 5,679 at Houck Field.

With the win in its first-ever home FCS postseason contest, SEMO improved to 6-0 at home this season.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Santacaterina, who transferred in from Northern Illinois in the offseason. “The whole season, not much words can describe it, so really special. Just got to keep enjoying these moments because they’re not going to last forever.”

In the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, SEMO was picked to finish seventh in the nine-team league. Four months later, the Redhawks (9-3) have tied the school record for most wins in a season with nine and advanced to a second-round matchup against No. 2 Weber State at 3 p.m. next Saturday in Ogden, Utah.

At halftime, it looked like SEMO wouldn’t be making that trip west. Stony Brook led 14-0 and had shut out the Redhawks in the opening half for the first time all season.

“I told them at halftime that this is the most important moment in program history,” SEMO coach Tom Matukewicz said. “We’re all feeling good about ourselves, all up in our feels about, ‘Oh, we’re hosting.’ Then all of a sudden, we got punched in the face. We’re down 14-0. We’re trying to regroup, and I loved how our football team decided to respond.

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com

Southeast quarterback Daniel Santacaterina (10) eludes Stony Brook defenders on his way to a rushing touchdown during the Redhawks 28-14 win at Houck Stadium Saturday.

“You have two choices right? You keep getting punched in the field or you can swing back.”

Stony Brook (7-5) opened the second half with the ball and a chance to take a three-possession lead.

Instead, Justin Swift came up with an interception after Clarence Thornton tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage. Santacaterina did the rest with a 16-yard touchdown run.

“Anytime there’s a turnover, there’s always a little jolt of energy,” Santacaterina said. “Coach Tuke is always screaming, ‘Attack, attack.’ It feels good to have a short field.”

On the Seawolves’ next possession, Taj Jenkins came up with another interception, and Santacaterina found Kristian Wilkerson for a 5-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14-all.

In less than five minutes, SEMO had erased a 14-point deficit.

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com

Southeast inside linebacker Zach Hall (5) jumps to successfully swat the ball away as the Stony Brook quarterback attempts a pass during the Redhawks 28-14 win at Houck Stadium Saturday.

A 9-yard TD pass from Santacaterina to Jerrick Orr gave the Redhawks their first lead of the game with 7:44 left in the quarter, and Santacaterina capped the third-quarter scoring a 38-yard toss to Wilkerson. That score came after SEMO recovered a fumbled punt at the Stony Brook 38-yard line.

Those 28 points were the second-most SEMO has scored in a quarter during its Division I era.

Stony Brook quarterback Joe Carbone was injured late in the third quarter on a sack, thrusting backup Tyquell Fields onto the field against a SEMO team up 21-14.

Fields, who had attempted 18 passes entering Saturday, finished 7-of-17 passing for 74 yards. Carbone was 15-of-27 passing for 211 yards with a touchdown and three turnovers. His 36-yard touchdown pass to Julius Wingate gave Stony Brook that 14-0 halftime lead. Donald Liotine had opened the scoring earlier in the second quarter on a 2-yard TD run.

After overturning that halftime deficit, the Redhawks sealed the win with a Ryan Ochoa sack on fourth-and-goal, taking possession with less than three minutes left. The offense did the rest, running out the clock to clinch the historic win.

“I was just enjoying the moment,” said Swift. “Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve never been through something like this.”

Before this season, SEMO hadn’t had a winning season since 2010, when it advanced to the playoffs for the first time before losing to eventual national champion Eastern Washington.

This time around, SEMO earned another playoff game.

“I did enjoy it,” Matukewicz said. “There’s no way I’m worried about Sunday until I wake up. I’m going to punch myself every time I start thinking about tomorrow. We should not, let’s enjoy today.”

Hall sets record

Early in the second quarter of a scoreless game, Stony Brook’s Jordan Gowins was tackled by Zach Hall after a six-yard rush. It was an unremarkable play, except for one detail.

With that tackle, Hall set a new single-season school record, surpassing Blake Peiffer’s total of 151 set in 2011.

Hall finished with 13 tackles Saturday and now has 163 this season. He will have a chance to build on that record against Weber State.

Southeast box score

SOUTHEAST 28, STONY BROOK 14

Second Quarter

STON -- Liotine 2 run (Lucansky kick), 6:37.

STON -- Wingate 36 pass from Carbone (Lucansky kick), 1:54.

Third Quarter

SEMO -- Santacaterina 16 run (Tiller kick), 13:19.

SEMO -- Wilkerson 5 pass from Santacaterina (Tiller kick), 10:06.

SEMO -- Orr 9 pass from Santacaterina (Tiller kick), 7:44.

SEMO -- Wilkerson 38 pass from Santacaterina (Tiller kick), 3:42.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Stony Brook, J. Gowins 16-73, D. Liotine 17-49, T. Fields 8-9, D. Washington 1-(minus 1), J. Carbone 3-(minus 11). SE Missouri, M. Terry 19-64, D. Santacaterina 11-35, M. Robinson 4-9, Z. Custis 2-(minus 4).

PASSING -- Stony Brook, J. Carbone 15-27-2-211, T. Fields 7-17-0-74. SE Missouri, D. Santacaterina 13-29-0-136.

RECEIVING -- Stony Brook, J. Wingate 8-143, N. Anderson 4-39, D. Washington 3-32, C. Daniels 3-28, D. Liotine 2-20, J. Gowins 1-13, Z. Lucas 1-10. SE Missouri, K. Wilkerson 5-57, Z. Smith 3-50, A. Alston 1-13, R. Eisenhart 1-8, J. Orr 2-7, A. Crump 1-1.