The Wheel returns to SEMO after dominant victory over No. 7 SIU

Southeast Missouri State center Zack Gieg hoists the Wheel as the Redhawks celebrate defeating Southern Illinois 38-21 on Saturday, Sept. 21, in Carbondale, Ill.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Throughout the long history of Southeast Missouri State football, there are very few games as monumental as this one.

SEMO's 38-21 victory over No. 7 Southern Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 21, on the road at Carbondale, Illinois, was the Redhawks' fourth victory over an opponent ranked in the top 10 and third highest-ranked victory in program history.

For the Redhawks, the theme of this rivalry has been a victory over the Salukis would lead to a successful season and a loss would spell future failure. Thanks to the senior class, the Redhawks are on the right side of history.

"I'm pretty just so happy for my seniors," SEMO head coach Tom Matukewicz said. "We were 4-7 a year ago, and a lot of question marks, and that class that all came back and really went to work, their legacy will live on, bring the wheel back to the Cape where it belongs."

At 3-1, the Redhawks are still undefeated in FCS play. It was the first game of the year that the SEMO offense stuck balance as senior quarterback Paxton DeLaurent threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns and freshman running back Payton Brown rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown.

"They're the number seven team in the country, but we did feel like we were the better team all week," Paxton DeLaurent said. "We just had to execute plays."

For the second consecutive game, three different receivers found the end zone for the Redhawks. Dorian Anderson (111) and Tristian Smith (109) each topped 100 yards and scored. Mitchell Sellers found the end zone for the fourth time this season and Kyron Downing scored his first career touchdown in the first quarter.

"I feel like we have the best receiver corps in the nation," SEMO receiver Dorian Anderson said. "We're behind a great quarterback and the great offensive line and everything. So it feels pretty good. I feel like we can dominate against anybody that's who comes across us after this big win."

A junior from Vinita, Oklahoma, Downing has flown under the radar for three years but secured eight catches this season as DeLaurent's fifth option. His 12-yard touchdown set the tone for the Redhawk offense.

"KD is awesome," DeLaurent said. "He had a great fall camp and Cam Pedro just happens to play the same position as him, a really good player, and KD stepped up tonight and it was awesome to see that."

In a weird turn of events, Downing's touchdown was immediately followed by a blocked extra point that was recovered by SIU and taken to the other house for two points.

SEMO maintained early dominance with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Anderson to put SEMO up 13-2 in the first quarter.

The Salukis later closed the gap in the second quarter with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Simmons to Vinson Davis III, who finished the game with 132 yards, and a later field goal to pull within a point of SEMO at 13-12. Simmons, a junior and long-time backup quarterback, started the game after DJ Williams had surgery on his injured hand. He threw for a game-high 341 yards and a touchdown for SIU.

SEMO kicker DC Pippin made up for missing an early field goal attempt by making a 41-yarder with seven seconds left to put SEMO up 16-12 entering halftime.

The Salukis had momentum on their side entering the second half and took their first lead of the game after Paul Geelen hit a 34-yard field goal and Willtrell Hartson scored a 3-yard rushing touchdown to put SIU up 22-16 with 2:06 left in the third quarter.

However, not only was it the last time SIU would lead but also SEMO would go on to turn it into a blowout. Anderson's second touchdown catch put SEMO back on top 24-21 near the end of the third quarter.

The Redhawks continued to pour it on the Salukis in the fourth quarter with a three-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Sellers and later capped their final scoring drive on a one-yard run by Brown.

"He ran well all night," Matukewicz said of Brown. "He's just so good with yards after contact. I think he had a long pass (17 yards) too, so he's been a good pass-catching guy also."

What may have been the most impressive aspect of SEMO's win is since SIU came back and took the lead in the third quarter, the Redhawks' defense held the Salukis scoreless through the rest of the game.

"They're very competitive, mature, they're not thinking about the touchdown, they're thinking about the next play," Matukewicz said. "And if you saw our injury list, you would be shocked. We're down our fourth nickel DB. We're hemorrhaging players right now. So when you look at that, it's really impressive about our defense."

While the defense didn't force a turnover on SIU, they did hold the Salukis to 62 rushing yards and forced them to be one-dimensional on offense. More impressive has been the defense stopping the Salukis on downs in their last two offensive drives of the game, including one in the red zone.

"We played zero-man coverage from across the board," Matukewicz said. That's the confidence [defensive coordinator Ricky Coon] had in his players to execute. I love how they played red zone defense."

The Redhawks return home on Sept. 28 for a non-conference home game against Northwestern State.