INDIANS PLAY EXCITING FOOTBALL

Southeast Missouri State University's football team closes its home football schedule Saturday at Houck Stadium. While the season may not have been as successful as the team and Coach John Mumford would have liked, the Indians continue to show progress at their raised level of competition and play an exciting brand of football. Saturday will be a good opportunity for area fans to get out and see how far this squad has advanced.

No one claimed the elevation of the football program from NCAA Division II to Division I-AA would be easy. The Indians have shown the effects of these growing pains, yet the 2-7 record to date is far from humbling. And few who have attended Southeast's home games this season can claim they haven't received their money's worth, especially after watching the running of tailback Kelvin Anderson. In a program that is stretching itself geographically, Anderson is a genuine star who was born and raised in the Bootheel; he has become the first 1,000-yards-in-a-season rusher at Southeast. He and his teammates have not reduced their effort as a result of the odds against them.

Much of the credit for that is due Mumford and his fellow coaches, who have shown themselves to be patient teachers, thorough planners and good motivators.

Though colder weather is due this weekend, the skies are expected to clear and Saturday should prove a good, last chance this season to enjoy local college football. Illinois State is the opponent and game time is 2 p.m. Success in Division I-AA was not due overnight at the university. Southeast is on its way, but it will take time. In the meantime, it's nice to enjoy some good football.

Indians play exciting football