A win is a win -- especially on homecoming

The more than 7,000 fans who witnessed Saturday's football game between Southeast Missouri State and Tennessee-Martin certainly couldn't have come away raving about how well the teams performed.

But to the Southeast supporters in attendance on homecoming -- and they made up most of the crowd at Houck Stadium --the sloppy play probably mattered little.

And it probably mattered even less to Southeast's players and coaches as, for just the second time all season, they were able to celebrate a win, thanks to a 28-point third-quarter outburst that turned a halftime tie into a 35-7 Southeast romp.

While the victory doesn't do a whole lot for Southeast in the Ohio Valley Conference race --the squad is virtually out of title contention at 2-3, along with a 2-6 overall record -- it at least gives the players a much better feeling about themselves, and probably a lot more confidence heading into the final three games of the season.

Although it will take some strong play to pull it off, Southeast still has a chance to finish with exactly the same conference record as last year, when a 5-3 mark netted the team a third-place tie among nine squads.

And considering how the season started and had pretty much gone prior to Saturday, if the above happened, it would have to rank as a major feat.

You've got to feel happy for Southeast basketball player Ryan "Fuzzy" Belcher, who was recently declared eligible for this season by the NCAA.

Belcher, a junior college transfer guard, apparently is a good student who had done everything he was told to do in order to be eligible, but an oversight on Southeast's part had his eligibility in serious question up until Monday.

I don't know what kind of a player Belcher will end up being at Southeast, but at least he's not going to have to sit out the entire season for something totally out of his control.

A sign that the college basketball season is just around the corner: Southeast plays the first of its two exhibition games Saturday when Harris-Stowe from St. Louis visits the Show Me Center for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

And Southeast's women have the first of their two exhibition contests just two days later when Christian Brothers College from Memphis, Tenn., comes to town on Nov. 8.

Major congratulations to Kelly High School's softball team for winning the Class 2 state championship last weekend.

The Hawks have been one of the area's biggest prep sports dynasties for the past 20 years and they keep on churning out one great season after another.

Also kudos to Notre Dame softball for bringing home a third-place finish in Class 3.

Central High School graduate Craig Scheer, who has carved out quite a nice professional soccer career playing for several Major Indoor Soccer League teams, is with the St. Louis Steamers this year.

Scheer, 28, is a midfielder. He and the Steamers opened their season Friday night.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.