Defeat leaves Indians in a must-win scenario

The bad news for Southeast Missouri State University's football team was Saturday night's 27-24 home loss to Murray State.

The good news for the Indians is that in this unpredictable Ohio Valley Conference season, they're not out of the hunt for their first OVC championship.

Southeast (2-6, 2-2), which had a two-game winning streak snapped, is in a three-way tie for fourth place in the league. No squad is undefeated, and only two teams have one loss.

"We're still in good shape," said safety Chaun Tate, who scored a touchdown on an 80-yard fake punt. "We have to bounce back, but we still have a chance with this conference."

With Samford losing to Tennessee State, the Indians were in position to control their own destiny regarding the league's automatic NCAA Division I-AA playoff berth. If they won the rest of their games, they didn't have to worry about a tie-breaker with Samford.

Now, Southeast still can get a share of the OVC crown, but the playoff berth would be up in the air depending on how other teams fared.

"If we win out, we tie for the conference," Southeast coach Tim Billings said. "But if we play like we did tonight, we won't win another game."

Un-special teams

Southeast's special teams were solid during a two-game winning streak, but they were a disaster Saturday. Special teams' miscues directly resulted in 17 of the Racers' 27 points.

"We had a lot of mistakes that hurt us," Southeast tailback Bobby Dorsainvil said.

The Racers' 31-yard field goal in the first quarter was set up by a roughing-the-punter penalty that kept the drive alive.

One Racer touchdown came on a 2-yard drive after a blocked punt, and another TD came on an 8-yard drive after a fumbled punt.

Dorsainvil comes on

Dorsainvil, a redshirt freshman, has been given more opportunities to carry the ball in recent weeks because of David Taufoou's knee injury.

On Saturday, Dorsainvil had his best performance at Southeast when he rushed for 64 yards on 11 carries and scored a touchdown on an 11-yard run. He entered with just 78 yards this season.

"I feel more comfortable as I get more carries," Dorsainvil said. "I'm glad to be contributing."

Noteworthy

Freshman David Simonhoff, the OVC's leading punter, did not dress out Saturday because of a leg injury. He said he suffered a fractured tibia a few weeks ago, but the injury was discovered last week. He wasn't certain when he might return. Place-kicker Derek Kutz handled punting Saturday.

Cornerback Dimitri Patterson intercepted his second pass of the season, tying him with Tate and Kellin White for the team lead.

Southeast's defense allowed just 286 yards, but 214 came on the ground. The Racers needed to drive a total of only 55 yards for their three touchdowns, with the winning score coming on a 45-yard march.

Southeast gained 358 yards, but had only 152 in the second half -- and 80 of those yards came on Tate's touchdown run on the fake punt.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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