DESPITE WEATHER, OPENER GOES JUST FINE FOR INDIANS

For the fans, it probably wasn't an ideal season opener because lightening and heavy rain certainly put a damper on things.

But for Southeast Missouri State University's football Indians, things couldn't have gone much better Saturday night as they started off 1997 with a dominating 24-6 win over Lambuth at Houck Stadium.

Sure, the Eagles are only an NAIA team and Southeast was probably supposed to win fairly handily. But Lambuth is an NAIA power that could probably play with at least a few Ohio Valley Conference squads. And it was still a nice start to what the Indians hope will be a turnaround season.

"Lambuth is a good football team. They're going to win a lot of games this year," said Southeast coach John Mumford after the contest, which lasted more than four hours thanks to two lightening and rain delays totaling 80 minutes. "We're a lot better than last year. I don't think there's any doubt about that.

"Overall, I was pleased. A, I'm pleased we won. B, I'm pleased we won convincingly. C, I'm pleased we won playing a lot of players."

The 18-point margin really doesn't begin to tell the story of Southeast's domination. In the first half, when the field was still in relatively good shape, the Indians piled up 254 yards while limiting Lambuth to only 31 yards as Southeast built a 17-0 lead.

In the second half, with the field getting sloppy, Southeast was content to primarily stay basic and run time off the clock. Most of Lambuth's final total of 205 yards came in the late going when Mumford was substituting freely. The Eagles had only 44 yards rushing all night.

"We just wanted to get it over with (in the second half)," Mumford said. "Our defense was very good. I hate they didn't get the shutout."

After finishing last season with just 914 total yards rushing as a team, the Indians are already off to a fast start in that department. Of Southeast's 392 total yards Saturday, 265 came on the ground.

Oklahoma transfer David Koleosho showed his speed as he turned on the jets for 108 yards on just seven carries in his Southeast debut.

Riki Smith, who saw limited time last year as a freshman, demonstrated his quickness with 112 yards on 18 carries. And fullback Broderick Benson added 57 yards on 10 attempts. Benson and fellow fullback Britt Mirgaux both scored touchdowns on 1-yard plunges.

"Getting two backs over 100 yards is great," said Mumford. "We have a lot more speed (in the backfield) this year and our backs ran hard."

Said Smith, "We're determined to have a good running game this year. The line blocked good and we ran hard."

The Indians also displayed their improved offensive speed at wide receiver in the form of junior-college transfer Marcus McKinley and Missouri transfer Leslie Weaver. Both caught two passes, with McKinley taking a short receiver screen and dashing 39 yards before being tackled just before reaching the end zone. Weaver also showed plenty of zip on punt returns with 53 yards on seven attempts.

Southeast quarterbacks Heath Graham and Justin Martini combined to complete nine of 19 passes for 127 yards. Graham was five of 11 and Martini four of eight.

Tight end John Borne led the receivers with three catches. All-OVC tight end Mitch Fryer hauled in an 18-yard touchdown strike from Graham.

Defensively, the Indians played about as advertised.

"I think our defense is going to give a lot of teams trouble," said Mumford.

Preseason Division I-AA All-America lineman Angel Rubio was all over the Lambuth backfield with nine tackles, including three for losses. He was rewarded for that performance by being named OVC Defensive Player of the Week.

"I think this is a good start for us," said Rubio. "Overall, I feel it was a good performance."

Redshirt freshman safety Joe Williams led the Indians in tackles with 11 while Florida transfer Zuri Buchanan added six from his linebacker spot. Twenty players were credited with at least two tackles as plenty of people saw action.

End Damon Hendrick recovered a fumble and had a quarterback sack while Buchanan also recovered a fumble and linebacker Gabe Jenkins had the other sack.

Punter Justin Terrill also had a strong game, averaging 43.2 yards on nine kicks, as he was named OVC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Now the Indians will have nearly two weeks to get ready for their next game, a Sept. 13 home contest against Illinois State.