Dismal first half proves too much for SE to overcome

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings could only shake his head over the Indians' dismal first-half performance that led directly to their 41-21 loss at Tennessee Tech Saturday afternoon.

Asked whether the opening two quarters comprised his team's worst first half of the season, Billings didn't have to ponder long.

"Yeah, I guess it was," said Billings. "We didn't play well at all in the first half."

In the opening half, the Indians were hit with eight penalties for 55 yards, they could muster just 145 yards of offense and they allowed a 99-yard touchdown drive in the closing seconds as they fell behind 20-7. Southeast's only touchdown came off a fake punt.

All of Southeast's first-half penalties came on offense. The Indians were called three times for holding, three times for false starts or illegal procedure and twice for delay of game.

"We couldn't get any consistency at all on offense," Billings said. "We'd move the ball but we'd get a 15-yard penalty. We kept getting penalties and they didn't have any until I guess they had one later in the half."

The Indians were able to play better offensively in the second half but they could not overcome the poor opening two quarters.

Still 11 yards to go

Southeast tailback Curtis Cooper entered Saturday's game needing 62 yards to become just the third Indian to ever rush for 1,000 yards or more in a season.

Cooper will almost certainly still get there, but he'll have to wait one more week. After gaining 51 yards on 11 carries in the first half, he was held to five yards on six attempts in the second half to finish with 56 yards on 17 pops.

Cooper now has 994 yards on the season with two games left to play.

The last SEMO runner to reach 1,000 yards was Dione Tyler with 1,005 in 1995. Career rushing leader Kelvin "Earthquake" Anderson, the first Indian to gain 1,000 yards in a year, hit the milestone in all three of his collegiate seasons from 1992-94.

Wide receiver Willie Ponder, who had nine receptions for 78 yards Saturday, tied the Southeast single-season record for receiving touchdowns with 10 as he hauled in an 8-yard strike from Jeromy McDowell in the third quarter. Ponder now shares the record with Cape Central High School graduate David Gross, who set the mark in the 1970s.

Ponder, a junior-college transfer who earlier in the year tied the school record for TD receptions in a game with three against Southwest Missouri, has caught 61 passes for 913 yards this year. He needs 12 receptions and 194 yards in the final two contests to set single-season records in those departments.

McDowell, who played most of the way at quarterback, completed 23 of 34 passes for 241 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions.

Bobby Brune, who also played some at quarterback, went 6-for-13 for 38 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

Faking a field goal

Billings has shown a penchant for utilizing fake punts -- and with impressive success -- during his two seasons at Southeast but Saturday he changed that up a bit on his fake field goal call.

On Southeast's opening offensive possession of the game, the Indians moved to the Tennessee Tech 10-yard line where they faced fourth down. On came kicker Derek Kutz but absent was normal holder Andy Dunaway.

Instead, freshman Dimitri Patterson was sent in as the holder. But instead of putting the ball down for the boot, Patterson rose up after receiving the snap and dashed toward the left sideline. He went into the end zone untouched as the Indians caught the Eagles totally off guard.

Jackson High School product Mike Gross, a senior backup safety and a key player on special teams, likely saw his collegiate career end during the week when he suffered several broken fingers in practice.