Former walk-on develops into stalwart for Southeast football team's defense

Aris Bowen had a solid high school football career in Memphis, Tenn., but was not on the radar of Southeast Missouri State coaches until his father took a job in Cape Girardeau.

That twist of fate has been beneficial to both the Redhawks and Bowen, who originally landed a spot as a walk-on before eventually earning a scholarship at Southeast.

Bowen, a senior strong safety -- or rover in Southeast's system -- has been an important part of the Redhawks' defense the past two seasons.

"He played well last year, but I feel like he's gotten a lot better," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said. "He's improved quite a bit."

Bowen's father Jimmy Bowen accepted a job with Orthopaedic Associates of Southeast Missouri late during Aris' senior year of high school.

Southeast's Aris Bowen has helped the Redhawks win seven consecutive games. (Laura Simon)

Orthopaedic Associates of Southeast Missouri serves as the team physicians for Southeast athletics, and Jimmy generally patrols the sidelines during Redhawks football games.

"That's how we found out about him," Samuel said. "A lot of times you find out about players in different ways."

Bowen said he contacted Southeast coaches after his father's job opportunity in Cape Girardeau.

"I went to one of the senior camps [at Southeast] and talked to them," Bowen said. "I actually walked on but got a scholarship my junior year."

Bowen was grateful for the opportunity at Southeast because recruiters weren't exactly beating down his door.

"I had a few looks, some Division II, some NAIA, but nothing super huge," he said.

The 6-foot, 185-pound Bowen primarily played on special teams during his first two seasons at Southeast in 2007 and 2008, making 17 tackles and blocking a punt as a sophomore.

Bowen was determined to get more playing time and didn't want to take the easy way out.

"I didn't want to transfer some place where I could play," he said. "I just wanted to keep going here, put in my time and hopefully it would pay off."

It has. Bowen emerged as a key force on Southeast's defense last year, starting the final eight games after coming off the bench in the first three contests. He finished fourth on the team with 65 tackles, including 2.5 for loss, while tying for the team lead with five pass breakups and tying for second with two interceptions.

"Just being consistent with my workouts," Bowen said of the key to his improvement. "Last year was kind of like my introduction."

Bowen has not slacked off during his senior season, starting all eight games so far. He is tied for third on the Redhawks with 45 tackles, including 1.5 for loss.

Bowen had a career-high 10 tackles during a Week 2 win at Murray State and followed up the next week with nine tackles during an upset at then-fifth-ranked SIU, which marked one of the biggest victories in program history.

"He's more consistent this year," Samuel said. "He takes it to heart and he's a good kid."

While Bowen was happy to be a major part of the defense in 2009, Southeast's losing ways continued as the Redhawks went 2-9, including a last-place 1-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

But this year has been a revelation for everybody involved with the program as the Redhawks have been arguably the nation's biggest surprise.

"We always knew we had the talent to win, but we didn't know how to win," Bowen said.

Bowen said the Redhawks believed that this finally would be their year and it has turned out to be just that.

Southeast, 7-1 overall and a first-place 6-0 in the OVC with two conference games left, is ranked 11th nationally. That is by far the program's high-water mark since joining the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly Division I-AA, in 1991.

The Redhawks have won seven consecutive games for the program's longest streak since joining the FCS to match the 1975 squad that also won seven straight. The last time Southeast won eight straight during a season was in 1955, when that team went 9-0.

Southeast has posted its most OVC wins in program history -- the previous high was five -- while clinching the program's first winning season since 2002 (8-4) and just the third since joining the FCS. The other was a 7-5 mark in 1994.

Additionally, Southeast already is tied for fifth among the FCS's all-time most improved squads over a one-year span. The record is held by Montana State, which went from 1-10 in 1983 to 12-2 in 1984.

"It's nice to finally reap the benefits of putting in all the hard work," Bowen said. "We worked so hard over the spring and summer. I think that helped us learn how to win.

"We're playing as a full team. We feed off each other. Everybody gets along with everybody. We're like a big family."

If the Redhawks can beat Tennessee-Martin (4-4, 3-2) on Saturday, they'll be assured of going to undefeated, second-ranked Jacksonville State in the Nov. 13 regular-season finale with a perfect OVC record.

"We've been talking about trying to win the OVC since freshman year. That's what our goal's always been," said Bowen, a hospitality management major with his eye on some day managing a resort-type establishment. "Hopefully if we keep working we can do it."