GRAHAM RECEIVES NOD AS SE'S STARTING QB

Heath Graham will be the man at the controls of Southeast Missouri State University's offense tonight when the Indians open the 1997 season against Lambuth at Houck Stadium.

Southeast coach John Mumford announced Friday afternoon that Graham would be his starting quarterback to begin the new year.

Graham, a highly-touted transfer from Southern Mississippi, missed quite a bit of early practice with a sore shoulder. But he's thrown well lately and appears to be completely healthy.

"Heath missed a lot of practice, but his shoulder is 100 percent now," said Mumford. "He's been throwing the ball well."

Mumford said that he has also been impressed with the way Justin Martini -- last year's starting quarterback -- has performed in workouts.

Graham, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior, transferred to Southeast for this year's fall semester in order to play his final collegiate season of football.

At Southern Mississippi, Graham started for much of three seasons and ranks second on the school's career passing yardage list behind Green Bay Packers' standout Brett Favre. Graham passed for more than 4,000 yards at Southern Mississippi but lost his starting job about halfway through his junior season last year.

Martini, also a senior, started 10 games for the Indians last season. He completed 103 of 234 passes for 1,225 yards and five touchdowns, with seven interceptions.