Heitert comes off bench ready to play and guides SEMO to OVC rout

We’ve seen this scenario unfold before.

Southeast Missouri State quarterback Paxton DeLaurent got injured in Saturday’s game at Tennessee Tech, and young backup Patrick Heitert came off the bench and not only kept the Redhawk train on the rails but played very well.

“The team rallies around him,” veteran Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz said after Heitert’s latest performance. “They really like him.”

Heitert, who led SEMO to wins over Eastern Illinois and Murray State last season when DeLaurent got hurt, did his thing again in spectacular fashion on Saturday. His play, coupled with a great defensive performance, and the usual phenomenal outing by senior wide receiver Ryan Flournoy, were all vital in the Redhawks dominating the Golden Eagles 28-3 in Cookeville, Tenn.

The victory was the Redhawks’ ninth consecutive conference victory and kept SEMO (3-4, 3-0 Big South/OVC) in position to control its own postseason destiny.

“How we won was huge,” Matukewicz said. “We played really well.”

The “how” Matukewicz was referring to was “how” his team handled a great deal of adversity from a personnel standpoint.

With SEMO leading 7-0, on the first play of the second quarter, DeLaurent got sacked and fell on his shoulder awkwardly, and never returned to the game.

At that point, he had completed 7 of 10 passes, including a thrilling 89-yard touchdown pass to Flournoy.

Losing DeLaurent can’t possibly be spun into a positive, however, the Redhawks didn’t skip a beat with Heitert orchestrating the offense.

“He is just ‘Mr. Consistency,’” Matukewicz said.

On the first play with Heitert running the offense, Redhawk running back Geno Hess was stopped for no gain, so it was clear that Heitert was going to have to use his dual-threat capability to guide his team.

“People are saying that ‘We are not going to let Geno beat us,’” Matukewicz said.

On Heitert’s second snap, he hooked up with Flournoy for a 15-yard gain and it was an early indication of how Heitert was going to perform.

The Christian Brothers College High School graduate finished the day having completed 12 of 14 passes for 179 yards and a score. He also ran for 21 yards, including a touchdown.

“I thought he was awesome,” Matukewicz said of Heitert. “He didn’t turn it over. He had several nice drives and had a nice touchdown throw.

“Our team likes Patrick. They believe in Patrick.”

SEMO not only lost DeLaurent, but also the top receiver in the Big South/OVC, senior Damoreia Vick to a shoulder injury.

Matukewicz said after ward that both DeLaurent and Vick would have MRIs and he would know more on Monday.

The Redhawks also had to play the second half without All-American center Zack Gieg, who suffered a laceration on his hand.

Heitert’s play was aided by the great outing by Flournoy, who played with a smaller version of a cast on his injured left hand.

Flournoy caught six passes for 203 yards and the long score.

“He is a dynamic player,” Matukewicz said of Flournoy.

On the other side of the ball, the Redhawk defense shut down the Golden Eagles all day.

Tennessee Tech had 10 offensive series and scored just one field goal on one of those.

The Redhawks forced the hosts to punt six times, ended a drive on downs once, and picked off a pass to stop another series.

All-American defenders Bryce Norman and Lawrence Johnson combined for 16 stops to pace SEMO while Joedrick Lewis had that interception.

“The defense did a great job,” Matukewicz said. “The red zone stops were huge. We played a lot better.”

The Redhawks will travel to Nicholls (3-3) on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) for a non-league contest.