Indians brace for talented Bears squad

As impressive as last Saturday's 24-5 victory over Southern Illinois was, Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings has no doubt that kind of performance won't be good enough tonight when Southwest Missouri State visits Houck Stadium for an in-state battle.

"We'll have to play a lot better than last week," said Billings. "We'll have to really execute."

That's because Billings believes the Bears -- who like Southeast have a 1-1 record -- will be one of the better teams the Indians face all season.

"They're a very good team, probably even better than Eastern Michigan," Billings said. "I think they're really good. Player for player, they're probably better than Eastern Michigan."

Not that Eastern Michigan, which rallied past Southeast 16-12 in the season opener two weeks ago, is anything to write home about. But the Eagles are a Division I-A program, which makes Billings' assessment significant.

And the Bears have been fairly impressive so far against two non-Division I-AA opponents. They played I-A Kansas tough before falling 24-10 and they cruised past Division II Midwestern State 28-6 last Saturday in a game that was ended because of lightning in the third quarter by mutual consent of both coaches.

"They played Kansas really close and had an opportunity to win the game," said Billings.

Ball also impressed

While Billings might be plenty impressed with the Bears, SMS coach Randy Ball also has glowing things to say about the Indians, who lost to the Bears 24-7 last year in Springfield, Mo.

"They look awful good to me on the tapes I've seen," said Ball. "They played Eastern Michigan very tough and to beat SIU like they did...they look a lot improved from last year. Coach Billings is doing a great job."

Ball, who came to Springfield in 1999 after a highly successful stint at Western Illinois, is hoping to take the SMS program to another level this year. His first two Bears teams have gone 5-6 and last season's squad finished tied for fifth in the Gateway Conference with a 2-4 mark.

Asked if he thinks the Bears are ready to make a major jump this year and become contenders in the rugged Gateway Conference, Ball said, "It's so early in the season. I think everybody who's coaching hopes they'll be good, but only time will tell."

A dangerous runner

What worries Billings the most about the Bears is an apparently rugged defense and hard-running tailback Jason Ringena, who burned the Indians for 222 yards during last year's game.

Ringena is averaging 5.1 yards per carry so far this year, although he has just 71 yards as the Bears have been spreading the carries around.

SMS also had a solid quarterback in former Ohio State transfer Austin Moherman, who played against the Indians last season.

"Their running back is a really good player and their quarterback is solid. They've got a solid offense," Billings said. "Defensively, they're really good. They really run around and play hard."

Billings is encouraged by the fact that the Indians played the Bears relatively tough a year ago before wilting in the late going, which was the case in many contests during last season's 3-8 campaign.

With the Indians apparently much improved during Billings' second season as their coach this year, he's hoping they will be able to match the Bears punch for punch.

"As bad as we were last year, we were in the game with them," said Billings. "I think this is going to be a really exciting game that could go either way."

Ball's big concern is Southeast's potent passing attack led by redshirt freshman quarterback Jeromy McDowell and receivers Willie Ponder, Adrian Sanders and Tarik Simpson.

McDowell set a school record last week against SIU with 391 yards passing and he has already thrown for 613 yards in just two collegiate games.

"They can throw the ball extremely well, their quarterback is a tremendous young talent, they have some great receivers and their running back (Curtis Cooper) is good," Ball said. "I expect a really tough game."

Two Cape Central products are on the Southwest Missouri roster, sophomore linebacker DeMarco Williams and sophomore receiver Chris Allen. Williams is on the second unit while Allen is not listed on the depth chart.

Billings said that center Brett Swann will get his first collegiate start tonight, meaning the Indians will have three true freshmen starting on the offensive line.

Fellow rookies Dan Bieg and Dan Connolly have already been starting, at right guard and right tackle, respectively.