INDIANS FOCUS ATTENTION ON WINNING 2 REMAINING GAMES

They can no longer finish the season with a winning record, so the goal now for Southeast Missouri State University's football Indians is to simply finish the season strong.

The Indians (3-6 overall, 1-5 Ohio Valley Conference) have two games left, both at home. Southeast will face non-league foe Southern Illinois Saturday and close the campaign Nov. 22 against OVC opponent Tennessee State.

"Our goal now is to win the last two. That's what's left for us," said Southeast head coach John Mumford during Monday's weekly media conference. "We're not happy with where we are, but all we can do is try and finish strong."

Southeast certainly gave a good account of itself during this past Saturday's 20-10 loss to nationally-ranked Eastern Kentucky. The Indians led 10-0 early, were tied 10-10 at halftime and the Colonels didn't go ahead for good until late in the third quarter.

"Our players played their tails off (against EKU)," said Mumford. "We kept our mistakes to a minimum compared to other games, but against a team like that, you can't have any mistakes.

"Our kids didn't back down from EKU. They believed they could beat them. Winning that game would have given us a lot of momentum going into the last two games, but I still think we'll have a lot of momentum."

SIU, which will be closing out its season Saturday in the 1 p.m. kickoff, is only 3-7, but the Salukis have been extremely competitive against a host of top-flight opponents.

The Salukis, under first-year coach Jan Quarless, lost to Western Illinois, Northern Iowa and Southwest Missouri by a total of seven points. They also beat Murray State early in the season.

"They're a good football team that has played just about everybody tough," Mumford said. "They're a lot better than their record. If they were in the OVC, there's no question they'd be in the top half."

Southeast leads the overall series against SIU 32-25-8, but the Indians are just 1-5 since the series resumed in 1991 when Southeast moved to Division I-AA. The Salukis have won the past two meetings.

* Saturday's game will showcase two of the nation's top punters.

Southeast's Justin Terrill's average of 44.7 yards per punt leads the OVC and ranks him fourth nationally.

SIU's John Amitrano is eighth nationally with 43.9 yards per punt.

* Several other Southeast players, primarily on defense, continue to rank high in the OVC statistics.

Preseason All-American defensive tackle Angel Rubio is second in both total tackles with 96 and tackles for loss with 16.

End Marcus McClellan, after getting two sacks against EKU, is third in that department with seven.

End Damon Hendrick continues to be tied for first in fumble recoveries with three.

Cornerback Fred Hambrick is second in interceptions with four while safety Ronnie Smith is third with three.

Offensively, wide receiver Dante Bryant is fourth in receptions per game with 4.0 and sixth in receiving yards per game with 58.2. Bryant has caught 36 passes for 524 yards.

* The Sigma Nu fraternity at Southeast will be running the game ball from Carbondale to Cape Girardeau Friday and Saturday to raise money for the Southeast Missouri Easter Seal Society.

The run will start Friday afternoon and arrive in Cape Saturday in time for the 1 p.m. kickoff.

Anyone interested in donating or sponsoring the event should call 339-9534.