Indians focus on SE, not Quincy

No disrespect to Quincy, but Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings says the Indians will worry more about themselves this week than the Hawks.

The Indians (3-7) will look to break a four-game losing streak and finish the season with some momentum when they take on the Division II Hawks (2-7) at Houck Stadium Saturday night.

"We're not going to talk as much about Quincy as us," said Billings during his weekly media conference Monday. "It's our last week and we're going to work to get better as a football team. We're going to prepare to get better for next year."

While the Division I-AA Indians figure to totally have their way with Quincy, Billings insists that they won't overlook the Hawks. He's hoping Southeast can put together an impressive performance to start setting an early tone for next season.

"Hopefully we'll outmatch Quincy. I don't know, but we're not taking these guys lightly," Billings said. "I really want to set the tone for the offseason and next fall. I want us to really play well and execute for four quarters. That could be a great jump-start for next year."

By virtue of Saturday's 42-24 home loss to Eastern Kentucky, the Indians will almost certainly finish next-to-last in the Ohio Valley Conference for the second time in Billings' two seasons as their coach. Southeast wound up OVC play at 1-5, which is ahead of only 0-4 Tennessee-Martin in the seven-team league. UT-Martin is the only conference team the Indians have beaten in each of the past two years.

Even though the Indians lost a host of close games this year, Billings -- whose first Southeast squad last year went 3-8 -- said he is tired of giving excuses.

"Last year we had the excuse that we didn't have enough good players. This year it's that we're young," he said. "But we're running out of excuses. I'm tired of giving them. We might have a T-shirt next year that says no excuses."

Offensive milestones

Several Southeast offensive players are within reach of impressive milestones and Billings said he would like for the Indians to attain at least some of them in their final game.

Junior wide receiver Willie Ponder needs 16 yards to become the second player in Southeast history to have 1,000 receiving yards in a season. Ponder has 984 yards. The school record is 1,116 by Farron Haley in 1989.

Ponder, with 66 receptions, is third on the all-time single-season list. Glenn Krupa set the mark of 77 in 1992. Haley caught 72 passes in 1989. Ponder has already tied the school record for touchdowns in a game with three and in a season with 10.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Jeromy McDowell, with 1,928 passing yards, already holds Southeast's freshman passing record. With 72 yards Saturday, he will become the third player in school history to pass for 2,000 yards in a season. The record is 2,580 by Jason Liley in 1990.

And senior backup quarterback Bobby Brune needs 13 yards to move into sixth place in career passing yardage. Brune has 3,923 yards to rank seventh in school history. Jim Eustice is sixth with 3,935. Brune needs 187 yards to pass his father, Greg, who is in fifth place with 4,109 yards.

"I hope we can get some of those things," Billings said. "We won't do it at the expense of getting somebody hurt or at the expense of Quincy, but it would be nice."

Against Eastern Kentucky, senior tailback Curtis Cooper became the third player in Southeast history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Cooper has 1,069 yards, which is the second-best single-season total ever for the Indians. The record is 1,371 by Kelvin Anderson in 1992.

Nine seniors

Nine active seniors will end their collegiate careers Saturday.

In addition to Cooper and Brune, the other seniors are linebacker Corey Mathis, defensive backs Leotis Belcher, Chuck Lewis and Eddie McCray; wide receivers Andy Dunaway and Garvin Ambrose; and special teams player Alex Alameda.

Two other seniors, quarterback Rashad West and defensive back Mike Gross, saw their seasons end with injuries in recent weeks.

All the seniors and their families will be honored prior to Saturday's game.