Indians honored following big upset

What probably ranks as the biggest football victory in school history deserves some rewards -- and Southeast Missouri State University received several of them on Sunday.

The Indians, coming off Saturday's stunning 24-14 win at Division I-A Middle Tennessee State, won three of the Ohio Valley Conference's four weekly awards announced by the conference office Sunday afternoon.

Senior running back Keiki Misipeka is the offensive player of the week and also the newcomer of the week. Junior linebacker Ricky Farmer is the defensive player of the week.

Misipeka, a senior transfer from Hawaii, rushed for 144 yards on 15 carries Saturday, including a 78-yard touchdown run with 4:26 left that clinched the victory.

Farmer, a junior in his third year as a starter, led Southeast's stout defensive effort that shut down the Raiders. He had 11 tackles, including two for loss and two quarterback sacks.

"They both had great games, and so did a lot of our other players," Southeast coach Tim Billings said. "It was just a tremendous team effort."

A confidence boost

Bolstered by Saturday's win, the Indians (3-2) should have plenty of confidence and momentum heading into Saturday's OVC opener against Tennessee State (1-4) at Houck Stadium.

"I know this is going to fire everybody up and really motivate us for practice this week," said Misipeka.

If the Indians perform close to the way they did in Murfreesboro, Tenn., then Billings will probably be satisfied. In hands down their top performance of the season, Southeast dominated statistically -- outgaining the Raiders 407 yards to 284 -- in beating a Division I-A opponent for the first time.

Particularly encouraging for the Indians was the play of their defense, which had struggled some this year. A host of defenders had big games, including two local sophomores. Defensive tackle Caleb Daniel (Jackson) had two tackles for loss and a sack while linebacker O.J. Turner (Central) got his first collegiate interception late in the contest.

"Caleb had his best game of the year," Billings said.

In the special teams department, sophomore Derek Kutz (St. Vincent) not only kicked a season-long 44-yard field goal and three extra points, he punted for the first time this year and averaged a solid 40.1 yards on three attempts.

"He's our punter now," Billings said.

The Indians also received good news in the injury department. It was feared that offensive guard Taurean Robinson suffered a broken hand early in the contest, but there was no break and Robinson should be fine.