Indians hopeful of making grand exit against Samford

Despite a losing record, Samford is not a team to take lightly as Southeast Missouri State University shoots for its landmark eighth victory of the season.

That was coach Tim Billings' message at his weekly media conference Monday as the Indians prepare for their final game, a 6 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Houck Stadium.

Coming off Saturday's 35-21 victory at Eastern Kentucky in which the Indians dominated, Southeast (7-4) has a chance to win eight games in a season for the first time since 1969. Samford's Bulldogs (4-5) stand in the way.

"Samford is a scary team. Their offense is really good and so is their kicking game," Billings said. "I'm nervous about it just because we played so well against a really good football team Saturday night.

"We need to build on the Eastern Kentucky game. It will really hurt us as a football team if we don't come out and play well. We can't take a step down, we need to keep building momentum for next year."

After reviewing film of the Eastern Kentucky game, Billings came away with the same opinion he had immediately after the contest -- that it was Southeast's best overall performance since he took over the program three years ago.

"In all phases, it was the best game we've played since I've been here," he said.

While Southeast has already secured its first winning season since 1994, the Indians can place no worse than third in the Ohio Valley Conference, which would equal their best finish accomplished in 1994 and 1995.

And Southeast, which has completed its OVC schedule with a 4-2 record, still has a chance to finish as high as tied for second depending on the outcome of other games in the next two weeks.

Prior to this year, the Indians had not win more than three OVC games in a season since 1995. Billings' first two Southeast teams each captured one OVC victory.

Ponder sets OVC record

With 185 receiving yards Saturday, senior wide receiver Willie Ponder not only broke Southeast's single-season record, but his 1,258 yards also eclipsed the previous OVC mark of 1,129 set by Tennessee State's Tyrone Butterfield in 1998.

Ponder, who is the first player in Southeast history to go over 1,000 yards receiving in two straight seasons, also has a school-record 14 touchdown receptions this year and he now owns the career mark of 25 TD receptions, set in just two seasons. In addition, his 76 catches this year are one shy of the school record.

For his performance Saturday, in which he caught nine passes and scored three touchdowns, Ponder was honored by The Sports Network Monday as one of its two national offensive players of the week.

Junior quarterback Jack Tomco, in his first year at Southeast, broke the school single-season passing yardage record Saturday as he has 2,764 yards. He also owns the single-season mark for touchdown passes (25) along with single-game records for passing yards (429), total offense (429) and touchdown passes (5).

As a team, Southeast has broken single-season records for points (368), total offense (4,720), passing yards (2,979), first downs (259) and first downs passing (143).

Still no ranking

The Indians are close this week, but still haven't made their way into either of the two major national Division I-AA polls.

In The Sports Network poll, Southeast received the most votes of any team outside the top 25 for the second time this season.

In the ESPN/USA Today poll, the Indians received the second-most votes among squads not in the top 25.

Eastern Kentucky, despite the loss to Southeast, remained in both polls, at No. 24 (ESPN/USA Today) and No. 25 (The Sports Network).

OVC leader Eastern Illinois is ranked third in both polls.

Defense rises up

Boosted by its sensational performance at Eastern Kentucky -- the Colonels gained just 194 yards -- Southeast's defense has made a major climb in the OVC statistics.

The Indians are ranked a respectable third in rushing defense, total defense and scoring defense.

"I really think our defense has gotten a lot better late in the season and they did a great job Saturday," Billings said.

Linebacker Ricky Farmer is third in the OVC in tackles with 10.4 per game. Tackle James Jennette and end Ryan Roth are third and fourth in quarterback sacks, with six and five, respectively. Roth is tied for fourth in tackles for loss with 13; Jennette is tied for seventh with 11.

mmishow@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 132