Indians reap rewards of big 24-5 victory over SIU

Southeast Missouri State University's 24-5 victory over rival Southern Illinois Saturday night resulted in two Indians receiving honors from the Ohio Valley Conference.

Sunday, quarterback Jeromy McDowell was named OVC Newcomer of the Week while punter Kyle East was named Co-Special Teams Player of the Week.

McDowell threw for a school-record 391 yards -- all but 74 coming in the second half -- and three touchdowns. After completing just five of 19 passes in the first half, the redshirt freshman finished 19-for-42.

East, a junior who is trying to fill the big shoes left when All-American Jason Witczak completed his eligibility last season, averaged 46.2 yards on five punts, with a long of 62 yards.

* Eastern Illinois quarterback Tony Romo earned OVC Offensive Player of the Week honors. He completed all 16 of his passes for 240 yards during a 44-14 rout of Indiana State.

The weekly defensive award also went to Eastern Illinois as linebacker Antoine Livingston was honored following a 13-tackle performance.

* Another OVC game Saturday saw Eastern Kentucky coach Roy Kidd join six other Division I coaches with 300 victories as the Colonels beat Liberty 30-7.

Kidd joined Grambling's Eddie Robinson, Alabama's Bear Bryant, Pacific's Amos Alonzo Stagg, Temple's Pop Warner, Penn State's Joe Paterno, and Florida State's Bobby Bowden as coaches with 300 or more wins.

Kidd has a 300-117-8 record -- third behind Paterno and Bowden among active Division I coaches.

In other OVC games, Murray State overcame a 90-minute lightning delay to beat Illinois State 32-17, Eastern Illinois routed Indiana State 44-14 and Tennessee Tech was blasted 42-0 by Division I-A Air Force. Thursday, Tennessee-Martin fell to Division II Tusculum 27-16.