INDIANS STUN SALUKIS 28-17

Southeast coach John Mumford embraced his daughter jenna after Saturday's emotional come-from-behind win over SIU.

There have been plenty of rocky times during this Southeast Missouri State University football season but the road got a whole lot smoother Saturday afternoon.

On a cold, dreary day at Houck Stadium, the Indians staged a stirring comeback to stun rival Southern Illinois 28-17 in front of 1,375 brave-hearted fans.

The non-conference victory lifted the Indians' record to 4-6. They'll close out the season next Saturday when Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee State comes to Houck for a 1 p.m. game.

SIU concluded its first season under coach Jan Quarless with a 3-8 record.

"You know how good this feels," said a grinning Southeast preseason All-America defensive tackle Angel Rubio as he received congratulations after the contest.

And it certainly should have felt good. The Indians appeared all but buried when SIU went ahead 17-0 on the first play of the third quarter on a 36-yard fumble return by Freddie Taylor after Southeast fullback Britt Mirgaux had coughed up the football.

"I felt so bad after that fumble," said Mirgaux. "But the coaches kept us up. They told us to forget what happened and just keep playing hard."

Mirgaux more than atoned for his mistake with two touchdowns, including the game-winning score from 5 yards out with 3:37 left in the fourth quarter.

"Winning this game feels good, especially after my fumble," he said. "This game makes us feel a lot better about the season. Nobody got down, even when it was 17-0. I think that says a lot about this team."

Southeast head coach John Mumford couldn't have agreed more.

"I'm really proud of the whole team," he said. "Mirgaux's running hard, the ball comes out and they score. Maybe it was the wakeup call we needed.

"We never gave up. We just kept coming back. When we play as a team and don't shoot ourselves in the foot, we're not a bad football team."

The comeback was built around a stifling second-half Southeast defense and an offense that put together several impressive second-half scoring drives, with Jeff Shaw and Justin Martini splitting time at quarterback.

Actually, the Indians' defense was pretty stout all game long. SIU's first touchdown, in the final minute of the second quarter, was set up by an interception as the Salukis needed to drive only 53 yards to grab a 10-0 halftime lead. SIU's second TD came right off the turnover to start the second half.

"Our defense played a great game," Mumford said. "We gave them 14 points, so our defense really only gave up three."

SIU's normally explosive offense was held to just 267 total yards, including only 88 in the second half.

"Our defense kept stopping them in the second half and giving us the ball back," Mirgaux said. "Our defense is awesome."

Meanwhile, Southeast's offense piled up a season-high 490 yards, including 300 yards on the ground as the Indians' line dominated.

Mirgaux finished with a team-high 88 yards while fellow fullback Corey Williams was right behind with 75. Shaw, running the option well, added 61 yards and Aaron Layne gained 48.

Trailing 17-0 early in the third quarter, Southeast began to turn the tide. First Shaw directed a 55-play drive that ended when he snuck over from a yard out. The first of Eric Warren's four extra points made it 17-7.

Then Southeast's defense turned in perhaps the key sequence of the day. SIU recovered a fumble at the Indians' 19-yard line and appeared poised to go ahead by 17 points again. But Southeast held and the Salukis missed a field-goal attempt.

Shaw directed an 80-yard drive late in the third quarter which ended with Mirgaux's 2-yard run that made it 17-14.

Both offenses stalled for much of the final period before the Indians finally got going again. With Martini at the controls, Southeast again went 80 yards. Mirgaux went through a huge hole over the right side to score from 5 yards out with 3:37 left as the Indians went ahead 21-17.

"The line did a great job all game," Mirgaux said.

With the Salukis trying desperately to rally, Brad Richardson hammered quarterback Kent Skornia, forcing a fumble that Kevin Meachem recovered at the SIU 37 with 1:42 remaining. Just 28 seconds later, Williams broke free for a 28-yard TD that iced the victory.

"We put a lot of heat on Skornia. That was a big key," said Rubio of he and his fellow defensive linemen who harassed SIU's talented quarterback all day. "Our offense really came alive in the second half. It's just a great win."