INDIANS WIN SHOOTOUT AT HOUCK OVER EIU 45-38

If you love offensive football, then Houck Stadium was the place to be Saturday afternoon.

On a glorious day, with spring-like temperatures, Southeast Missouri State University and Eastern Illinois combined for more than 1,000 total yards, with the Indians picking up their third straight victory, 45-38 in front of 3,125 fans.

The Indians are now 3-7 overall and 2-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Panthers fell to 1-8 overall and 1-5 in the league."It had to be an unbelievable game, unless you were coaching in it," said Southeast coach John Mumford with a smile. "It was one of those things where we just had to outscore them."The Indians, who never trailed but had to fend off several EIU rallies, piled up 385 yards rushing and 568 total yards."It all starts up front," said Mumford of the Indians' dominating ground game. "I thought we dominated the line of scrimmage. Our offensive line has really come on the last few games."But the Panthers had plenty of offense themselves, with 488 total yards led by a brilliant performance by quarterback Anthony Buich.

While not especially quick or fast, Buich was able to elude Southeast's rush most of the day as he completed 36 of 49 passes for 435 yards and three touchdowns."Their quarterback did a great job," said Southeast linebacker Jeremy Atwell, who recovered a fourth-quarter fumble near his own goal line that helped the Indians hold off the Panthers. "We were getting pressure on him, but we just didn't make the tackles."But the offense played a great game. The defense didn't play as well as we have been, but both sides are complementing each other now."Southeast quarterback Rashad West, making his second straight and career start, again had a stellar performance.

Seemingly able to elude pass rushes at will with his quick feet, West rushed for 94 yards on 12 carries and scored two touchdowns, on runs of 4 and 18 yards. West also completed 11 of 17 passes for 183 yards and a TD, a 62-yard strike to Leslie Weaver."Rashad is a difference maker," said Mumford. "Buich had a great game, but I wouldn't trade Rashad for anybody. He would have had over 100 yards (rushing) but we took some losses late to try and run out the clock."Fullback Broderick Benson, known primarily for his blocking for most of the season, rushed for 125 yards on seven carries to surpass his yardage total for the first nine games of the year. Benson had a 75-yard touchdown run.

K.D. Koleosho added 77 yards while Sturge Cumberford had 53 yards and scored his first career touchdown on a 23-yard run. Riki Smith had 33 yards and scored a TD on a 3-yard run."All our backs ran well," Mumford said. "Like I said before, it all goes back to the line."Seth Carriere kicked a 42-yard field goal and was perfect on six conversions.

The Indians grabbed an early 14-0 lead by scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions, going 65 and 90 yards. West had a 4-yard TD run and then hit Weaver from 62 yards out.

But the Panthers would not let the Indians have an easy time, although they continued to trail for the rest of the first half.

It was 14-7 when Smith scored on a 3-yard run early in the second period, making it 21-7. The Panthers pulled to within 21-14, then the squads traded field goals to leave the Indians up 24-17 late in the opening half.

Then came a key sequence when, on one of Buich's few poor passes of the game, Isaac Powell came up with an interception with less than a minute left before halftime.

Taking over on the EIU 46-yard line, the Indians needed just four players to cover that distance, West breaking loose for an 18-yard TD run with 10.7 seconds remaining, giving the Indians a 31-17 halftime lead.

Still, the Panthers kept coming. Just moments after Southeast's defense held EIU on fourth-and-inches at the Indians' 15-yard line, the Panthers Paul Massat blocked a Carriere punt and the Panthers recovered at the Southeast 5.

J.R. Taylor scored from 3 yards out to make it 31-24 with 6:15 left in the third quarter.

The Panthers then surprised the Indians with an onside kick, and EIU recovered at its 47. Three players later, Buich hit Nathan Kreke with a 4-yard TD strike to tie things at 31-31.

But the Indians came right back with a 67-yard scoring drive, Cumberford breaking loose for a 23-yard TD run, putting the Indians ahead for good at 38-31 with 3:11 left in the third period.

On the final play of the third quarter, Benson got some great blocking and dashed 75 yards down the left sideline for a TD that made it 45-31.

With just over 12 minutes to go in the game, the Panthers appeared ready to score but there was a mishandled snap and Atwell recovered the fumble at the Southeast 4.

EIU did pull to within a touchdown as, on fourth down, Buich hit Massat for a 13-yard TD with 3:21 left, making it 45-38.

Southeast took over after the kickoff at its 23 with 3:13 left. The last thing the Indians wanted to do was let Buich and the Panthers get the football again.

On third-and-five, West rolled left, the EIU defense converged and he found Andy Dunaway for a 7-yard gain and a first down. The Indians then got another first down and were able to run out the clock."It feels so good to win three straight after the way the season started," said Atwell. "It's just a shame the season is almost over. I wish it was just starting."