Meltdown in Martin: Up 21-3 at halftime, Southeast suffers 24-21 defeat

MARTIN, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State could not have gotten off to a much better start Saturday in pursuit of its second consecutive victory.

But, even though it took an entire half, the Redhawks discovered that Tennessee-Martin is a far cry from the team that entered this season among the nation's worst Division I-AA programs of the past decade.

The Skyhawks, down 21-3 at halftime after giving up a touchdown on the game's first offensive play, rallied with a dominating second half to win 24-21 and beat Southeast for the first time since 1996.

UTM, breaking an eight-game losing streak to Southeast, improved to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Those records might not seem monumental -- but for UTM they definitely are.

Entering this season, the Skyhawks had not won more than two games in a season since 1995. Prior to this year, UTM's OVC record the past nine seasons had been 3-61, as the Skyhawks finished either last or tied for last every time.

"I'm sure there were people saying 'same old, same old,'" said UTM coach Matt Griffin, referring to the three-game losing streak his squad carried into Saturday's contest. "We knew better. The way we bounced back ... I'm very proud of them."

Southeast coach Tim Billings knew before Saturday that these were not the same old Skyhawks -- and nothing that happened changed his opinion after UTM dominated the second half.

"They've got a good football team, and Matt has done a great job," said Billings, whose squad fell to 1-8 overall and 1-5 in the OVC.

When quarterback Mike Haley, after a play-action fake, hit streaking wide receiver T.J. Milcic in stride for an 80-yard touchdown pass just 13 seconds into the game, Southeast must have thought it was headed for a third straight strong performance, including last weekend's 52-21 rout of Murray State.

After freshman tailback Tim Holloman scored on a 33-yard run late in the first quarter, and Haley hit a tackle-breaking Milcic with a 37-yard touchdown pass just 31 seconds before halftime, the Redhawks no doubt felt like they were on their way to another win after starting the year with seven consecutive losses.

"It looked like we were in good shape," said defensive end Justin Komondoreas, who had two more quarterback sacks and raised his OVC-leading total to 6.5.

But the first half was apparently only fool's gold for the Redhawks, who minus the 150 yards on those three big plays managed just 23 other first-half yards.

In the second half, Southeast's offense was virtually nonexistent, as the Redhawks gained only 49 yards and had the ball for less than nine of the 30 minutes (after Southeast had the ball for only a little more than nine first-half minutes).

The Skyhawks began their comeback midway through the third quarter when tailback Don Chapman scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 5-yard run, capping a 58-yard drive that made it 21-10.

Late in the third quarter, a curious decision by the Southeast coaching staff helped pave the way for UTM to pull even closer.

Southeast faced a fourth-and-8 from its own 47-yard line when David Simonhoff lined up to punt. But instead of kicking, Simonhoff took off on a fake around the right side. He not only didn't come close to a first down, he lost five yards, giving UTM possession at the Southeast 42.

Simonhoff, a solid athlete but certainly not a speed-burner, said he was surprised the fake was called at that point.

"I tried [to get the first down], but I couldn't make it," Simonhoff said.

But Billings believed it was the right call at that point in the game.

"We talked about it at halftime, about what they were giving us," Billings said. "We hadn't done anything offensively, and we felt we at least had to try to make something happen.

"I didn't think that was the difference in the game."

UTM covered the 42 yards in six plays, with Chapman scoring on a tackle-breaking 7-yard run with 10 seconds left in the period. All of a sudden it was 21-17.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Haley -- who, after two straight strong performances, completed just eight of 23 passes, with two interceptions -- was picked off by Andrew Johnson, setting UTM up at the Southeast 10 after a 25-yard return.

On third down, Chapman bulled over the goal line from 1 yard out, giving the Skyhawks their first lead at 24-21 with 13:27 left.

Southeast had the ball three more times, but twice could not advance from deep in its own end.

The Redhawks' third and final possession ended when Haley lost a half-yard on a fourth-down sneak with about one inch to go from the UTM 49 with 5:48 remaining.

With Southeast's defense no doubt somewhat worn down by an eventual 41:53 to 18:07 UTM time-of-possession advantage, the Skyhawks ran out the remaining clock, grinding out 39 yards on 12 plays and picking up three first downs.

"It was a tale of two halves," Komondoreas said. "It's a tough loss, but we've got two games left and we've got to bounce back."

Billings could only shake his head after a second half that saw Southeast gain just 49 yards, while UTM piled up 163 yards to finish with a 312-222 overall advantage.

"I was very disappointed with our effort in the second half. We didn't have anybody step up and make plays," Billings said. "We have a young team that doesn't have a lot of confidence. We gained some the last two weeks, but it was fleeting."

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TENNESSEE-MARTIN 24, SE MISSOURI 21

SE Missouri 14 7 0 0 -- 21

Tenn.-Martin 3 0 14 7 -- 24

First Quarter

SE--Milcic 80 pass from Haley (Schermann kick), 14:47.

UTM--FG T.Brown 34, 6:33.

SE--Holloman 33 run (Schermann kick), 4:16.

Second Quarter

SE--Milcic 37 pass from Haley (Schermann kick), :32.

Third Quarter

UTM--D.Chapman 5 run (T.Brown kick), 7:29.

UTM--D.Chapman 7 run (T.Brown kick), :10.

Fourth Quarter

UTM--D.Chapman 1 run (T.Brown kick), 13:27.

A--2,021.

Southeast UTM

First downs 9 20

Rushes-yards 26-53 50-122

Passing 169 190

Comp-Att-Int 8-23-2 25-38-1

Return Yards -4 126

Punts-Avg. 7-45.7 6-30.2

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 8-43 3-26

Time of Possession 18:07 41:53

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Southeast, Holloman 16-64, Peterson 5-9, Tuineau 1-0, Simonhoff 1-(minus 5), Haley 3-(minus 15). UT-Martin, D.Chapman 35-107, Wahlberg 12-39, Glover 1-(minus 1), Team 1-(minus 1), Ivey 1-(minus 22).

PASSING--Southeast, Haley 8-23-2-169. UT-Martin, Wahlberg 25-38-1-190.

RECEIVING--Southeast, Milcic 2-117, Tuineau 2-22, Goodson 1-15, Simpson 1-8, Scaife 1-6, Holloman 1-1. UT-Martin, D.Chapman 6-61, Glover 6-42, Duncan 6-35, Stephens 4-28, Kissel 2-24, J.Chapman 1-0.