Panthers fend off pesky Redhawks, 24-21

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- For the first in Tony Samuel's three years as Southeast Missouri State's football coach, the Redhawks took Eastern Illinois to the wire.

That simply added to Southeast's frustration in failing to upset the perennial Ohio Valley Conference powerhouse.

The Redhawks were left to contemplate what might have been following Saturday's 24-21 loss on EIU's homecoming.

"It's very frustrating," senior tailback Timmy Holloman said. "We're so close but so far."

Added senior linebacker Nick Stauffer: "It was a hard loss. It does hurt."

Samuel figures the hurt is not a bad thing.

"It hurt because I thought they gave a great effort," said Samuel, whose first two Southeast squads lost to EIU 31-16 last year and 21-0 in 2006. "But when it hurts, it's not bad. This one really hurt because they laid it out there."

Southeast fell to 2-5 overall and 0-3 in OVC play, while EIU improved to 3-4 and 1-2.

But over the previous three years the Panthers were the OVC's top team, going 22-2 in league play while earning three consecutive playoff berths.

"We've struggled with them since I've been here," said Southeast senior wide receiver Mike Williamson, who has not been involved in a win over EIU. "It makes it tough when you're that close."

EIU took advantage of a sluggish third quarter by Southeast's offense to break a 14-14 halftime tie and turn the game in its favor.

The Redhawks' three offensive possessions in the third period produced 16 net yards on 11 plays.

"We did struggle at times," Williamson said.

EIU went ahead for good 21-14 late in the third quarter and a field goal early in the final period made it 24-14.

Southeast true freshman quarterback Matt Scheible, who played most of the way in place of OVC passing leader Houston Lillard, led a 62-yard drive that culminated in Holloman's second touchdown run of the game.

Holloman's 2-yard plunge with 6 minutes, 26 seconds left pulled Southeast within 24-21.

The Panthers were able to run nearly four minutes off the clock before having to punt.

Southeast took over at its 13-yard line with 2:26 and one timeout remaining.

"The defense did some good things, but I wish we would have got one more stop," said Samuel, emphasizing that more time and better field position would have aided Southeast's comeback hopes.

Southeast gained one first down, to its own 25, but could move no further. EIU regained possession with 1:04 left and ran out the clock.

"I was hoping. I believed," Holloman said. "But we fell short."

Two crucial mistakes in the first half did as much as anything to sabotage Southeast's upset bid.

On the Panthers' 80-yard drive that gave them a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, EIU was stopped short on third down and would have been forced to punt.

But a roughing-the-passer penalty on Southeast senior defensive end Ben Gugler kept the march alive.

"Me being a senior, it's unacceptable," Gugler said. "Little mistakes kill us every week."

Southeast pulled into a 7-7 tie on sophomore tailback Henry Harris' 10-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.

EIU went back ahead less than six minutes later thanks to a short Panthers' punt that caromed off Southeast's unsuspecting Victor Anderson and was recovered by the Panthers.

The Panthers needed to drive just 20 yards for a 14-7 lead.

"Things happen. You just have to keep playing," Stauffer said.

Scheible engineered an 80-yard drive late in the first half that culminated with Holloman's 6-yard touchdown run 56 seconds before the intermission.

So for the first time all season, the Redhawks entered the second half of a game not trailing.

"We felt pretty good because we've been a second-half team," Stauffer said.

But Southeast's offense -- which was held to a season-low 197 yards in the contest -- stalled for most of the second half as the Panthers took control.

EIU had 154 of its 275 yards over the final two quarters, while Southeast was limited to 73 yards during that same span.

"The second-half effort is what I thought did it," EIU coach Bob Spoo said.

It certainly did in the Redhawks.

"We never backed down, but a loss is still a loss," Gugler said.