PANTHERS PLAY `MACHO MAN'; EASTERN ILLINOIS THUMPS SEMO TO TUNE OF 32-7

The Village People, the popular band from the disco-crazed 1970s, held a concert at Houck Stadium Saturday night following Southeast Missouri State University's football game.

Eastern Illinois couldn't attend as the Panthers headed back to Charleston, Ill., after the contest.

It's too bad. The Panthers should have stuck around and got down with the Village People, because they did a pretty good imitation of `Macho Men.'

Although it was hard to tell if EIU's defense was that good or Southeast's offense was that bad, the final statistics pointed to total domination as the Panthers rolled to a 32-7 Ohio Valley Conference victory before a Family Weekend crowd of 8,345.

EIU, ranked 15th nationally in Division I-AA, improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in OVC play. Southeast fell to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the league.

The only thing keeping the score as relatively close as it was -- the Indians were somehow still within 18-7 after three quarters -- was another gritty performance by Southeast's defense, which was on the field much of the game and faced horrible field position all game but still managed to hold off the Panthers on a number of occasions.

"It's hard to win when you can't move the football," said Southeast coach John Mumford. "Our defense is tremendous...the frustrating thing is, you have a very good defense, but midway through the third quarter your legs are gone, so you go from looking good to looking bad."

Speaking of looking bad, things couldn't have gone much worse for Southeast's offense. EIU, while featuring a powerful offense, is not particularly noted for its defense, allowing an average of 313 yards per game to rank in the middle of the OVC pack.

But the Panthers' defense was able to shine Saturday. The Indians had a grand total of one first down -- on a penalty -- and 26 yards in the first half.

Southeast's final offensive numbers weren't all that much better. The Indians finished with 144 total yards and nine first downs, but 72 of those yards and five of those first downs came on Southeast's last two possessions when EIU had a 32-7 lead and was starting to clear its bench.

"Eastern Illinois runs a shifting, stunting, slanting, twisting defense. They do a great job of jumping around at the last second, which can cause some confusion," Mumford said. "We thought we'd be able to get something going. We thought we could spread them out.

"I thought our offensive line protected (the quarterback) well. And our running backs ran hard. But they (EIU) get up there tight with a nine-man deal. We need to be able to throw the ball better."

Tribe quarterback Justin Martini threw for a career-high 244 yards during a 41-21 loss to EIU last year. But Martini had a nightmarish performance Saturday, completing more passes to the Panthers than he did to his own teammates.

Martini finished with four completions in 20 attempts for 48 yards and he was intercepted five times. The Indians had six turnovers in all as it seemed like the Panthers were in Southeast territory virtually the entire game.

"Five interceptions is not excusable," said Mumford. "Justin is playing his heart out, but he just has to look at the field and do a better job."

EIU's powerful offense, which had the ball for more than 37 of the 60-minute game, eventually wore down the Southeast defense. The Panthers finished with 427 yards, 208 on the ground and 219 through the air.

Quarterback Mike Simpson, who came into the game completing nearly 70 percent of his passes, was extremely efficient again, going 21 of 27 for 219 yards and two touchdowns.

Southeast's only touchdown came -- naturally -- on defense. Ronnie Smith ran back a fumble 17 yards late in the first half, which cut into EIU's 18-0 lead and gave the Indians a glimmer of hope.

But that hope meant little with the offense continuing to struggle in the second half.

"We just couldn't get anything going until the end," Mumford said.

Chad Larner's 26-yard field goal in the first quarter put EIU ahead 3-0, the Panthers needing to drive only 22 yards.

It became 10-0 early in the second quarter after an EIU interception led to Jabarey McDavid's 16-yard run that completed a 38-yard drive.

The Panthers had their only scoring drive of length later in the period, moving 80 yards and taking advantage of 30 yards worth of unsportsmanlike penalties on Southeast. Donnie Davis caught a 17-yard pass from Simpson and a two-point conversion made it 18-0.

Smith's touchdown made it 18-7 at halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, EIU iced the victory with two TDs early in the final period, needing to go only 26 yards after an interception and then just four yards after another pick.