Perfect 10- Racers stretch win streak against Indians

MURRAY, Ky. -- Murray State got the better -- but just barely -- of a wild fourth quarter Saturday to hand Southeast Missouri State University its second straight loss and continue the Indians' futility against the Kentucky school.

The Racers scored a tie-breaking touchdown with 40 seconds remaining, then sealed the victory with an interception as they posted a 38-31 victory in front of 4,554 fans at Stewart Stadium.

MSU, which has beaten the Indians 10 straight times, improved to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southeast fell to 5-4 and 2-2.

"I'm really disappointed today," Southeast coach Tim Billings said. "I felt we had a good enough football team to win this game."

The Indians probably did, but their inability to cash in on a late turnover when the game was still tied -- and their inability to slow down Racers' running back Billy Blanchard in the decisive fourth quarter -- spelled the difference in a back-and-forth game between evenly matched teams.

"Tim has done a tremendous job with their program. They're getting better and better," MSU coach Joe Pannunzio said. "I just thought, if we stay in there and keep fighting in the fourth quarter, maybe something good would happen."

Southeast fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter, pulled within 14-10 at halftime, took a 17-14 lead early in the second half and went ahead 24-17 early in the fourth quarter on Keiki Misipeka's second 3-yard touchdown run of the day.

That's when things got really crazy as the squads combined for four touchdowns in the final 11-plus minutes. Unfortunately for the Indians, the Racers scored three of those TDs.

With 11:10 remaining, Blanchard -- who rushed for a game-high 183 yards on 19 carries and scored four touchdowns -- broke loose virtually untouched from 41 yards out to tie the contest at 24-24.

Blanchard again faced little defensive resistance on a 50-yard touchdown run with 8:58 left that put the Racers ahead 31-24.

Undaunted, the Indians came right back -- thanks in large part to a crucial third-down roughing-the-passer penalty that kept the drive alive -- and scored on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Jack Tomco to Willie Ponder that forged a 31-31 deadlock with 7:17 left.

On the ensuing kickoff, MSU fumbled and Kendrick Percell recovered at the Racers 24-yard line. The Indians appeared poised to take the lead and put some serious late heat on the home team.

But the Indians lost six yards in three plays and faced a fourth-and-16 from the 30. Derek Kutz, who kicked a 30-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, would have been facing a 47-yarder, but Billings decided it was out of Kutz's range and the coach could not turn to kickoff specialist Brian Emmendorfer, who has a stronger leg but missed the game with a leg injury.

"If I had had Emmendorfer healthy, I probably would have tried it, but I felt like it was out of Derek's range," Billings said.

So the Indians went for it and Tomco's pass into the end zone fell incomplete, giving MSU the ball back at its 30 with 4:58 remaining.

"We had all the momentum after they fumbled the kickoff," Billings said. "We had everything going our way. Not scoring there was key. Losing those yards really hurt."

The Racers then chewed up more than four minutes on their eventual winning drive. Facing a third-and-8 at the Southeast 40, a pass fell incomplete but the Indians were called for a five-yard offsides penalty. Then, with a fourth-and-inches from the 33, Blanchard broke out of the pack and scored untouched with 40 seconds left.

"Before the play started, I just wanted to get the first down," Blanchard said. "But things opened up and I was gone."

In Billings' opinion, things opened up way too much for Blanchard on those long fourth-quarter runs.

"I was really disappointed with the defense," Billings said. "He broke loose and nobody was there. If they run over us, it's a different story. But we had too many bad mental mistakes."

The Indians had one final chance. After MSU's go-ahead score, Jamel Oliver returned the kickoff 34 yards and a 15-yard facemask penalty put the ball at the Racers' 44 with 34 seconds left. But on first down, Tomco's short pass over the middle was intercepted by Jason Myers to seal the victory.

"I decided to check down instead of forcing the ball downfield and he was there," Tomco said. "I felt confident we were going to score at the end, I just made a bad play at the wrong time."

mmishow@semissourian.com

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