Redhawks capitalize on three turnovers, punt block, safety

Southeast Missouri State won't receive any style points for Saturday's performance.

But as hard as wins have been to come by for the Redhawks this year, they couldn't care less about being stylish.

Southeast's offense struggled much of the game, but the Redhawks' defense and special teams came up big to spark a 32-24 victory over Tennessee State.

The Redhawks' triumph in their final home contest of the season pushed their overall record to 2-8 and their Ohio Valley Conference mark to 2-5. The Tigers fell to 2-8 and 1-5.

"That was ugly," Southeast coach Tim Billings said. "But a win is a win. We'll sure take it."

Billings was most disappointed about the Redhawks' 13 penalties for 110 yards. He also didn't like the fact Southeast's offense could not get much going until the fourth quarter, although it was against the OVC's top-ranked defense.

"Penalties really hurt," Billings said. "That's something we've tried to clean up. We've really cut down on our turnovers the last few games, but penalties are still a concern."

Southeast had only one turnover, while TSU had three turnovers, a punt blocked and a safety. The Redhawks turned those miscues into 18 points.

"It wasn't pretty," said senior wide receiver T.J. Milcic, who scored a fourth-quarter touchdown but was ejected later for unsportsmanlike conduct. "The offense had trouble finding a groove, but the defense did a good job."

Said junior defensive end Edgar Jones, whose blocked punt and return in the game's opening minutes helped give the Redhawks an early lead that they would not relinquish: "The defense made a lot of plays, especially until the offense got going."

After stalling at midfield on the opening offensive series of the contest, TSU set up to punt. Jones stormed in and blocked the kick, then recovered it and nearly scored before stumbling at the 1-yard line. It was the first punt Southeast has blocked all year.

Two plays later, freshman tailback Tim Holloman scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 1-yard run. Redshirt freshman kicker Colin Schermann was wide on the PAT, but Southeast had a 6-0 lead just 3:40 into the game.

The rest of the half was a defensive battle. TSU twice had golden opportunities to score, but turnovers foiled the Tigers. Once, senior defensive end Brandon Bohnert recovered a fumble inside the 10-yard line. Another time, junior linebacker Tunde Agboke recovered a fumble inside the 20.

"The turnovers were big," Billings said.

Southeast carried that 6-0 advantage into halftime, then went ahead 9-0 early in the third quarter, although the Redhawks could have had more.

Sophomore linebacker Fred Williams forced a fumble by TSU quarterback Richard Hartman, which senior defensive end Justin Komondoreas returned 23 yards to the Tigers 1-yard line.

Southeast lost yardage, but Schermann continued to be money on field goals as he booted a 26-yarder with 9:23 left in the third quarter. The Central High School product has made 11 of 12 attempts this year to lead the OVC in accuracy.

The Redhawks appeared on the verge of a blowout several minutes later, when TSU punter Micah Sterrif simply dropped a snap. By the time he picked up the ball, Agboke was all over him, making the tackle at the TSU 27-yard line.

After a penalty on the Tigers, junior tailback Elton Peterson ran 15 yards for a touchdown on the next play. The first of Schermann's three extra points made the score 16-0 with 5:20 remaining in the period.

To that point, the Redhawks' three scoring drives had covered a total of 20 yards, counting losses.

"That was a good defense we went up against," Milcic said.

The Tigers made a game of it by scoring a touchdown late in the third quarter -- they tacked on a two-point conversion -- and adding a field goal early in the final period to pull within 16-11.

Southeast's offense -- held to just 175 yards through three quarters -- then finally got going, and that was enough to hold off TSU.

The Redhawks put together a 67-yard drive, capped by senior quarterback Mike Haley's 32-yard touchdown pass to Milcic, to go ahead 23-11 with 8:22 remaining.

TSU scored less than a minute later to make it 23-17. The Tigers seemed ready to come all the way back, but junior All-American punter David Simonhoff boomed a 54-yarder, pinning TSU back at its 6-yard line with under 6 minutes left.

On third-and-14 from the 2-yard line, Hartman fumbled a shotgun snap in the end zone and had to fall on the ball for a safety, putting Southeast up 25-17 with 4:05 remaining.

Holloman's 42-yard touchdown run through a gaping hole with 2:17 left made it 32-17. TSU scored with 1:08 remaining, but Southeast recovered an onside kick and picked up one first down to run out the clock.

"We made big plays when we had to on both sides of the ball," Billings said. "It's nice to win for the [12] seniors, and hopefully we can get another one in our last game [Saturday at Tennessee Tech] to end the season on a positive note."