Redhawks' class has size

After losing 25 seniors from his first Southeast Missouri State football team, coach Tony Samuel knew he needed a big recruiting class to replenish the Redhawks' roster.

Samuel said he and his staff came away with plenty of quality as well as quantity as Southeast announced 29 signings on Wednesday, the first day of the national letter of intent period.

The group features 10 junior college transfers, with nine of those already enrolled in school. They will be able to participate in spring drills next month, as will a freshman already on campus.

"Recruiting is the lifeblood of the program, and the biggest challenge," Samuel said during a news conference at Port Cape Girardeau to announce the signings. "They all look good now ... you don't really know until you get them in here.

"But I think we covered the bases we needed to cover. This is a really good class."

The 25 seniors who were on last season's team that went 4-7 represented many of the squad's top players, so Samuel knew he and his staff needed to fill holes at most positions.

Samuel believes they were successful.

"I think we did," he said. "This was a tough year. You're replacing 25 seniors, and we lost some other kids before we got here.

"I think we did what we needed to do. We put up our wish list and we came awful close to that."

The 29 players -- 19 of them high school seniors -- include seven defensive linemen, five offensive linemen, five receivers, three quarterbacks, three running backs, three defensive backs, two tight ends and one long snapper.

"We really spent a lot of time trying to recruit quality in the offensive and defensive lines," Samuel said. "I think we filled a void at quarterback."

It's a given that Southeast's starting quarterback in 2007 will have never thrown a pass on a level higher than junior college.

Last season's starter, Kevin Ballatore, was a senior, and his backup -- sophomore Markus Mosley, who saw limited playing time -- has left the program.

That leaves the Redhawks with four scholarship quarterbacks for 2007, including Houston Lillard, who missed all of last season with a knee injury after transferring from a California junior college.

Lillard will be joined for spring practice by Victor Anderson, who was one of the 10 junior college signees announced Wednesday.

Anderson, a native of Belleville, Ill., is a 6-foot-2, 215-pounder who last season passed for 800 yards and rushed for 300 yards at Mesa (Ariz.) Community College.

Joining the quarterback competition for the fall will be two of the high school signees: Jared Van Slyke from St. Louis (John Burroughs) and Laron Johnson from Oakland, Calif.

Van Slyke is the son of former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Andy Van Slyke.

"I think it'll be competitive," Samuel said of the quarterback situation. "There are four good kids at different stages of development.

"I think we'll get two out of there that are ready to go."

Also available for spring practice will be Victor Anderson's twin brother. Wide receiver Vincent Anderson, listed as an identical 6-2 and 215 pounds, caught 36 passes from his sibling last season at Mesa Community College.

Southeast landed four extremely large high school offensive linemen, with the lightest of that quartet tipping the scales at 295 pounds.

Of particular note is Miles Stroter from Chicago, Ill., who is listed as 6-6 and 360 pounds.

Stroter was the nation's 16th-ranked offensive guard according to ESPN.com, and he had at one point been recruited by some of the nation's premier football programs.

"He's a giant," Samuel said. "Whatever rankings do ... he does have some notoriety. He has real potential."

Other 300-pound-plus prep offensive linemen signing with Southeast were Josh Guthrie (6-5, 350) of Groveland, Fla., and Bryan Curry (6-4, 320) from Nashville, Tenn.

"They're big. Now the question is can they move like we want them to move," Samuel said.

Southeast signed players from 12 states, led by California with nine and Missouri with four.

The only player from the region to sign with the Redhawks was Nathan Grass, a 6-1, 235-pound fullback from Ste. Genevieve Valle High School.

"I was really impressed with him," Samuel said. "He's a big, strong, tough kid and he's from right up the road."

Samuel said it helped the coaching staff having a full year to recruit, as opposed to when he was hired in late December of 2005.

"We were able to do a better job evaluating players, taking our time," he said. "We were able to be more patient."

Asked how tough it is to recruit to a program that is currently down -- the Redhawks' four wins last season marked their most since 2003, and Southeast has had just two winning records in 16 Division I-AA seasons -- Samuel said he doesn't look at things that way.

"I can't say enough about my staff. We have a great reputation around the country," he said. "We tell them [recruits] we're on our way to making great strides. We tell them the direction this program is going in. It's a potential gold mine."

It remains to be scene how much gold the Redhawks discovered with Samuel's second recruiting class, but he at least likes the look of things.

Noteworthy

• Samuel said Wednesday that running back Tony Anderson, who was impressive last season as a redshirt freshman, has also left the program.

Samuel said Anderson indicated he would possibly look into transferring to a Division I-A program.

Anderson was the Redhawks' third-leading rusher last year with 307 yards, and he tied for the touchdown lead with six.

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Southeast football recruits

Transfers

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Previous school

*Victor Anderson QB 6-2 215 Jr. Mesa (Ariz.) CC

*Vincent Anderson WR 6-2 215 Jr. Mesa (Ariz.) CC

J.T. Bashford OL 6-4 280 Jr. Fullerton (Calif.) JC

*Andrew Bravo DS 6-3 260 Jr. LA Valley (Calif.) CC

*Ben Gugler TE 6-3 245 Jr. Butler (Kan.) CC

*Nick Ketelsleger DL 6-2 275 Jr. Fullerton (Calif.) JC

*Matt Stahlberg DL 6-2 240 Jr. Cabrillo (Calif.) CC

*Ryan Taloa DL 6-1 265 Jr. Fullerton (Calif.) JC

*Hannibal Vaivao DL 6-2 275 Jr. East LA (Calif.) CC

*Brandon Walton DL 6-1 255 Jr. Fresno City (Calif.) CC

* -- Already enrolled at Southeast for the second semester

Freshmen

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown

Andrew Adams RB 6-0 230 Columbia, Mo.

Chante Ahamefule WR 6-5 215 Jersey City, N.J.

Errik Aliifua DL 6-1 330 Hayward, Calif.

Bryan Blanfort DB 6-1 190 Miami, Fla.

Bradley Brown TE 6-2 245 Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

Cedric Cox WR 5-11 175 Frostproof, Fla.

Bryan Curry OL 6-4 320 Nashville, Tenn.

*Miles Edwards WR 6-3 180 Sickerville, N.J.

Nathan Grass RB 6-1 235 Ste. Genevieve, Mo.

Josh Guthrie OL 6-5 350 Groveland, Fla.

Laron Johnson QB 5-11 175 Oakland, Calif.

Maurice Lyles DL 6-2 290 Jersey City, N.J.

Mukai Matsiga DB 6-1 180 Columbia, Mo.

Alfred Reese RB 5-8 225 New Orleans, La.

John Schuller OL 6-4 295 Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Miles Stroter OL 6-6 360 Chicago, Ill.

Jared Van Slyke QB 6-3 197 St. Louis, Mo.

Jerald Williams DB 6-1 185 Houston, Texas

Shominic Zaid WR 6-1 185 Oakland, Calif.

* -- Already enrolled at Southeast for the second semester