Redhawks' defense does not rest at scrimmage

~ Aggressive defense gets upper hand in first fall scrimmage.

Senior ends Kyle Hunt and Edgar Jones, two of Southeast Missouri State's defensive leaders, flashed major-league grins after being asked how it felt to participate in the team's first scrimmage of fall camp.

"It was great to be out here," Hunt said. "We were really flying around."

Added Jones: "It was really good. There was a lot of hitting going on."

The defense certainly put its share of licks on the offense during Tuesday's scrimmage at Houck Stadium that lasted about two hours.

Tony Samuel, Southeast's first-year head coach, acknowledged that defenses generally are ahead of offenses during this relatively early point in preseason practices.

That appeared to be the case Tuesday. In 11-on-11, full-contact work, the defense kept the offense out of the end zone -- and even from getting close to the goal line for the most part -- until the very end of the scrimmage, when the offense finally broke through as both units had backups on the field.

"The defense has come a long way since last year," Hunt said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but I feel like we have a real good chance to do a lot of good things this year."

Jones concurred.

"I'm pretty excited," he said. "Coach Samuel tells us to just keep running to the ball and keep the tempo up.

"We have a lot of room for improvement, but I think we're looking good."

The scrimmage, which began with about 20 minutes of special teams work and also featured some structured work in the passing game, was exactly what Samuel was looking for as the Redhawks have moved into their second week of fall camp.

"This was really our first contact work in this type of situation, and we need it," Samuel said. "We'll find out a lot this week, before school starts [Monday]. It will be a physical week, a lot of intensity."

Added Samuel: "The defense moved around. The offense, I thought we did some things late."

All three of the Redhawks' healthy quarterbacks received plenty of work, led by senior starter Kevin Ballatore, followed by sophomore Markus Mosley and freshman walk-on Steve Callanan.

Southeast's quarterback depth has taken a hit as redshirt freshman William Cowan recently left the program, while junior college transfer Houston Lillard has been bothered for most of fall camp by a knee injury.

There is a chance Lillard will need surgery and miss the entire season.

The offense's lone touchdown in 11-on-11 work came on a 1-yard plunge by senior tailback Elton Peterson that marked the end of the scrimmage.

Callanan, who played last year at Vianney High School in St. Louis, led the drive of about 70 yards that featured several strong runs by redshirt freshman tailback Tony Anderson.

Senior wide receiver Oge Oge, who redshirted last year after he caught 33 passes for 426 yards and three touchdowns in 2004, hooked up with Ballatore and Mosley for several completions.

"Overall, I thought it was a good first scrimmage," Hunt said. "It lets us know where we're at."

Southeast will have its second scrimmage at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Redhawks' final scrimmage is set for Aug. 26, with the season opener Sept. 2 at Austin Peay.