Redhawks focus on winning their first playoff game

This type of Southeast Missouri State football season doesn't come along often -- actually never -- so it's only natural that fans are excited.

I was impressed by the turnout at Outback Steakhouse for Sunday's early morning playoff watch party.

About 150 fans joined the team and university administrators to watch the FCS selection show that was televised nationally on ESPNU at 9 a.m.

The Redhawks received the first playoff berth in program history after winning their first Ohio Valley Conference title. They'll begin the 20-team FCS postseason tournament at Eastern Washington, which is ranked No. 1 nationally for the first time.

It's the latest on a long list of firsts for a Southeast program that before this year had not posted a winning record since 2002 and had compiled just two winning marks since moving up to the FCS level in 1991.

Now the Redhawks set their sights on the program's first playoff victory. They'll be playing a long way from home -- Cheney, Wash., is about 1,935 miles from Cape Girardeau -- against the co-champions from the Big Sky, a perennial powerhouse conference.

No doubt the Redhawks will be underdogs, but based on the type of campaign they've had, it wouldn't surprise me if they pulled off the upset.

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The OVC's football awards will be announced Tuesday, and the Redhawks should be represented well on the all-league teams.

As far as top individual honors, it will be a real stunner if Tony Samuel isn't named coach of the year and record-setting senior tailback Henry Harris isn't voted offensive player of the year.

That pair also should be in the running for national awards, with Samuel a candidate for coach of the year and Harris likely to earn multiple All-American accolades.

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Former Southeast All-American cornerback Dimitri Patterson had quite a performance last week for the Eagles.

Patterson, making his second career start, intercepted two passes and returned one for his first NFL touchdown during the Eagles' 59-28 rout of the Redskins on Monday night.

Patterson finished off Philadelphia's scoring with a 40-yard TD return during the third quarter.

"I've been to two other places besides Philly, but there wasn't one day in my career where I didn't think I could make those types of plays that I made tonight. I knew I had the ability, I knew I had the talent, it was just a matter of opportunity," Patterson said on the Eagles' website.

Patterson, who has three of his four career interceptions this season, has taken advantage of the opportunity after starter Ellis Hobbs was sidelined with a hip injury.

"You can never be complacent," Patterson said. "I'm not a complacent guy. I'm a free agent in this league and that's the bottom line. I'm going to continue to fight and just earn my respect every single Sunday, as long as they're willing to give me an opportunity to do so."

Patterson is in his second season with the Eagles. He also has played for the Redskins and Chiefs while spending some time on the Vikings' practice squad. His only NFL interception before this year came for Washington in 2005 during his rookie campaign.

Two other Southeast products are on NFL rosters, and both of them are offensive line starters -- Eugene Amano with the Titans and Dan Connolly with the Patriots.

Amano is in his seventh season after being drafted in the seventh round. Connolly, in his sixth NFL season, made the NFL as an undrafted free agent, just like Patterson.

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I was surprised the Sikeston High School football team lost to visiting Warrenton 28-21 in Saturday's Class 4 semifinals, marking the Bulldogs' only defeat of the season.

Warrenton had three regular-season losses but evidently is really good because everybody knows how strong Sikeston is.

Valle Catholic advanced to the Class 1 championship game for the second straight year with Saturday's 44-13 romp at Concordia. The Warriors, second in the state last season, have won all of their playoff games by at least 30 points.

Interestingly, Valle (13-1) will get a chance to avenge its lone loss of the season when it faces Westran (14-0) in Friday's title game.

Westran beat the Warriors 21-14 on Oct. 2 in a contest played in Washington, Mo.

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Sad news out of Carbondale, Ill., as SIU baseball coach Dan Callahan died at the age of 52 last week after battling a rare form of skin cancer since 2006.

I didn't know Callahan well, other than the occasional interview after games between the Salukis and Southeast, but by all accounts he was a class guy who was respected.

Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.