Redhawks football already dealing with key injury

The outlook for Southeast Missouri State's football season took a major hit barely one week into training camp.

Starting quarterback Kyle Snyder will miss the entire season with a knee injury after he suffered a torn ACL while making a cut during Friday's practice. No contact was involved.

Snyder's collegiate experience was limited to mop-up duty in a handful of games at Football Bowl Subdivision program Ohio University as a redshirt freshman last season. But Snyder did have two years in an offensive system at Ohio that is similar to what Southeast utilizes.

And Snyder appeared to have the necessary skills, both with his arm and feet, to be a solid replacement for record-setting quarterback Matt Scheible, who completed his eligibility with the Redhawks last season.

Redshirt freshman Scott Lathrop looks to be in line to replace Snyder. He took most of the snaps during Saturday's scrimmage, and I thought he looked pretty good.

Lathrop put up prolific passing and running numbers at Warrenton (Mo.) High School while operating an offense that is similar to Southeast's. He spent last year practicing with the Redhawks as a redshirt so he should be comfortable with Southeast's offense.

I thought the Redhawks, who return plenty of experience at every position but quarterback, had a chance for a strong season this year because I had been impressed with Snyder during spring practice and early in camp.

Snyder's injury does not guarantee a doomed season for the Redhawks, just as his presence did not guarantee a charmed season.

But there is no doubt things just got a lot more challenging for the Redhawks in 2012.

Only time will tell if they are able to successfully meet those challenges.

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High school football fans in Southeast Missouri might be somewhat familiar with Lathrop because he led Warrenton past Sikeston in the 2010 Class 4 semifinals before the Warriors lost in the championship game.

Lathrop passed for more than 2,200 yards, rushed for more than 1,800 yards and accounted for 45 touchdowns as a senior.

After finding out that Lathrop would play for Southeast in May of 2011, I wrote that the Redhawks don't need his skills right away but he was a player to watch for the future.

The future is now for Lathrop. It looks like Southeast definitely will need his skills this year.

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I feel bad about what happened to Snyder. I had the chance to talk with him several times since he transferred to Southeast in January and he seems like a high-quality young man.

Snyder appeared to have earned the respect of his teammates in a relatively short period of time, and it was obvious he already was being looked upon as a team leader.

Here's hoping Snyder makes a full recovery, which I'm sure he will, and ends up having an impressive career at Southeast.

Snyder will have at least two seasons of eligibility remaining -- maybe three if the NCAA grants him a medical hardship for this year. He already has used a redshirt season.

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While on the subject of quarterbacks, I found out over the weekend that former Sikeston and Southeast signal caller Trey Lewis is now at Iowa Western Community College, a perennial national junior college football power.

Lewis was Southeast's backup quarterback as a true freshman last season and showed promise in limited action. He was moved to wide receiver in the spring but was no longer in the program once the summer began.

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The first Southeast fall sports team to open its season will be women's soccer, which hosts defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Illinois State at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

That's the start of four consecutive home games to begin the campaign for the Redhawks, who welcome Saint Louis University to Houck Stadium on Sunday for a 6:30 p.m. contest.

The defending Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champion Redhawks lost considerable talent from last year but they also return several players, which should mean another strong season for 14th-year coach Heather Nelson.

Nelson has done an amazing job since starting the Southeast program from scratch, leading the Redhawks to four OVC regular-season championships along with two OVC tournament crowns and NCAA berths.

While Southeast soccer opens Friday, the volleyball team begins its season Aug. 24. The volleyball Redhawks will hold an open scrimmage at 2 p.m. Sunday at Houck Field House. Fans are encouraged to attend.

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I generally don't watch all that much of the Olympics, except for the sports that I'm particularly interested in. This year those sports were track and men's basketball.

What can you say about Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt except that he is utterly amazing? That was quite a show he put on in London.

The United States men's basketball team also put on an impressive show in winning its second consecutive gold medal.

While the Americans were favored heavily and anything less than gold would have been a colossal disappointment, gold certainly wasn't a given because the rest of the world also plays pretty good hoops these days.

Just look at all the NBA players that dot the rosters of many of the other top countries. One of those, Spain, gave the U.S. a big-time challenge in Sunday's thrilling, back-and-forth final before the Americans finally prevailed.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.