Redhawks football struggles in final tuneup for OVC play

Saturday night's 35-14 loss at SIU Carbondale was not the type of performance the Southeast Missouri State football team had in mind for its final nonconference contest.

The Redhawks were dominated and the game was much more lopsided than the score indicates.

Southeast never seriously challenged SIU after the Salukis built a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.

How dominant was SIU, which had been 0-2 for the first time since 2001? The Salukis piled up 565 yards and held Southeast to 186 yards.

The first-half statistics were especially gruesome for Southeast. SIU outgained the Redhawks 364 to 30 over the opening two quarters, and Southeast punted on all six of its possessions.

But now that the drubbing is behind them, the Redhawks can begin focusing their attention on the part of their season that carries the most weight.

Southeast embarks on its eight-game Ohio Valley Conference schedule this week. And the 1-2 Redhawks are not being allowed to ease into their OVC slate.

The Redhawks play their first two league games against two of the three squads that tied for last year's OVC championship.

It starts when Tennessee Tech visits Houck Stadium for a 6 p.m. kickoff Saturday, followed by a matchup at Jacksonville State on Sept. 29.

Southeast's three-game nonconference schedule featured its share of ups and downs. That probably was expected.

The Redhawks were impressive during a 38-27 opening loss at Football Bowl Subdivision Central Michigan, but they didn't perform all that well during a 30-18 win over Division II Mars Hill College and were dismal against SIU.

Now the Redhawks will begin to see how they stack up against the rest of the OVC.

---

I want to clear up something regarding an article I wrote last Monday about Southeast soccer player Meg Herndon, who was critically injured in a scooter accident the previous day. She suffered a severe brain injury and is fighting for her life at a St. Louis hospital.

The information in one paragraph of the article should have been attributed to the university's student newspaper, the Arrow.

The information in question is as follows: Herndon was airlifted to Barnes-Jewish hospital in St. Louis and underwent surgery, according to a hospital official. No details of the operation were available.

I assure you it was an honest mistake. I was not trying to lead anybody to believe that I had obtained the information personally. I was mistakenly under the assumption that the information had come from Southeast's official university website, not the Arrow's website. Regardless, it was totally my fault, and in retrospect, I should have attributed the information regardless, whether it came from an official university source or from the Arrow's news staff.

This might not seem like a big deal to many of you, but in our profession, where accuracy and accountability mean everything, it is a big deal even if it was unintentional.

While the information in that paragraph was accurate, it was obtained by the Arrow, specifically sports editor Erin Neier.

I personally want to apologize to Erin, who I have gotten to know the past year during our coverage of Southeast athletic events and who I totally respect.

Erin is a fine young journalist who is doing a terrific job not only reporting on the tragic story of Meg Herndon but also reporting on Southeast sports in general.

And let's all keep praying for Meg to make a complete recovery.

By the way, all the latest updates regarding Meg from the Herndon family are being posted on the website www.caringbridge.org.

Once you're in that site, type in meghanherndon -- one word and all lower-case -- in the box that says "enter site name" and that will direct you to her page.

Not much had changed in Meg's condition at last report, but she appears to be holding her own as she was scheduled for another surgery Sunday, this time on her leg.

Meg still is unresponsive to people but her vital signs are strong, which hopefully is good news.

---

The Southeast volleyball and soccer teams both have played difficult early schedules. The soccer Redhawks are facing an especially brutal slate featuring games against some nationally prominent programs.

Both squads can begin focusing on all-important conference competition when they open OVC play this week.

The volleyball Redhawks, who are a solid 8-6 with notable wins over teams from the Big 10 and Big East conferences, visit Eastern Illinois on Friday night.

The soccer Redhawks, who are 1-6-2, host Tennessee-Martin in an interesting matchup Friday night.

Southeast is the defending OVC regular-season champion, while UTM won last year's OVC tournament title. The Skyhawks are the 2012 preseason OVC favorites, being picked just ahead of the Redhawks.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.