Scheible-Ahamefule connection offers hope for passing game

The highlight of Saturday's game for Southeast Missouri State came with under a minute left.

Unfortunately for the Redhawks, by that time Tennessee-Martin already had secured the victory.

Still, Chante Ahamefule's circus catch in the end zone was a SportsCenter-worthy play during Southeast's 31-21 loss on Senior Day.

The 6-foot-6 Ahamefule made a leaping, one-handed grab on an 18-yard pass against tight coverage while tumbling to the turf in the back right corner of the end zone.

That play, the game's final touchdown, came with 47 seconds left.

CHUCK WU ~ cwu@semissourian.comSoutheast Missouri's quarter back Houston Lillard looks down field for open reciever.

"That was a great catch," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said.

It also marked the first collegiate touchdown for Ahamefule, a redshirt freshman who has come on in recent weeks to become one of Southeast's top targets.

Ahamefule led Southeast receivers Saturday with three catches for 34 yards.

"It was my first touchdown. I was happy," Ahamefule said. "I just wanted to finish it off for the seniors. I respect them."

Freshman quarterback Matt Scheible's second collegiate touchdown pass was a play that left him shaking his head.

CHUCK WU ~ cwu@semissourian.comSEMO free safety Vincent Anderson knocks the ball away from Tennessee-Martin's wide reciever Roren Thomas before he can make the catch.

"I just threw it up to see what he can do," Scheible said. "It was a great catch. I don't know how he came down with it."

If Ahamefule's catch wasn't Southeast's No. 1 highlight, then it had to be the impressive play of Scheible.

Scheible took over at quarterback for senior Houston Lillard early in the second quarter after Lillard apparently injured a knee. Scheible went the rest of the way.

Samuel said he did not know if Lillard could have returned, but with Scheible providing about the only offense Southeast had, that became a moot point.

When Lillard hobbled off after taking a hit, the Redhawks faced third-and-10 at the UTM 49-yard line. They trailed 10-0.

Scheible ran for 19 yards and a first down. He gained 13 more yards on five consecutive rushes, setting up a third-and-7 at the 17.

Scheible hit junior Walter Peoples for 13 yards and a first down, then three plays later scored his second collegiate touchdown on a 4-yard run.

That allowed Southeast to trail just 10-7 at halftime, even though the Redhawks had only 87 first-half yards. Scheible accounted for 61 of the yards, 48 coming on the ground.

"I didn't think I would get that many yards running," Scheible said.

Scheible continued to play strong in the second half as he led Southeast's other two touchdown drives that covered 90 and 72 yards.

Picking up several first downs on third-down runs, Scheible finished with a career-high 90 yards rushing on 23 carries. Two sacks kept him from his first 100-yard rushing performance.

Scheible completed 10 of 21 passes for a career-high 108 yards.

All told, Scheible accounted for 198 yards of total offense. As a team, Southeast had 252 yards.

"He shows he can be pretty good," Samuel said.

Scheible, who has seen varying amounts of action in nine of the 11 games this season and is expected to be Southeast's starter next year, was glad to bounce back.

Scheible received his first collegiate start last week at Murray State, but struggled.

"I didn't do great [Saturday], but it was definitely a confidence booster after not playing well last week," he said.

With Scheible and Ahamefule both having three seasons of eligibility after this year, they gave the few Southeast fans on hand at Houck Stadium -- the announced attendance was 1,759 -- a glimpse of what could be a nice aerial combination in the future.

"He's young like me," Scheible said.

Dominant field position

Southeast's defense gave up just 306 yards -- it had been allowing an OVC-worst 416.3 yards -- to an explosive UTM offense that was averaging 406 yards.

But the Skyhawks dominated the field-position game as they kept Southeast's offense pinned deep for the majority of the game.

UTM's average starting field position was the Southeast 46-yard line, while the Redhawks' average starting field position was their 20.

The Skyhawks squandered a host of scoring opportunities that reached deep into Southeast territory or they might have won more comfortably.

Other than Southeast's three touchdown drives, none of the Redhawks' other offensive possessions reached the UTM 45.

Noteworthy

• Senior linebacker Nick Stauffer led Southeast with 10 tackles, giving the nation's second-leading tackler 145.

Stauffer needs three tackles in Saturday's finale at Austin Peay to break the school single-season record of 147 tackles, set by Joe Williams in 2000.

• Sophomore rover Bryan Blanfort recorded his third interception of the season, which came at Southeast's 10-yard line and snuffed out an early UTM scoring opportunity.