SE survives upset bid

Maybe Southeast Missouri State University's football team is destined to participate in a down-to-the-wire thriller no matter who the opponent is.

The Indians were expected to have their first breather of the season Saturday night when perennial Ohio Valley Conference whipping boy Tennessee-Martin paid a visit to Houck Stadium.

But the anticipated laugher turned into an extremely serious situation for the Indians, who had to rally in the fourth quarter to pull out a 45-30 victory in front of 6,550 fans. The contest was much, much closer than the final margin.

"It was ugly, but we got the 'W'," said Southeast defensive tackle James Jennette.

Southeast evened its overall record at 3-3 and its conference mark at 1-1. UTM (1-4, 0-2) suffered its 31st consecutive OVC loss, dating back to 1996.

"Somebody asked me if I was disappointed, but I'm not," said Southeast coach Tim Billings. "We came through at the end and found a way to win. This will help us grow as a football team."

The Indians, who trailed 30-24 entering the fourth quarter after seeing the Skyhawks explode for 20 straight points to erase a 24-10 deficit, finally took the lead for good with 9:20 remaining as Curtis Cooper scored on a 3-yard run to cap an 80-yard drive. Derek Kutz booted his sixth PAT of the night -- he also had a 32-yard field goal -- to make it 31-30.

But probably the key play of the game took place a few minutes later when the Indians were still nursing that 31-30 advantage.

With a little more than five minutes left, the Indians lined up in punt formation as they faced a fourth-and-two from their own 35. But the ball never got to punter Kyle East. Instead, up-man Mike Gross took the snap and found huge running room up the middle on a fake. He wasn't hauled down until he had gained 51 yards and a personal foul penalty tacked on even more real estate.

Two plays later, Cooper scored on a 6-yard run and Kutz converted to make it 38-30 with 4:25 remaining.

"The way they lined up, they left a big gap and it was wide open," said Gross, a senior from Jackson High School. "I got the few yards and was lucky to get a lot more."

Added Gross with a grin, "If I had more speed, I might have scored."

Billings, in his second season as the Indians' coach, has earned a reputation as a gambler with fake punts. Three have already worked this season in crucial situations and one worked that way last year.

"So far we've been pretty good on those. It's a great play if it works. If it hadn't worked, we'd have been in big trouble," said a smiling Billings. "I thought we'd have it and Mike did a great job."

Said UTM coach Sam McCorkle, "I hated it for our players. They did everything they could to win this game tonight. We had them on fourth down. At that point, I thought we were going to win the game. However, that fake punt broke our back."

The Indians tacked on a final score on true freshman Corey Kinsey's first collegiate touchdown, a 1-yard plunge with 20 seconds left. But that 15-point margin of victory couldn't mask just how much Southeast had to scratch and claw for the victory.

Asked if Southeast had taken UTM lightly, Cooper said, "Yeah, we did. It showed on the first play of the game."

That was a 67-yard TD run by Justin Wall that gave the Skyhawks a 7-0 lead just 15 seconds into the contest.

But the Indians seemed to regroup well as they built first-half leads of 21-7 and 24-10. But the Skyhawks grabbed plenty of momentum as they scored with just seven seconds left before halftime to pull within 24-17. And they kept coming in the second half.

"You have to give Tennessee-Martin credit," Billings said. "The touchdown at the half gave them momentum and we never did recover from it. They had all the momentum and I didn't know if we'd get it turned around."

Cooper had another huge night for the Indians, rushing for 216 yards on 31 carries and catching five passes.

"We're just glad to win," said Cooper. "The big boys up front did it."

Quarterback Bobby Brune, who passed for one touchdown and ran for one, took over for starter Jeromy McDowell midway through the first quarter after McDowell re-injured his left knee while throwing a 32-yard TD pass to Adrian Sanders that tied the contest at 7-7. McDowell, who originally hurt the knee two weeks ago at Illinois State, did not return.

Brune, who hit Iven Brown with a 26-yard TD pass and scored on a 15-yard run, completed 10 of 18 passes for 108 yards.

Southeast gained 464 total yards, 313 on the ground. UTM almost matched that with 445 total yards, 290 on the ground.

Defensively, according to unofficial press-box statistics, true freshman linebacker O.J. Turner from Cape Central and linebacker Ricky Farmer had eight tackles each to lead the Indians. Turner, seeing his most extensive action of the season because some other linebackers were banged up, also had a quarterback sack, as did Farmer.

True freshman Ray Goodson from Jackson caught his first collegiate pass.