SEMO COMEBACK STANDS TEST OF TIME; INDIANS DEFEAT TENN. TECH 29-24

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- For the second straight week, Southeast Missouri State University's football Indians put together a late comeback.

And this time, it stood up for a victory.

Quarterback Bobby Brune hit wide receiver Corey Chester for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 5:58 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Indians claimed a thrilling 29-24 victory over host Tennessee Tech Saturday afternoon.

The Indians evened their overall record at 3-3 and their Ohio Valley Conference mark at 2-2.

Tech, losing its fourth straight game, fell to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the OVC.

"This is a great win and I'm really happy for our guys," said Southeast head coach John Mumford. "Our kids just hung in there and made the plays. I think they're expecting to win now."

The Indians, who lost to Eastern Illinois 35-33 last week despite taking a lead after trailing 32-13 in the fourth quarter, suffered a blow midway through the final period Saturday.

After never trailing the entire game, the Indians fell behind 24-20 with 8:52 left when Chad Evitts intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.

But the Indians were undaunted. They marched 72 yards in seven plays, capped when Brune hit Chester from 20 yards out. Chester was covered by several defenders and a flag flew for pass interference, but he still came down with the football in the end zone.

"That was phenomenal concentration by Corey," Mumford said. "He had three guys all over him."

Marcus McLellan recovered a fumble on Tech's next possession. Southeast was then able to take the clock down to 1:24 before freshmen punter Justin Keen pinned the Eagles at their 3-yard line.

On the next play, Tech quarterback Michael Peeples stumbled and fell in the end zone for a safety, giving the Indians two points.

The Indians' Octavio Campus recovered an onside kick and, with Tech out of timeouts, Brune kneeled twice to run out the clock.

"The ball was just there and I fell on it," said McLellan of his late recovery. "This is a great win for us. We believed we could do it."

Said linebacker Gabe Jenkins, "It definitely feels good. After the offense got the lead back for us, we weren't going to lose it."

Said Mumford. "The offense came through with a great drive after we fell behind. And then the defense did the job. Justin's pooch punt at the end was really huge.

"It was just a great effort. A lot of young men played and played really well."

Despite the number of points scored, both defenses played well. Southeast limited Tech to 210 total yards while the Indians had 249 yards.

Brune, a redshirt freshman who played the entire game after leading last week's second-half comeback, completed 10 of 16 passes for 121 yards.

Dante Bryant caught four passes for 71 yards. Riki Smith led the rushers with 49 yards on seven carries.

Troy Baglio and Joel Becker were each credited with two of Southeast's six sacks. McLellan and Jason DeWolf had the others.

"We wanted to put a lot of heat on the quarterback," McLellan said.

Southeast broke on top less than two minutes into the game.

With Tech punting from its own 23, K.D Koleosho broke through to cleanly block the kick. The ball bounced into the end zone, where Koleosho picked it up with nobody around him. Nick Reggio's extra point made it 7-0 with 13:28 left in the first quarter.

The Indians grabbed a 14-0 lead with 3:35 remaining in the opening period as tailback Riki Smith broke loose for a 50-yard run, which capped a seven-play, 74-yard drive. Reggio booted the conversion.

Smith found a nice hole up the middle, then broke to the left side and outraced several Tech defenders on his way to the end zone.

"The blocking was there and I just ran," said Smith. "It felt good."

Tech came right back with a long drive that culminated in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Peeples to Nick Solomon with 1:20 left in the first quarter. David Collett tacked on the extra point.

Tech pulled into a 14-14 tie with 7:50 left before halftime as the Eagles took advantage of a Sturge Cumberford fumble that they recovered at the 18-yard line. Peeples hit T.J. Christian with a 4-yard touchdown pass and Collett followed with the conversion kick.

The Indians broke the deadlock with 1:37 remaining in the first half as Brune hit Bryant with a beautiful 43-yard touchdown pass. After a nice fake froze the defensive line, Brune hit Bryant in stride around the goal line and he tumbled into the end zone.

However, the conversion failed, leaving the Indians with a 20-14 lead. Southeast was hit with a 15-yard excessive celebration penalty after the touchdown, then Mumford was nailed with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for arguing. Reggio then was forced to kick from 50 yards and the boot was wide left.

Tech was able to drive 50 yards at the end of the half and Collett kicked a 47-yard field goal with five seconds left, pulling the Eagles to within 20-17 at the intermission.

The Eagles threatened to either take the lead or tie the game on their first possession of the second half, moving inside Southeast's 30. But on third down, Isaac Powell came up with his third interception of the season to end the drive.

Things remained 20-17 until the late fireworks that saw the Indians fall behind but rally for the victory.

"We expected to win this time," said Smith. "Even when they took the lead, we had confidence we would come back."