SEMO kicking game has gone from worrisome to wonderful

Buried beneath the 1-3 mark in the win-loss column for the Southeast Missouri State football program so far this fall, is the indisputable fact that the Redhawks have had several areas of play that have been strong.

“I’m excited about this team,” 10th-year SEMO coach Tom Matukewicz said recently. “I still think this team is going to have a hard time losing games if we can stay healthy, play smart, and get our kicking game going.”

Well, OK then. Because the “kicking game” IS one of those areas that is “going,” which given the circumstances, is extraordinary.

The Redhawks will return to action on Saturday at Central Arkansas (4 p.m., ESPN+) and one of several key areas to success will be the SEMO kicking game.

SEMO sophomore kicker DC Pippen has been perfect this fall in making all five field goals and not botching a single one of his 13 extra points.

“I’m so proud of (Pippen),” Matukewicz said.

That assessment would have surprised Matukewicz a few months ago.

Pippen was coming off a very good 2022 season in which he didn’t miss any of his 50 extra points and was second on the Redhawks with 98 points scoring. He followed that production up by becoming a tad complacent on AND off the field, according to his coach.

“He didn’t have a great spring,” Matukewicz said, “academically or football-wise. So, I brought in another kicker over the summer.”

SEMO already had redshirt freshman Logan Bruns (a former Jackson High School standout) on its roster, and Matukewicz brought in redshirt freshman Joe Bowman, who spent the 2021 season at Pac-12 program Oregon State. However, Pippen has responded to that challenge.

“DC had been up and down,” Matukewicz said, “and we really challenged him. He took that as an opportunity to hone his craft.

“He is dialed in and really doing a nice job.”

The same can be said for freshman punter Logan Leftrick, who Matukewicz never envisioned taking a snap this season, but football is often an unpredictable game.

The Redhawks brought in Eastern Michigan transfer Adam Heston in January to replace All-OVC punter Zach Haynes, and Heston came out of the blocks kicking great with an excellent season-opening game against Kansas State. However, the following week in practice, he suffered a gruesome leg injury and will miss this season.

Leftrick, a freshman out of Springfield (Tenn.) High School, has been nothing short of stunning with his success through three games.

“For a true freshman to come into this situation,” Matukewicz said, “is impressive.”

Half of Leftrick’s 16 kicks have landed inside the 20-yard line, with seven of them being fair-caught.

He is averaging over 38 yards per kick and has one that traveled over 50 yards.

Twice this season, Leftrick has had a spectacular kick in a tight game. Against Southern Illinois, Leftrick pinned the Salukis on their one-yard line with 17:00-plus minutes remaining in the game.

He followed that kick up by making Eastern Kentucky start a drive with 2:34 on the clock on their seven-yard line.

“Logan has really done a nice job,” Matukewicz said. “He has been really steady in some tough situations.”