SEMO Redhawks face new challenge: Maintaining dominance after a strong start

Sometimes the most challenging thing for a program is not climbing to the top, but rather staying at the top.

Over the first four games of the 2024 season, the SEMO Redhawks have gone from “hunter” to “hunted” after sprinting to a 3-1 start, knocking off then-ranked rivals UT Martin and Southern Illinois and climbing to No. 13 in the FCS poll – their highest ranking since September of 2023.

“Human nature is easy when your back's against the wall,” said head coach Tom Matukewicz, who is coming off his fourth-career victory over an FCS top 10 ranked team. “When you're on the mountain, human nature doesn't help you; it hurts you.”

Saturday afternoon presents SEMO with its easiest test of the season thus far – a home game against an 0-4 Northwestern State team who has been outscored 225-69 so far this year.

The motto “take nobody lightly” could not apply more for Matukewicz and his squad.

“Ultimately, it's about competition,” Matukewicz said. “Why did Tom Brady still compete when he had all the championships and all the money? Because deep down he's a competitor. So, a competitor isn't game by game. A competitor wouldn't care if it’s horseshoes or chess or Northwestern State, like, ‘I'm going to go get it on.’ And hopefully we’ve got that mentality, and we’ve got a bunch of players that love going out and hunting. Come Saturday, it doesn't matter their opponent, they're just really excited to be there.”

It’s no stretch to say that the Redhawks are expected to win comfortably. Perfect football may not be required to beat the Demons on Saturday, but further steps toward the idealized version of how good SEMO can be are important each game moving forward.

“We just talked about the standard of preparation,” Matukewicz said. “If you start the week with your preparation based on the jersey you're playing, there it is. There's a standard how Tuesday needs to look every week, so, then it becomes, can we reach that standard every week? Really at this point, we’ve kind of turned it over to the seniors. They’re tired of me talking. At the end of the day, our seniors need to make sure that if the standard is not being met, they need to call them out and call them up to our standard so we can get back on track.”

SEMO’s offense displayed its most well-balanced performance last Saturday in Carbondale, as the rushing attack finally hit full speed again and senior quarterback Paxton DeLaurent, who was named the Big South-OVC Offensive Player of the Week, continued to torch opposing secondaries. Running back Payton Brown, who earned Big South-OVC Freshman of the Week honors, racked up a season-high 127 yards on the ground, while DeLaurent threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns on 40 passing attempts – the fewest amount he’s had in a full game this season. Sticking to that balanced approach is paramount for the Redhawks this Saturday and beyond.

Defensively, SEMO will line up against Northwestern State quarterback JT Fayard, a redshirt freshman, who, although inexperienced, has a strong arm and possesses great size for a pocket passer at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds.

Linebacker Jared Pedraza, who transferred from Northwestern State this offseason and played with Fayard last season, spoke highly of his former quarterback and knows not to take his ability for granted.

“I think he's confident,” said Pedraza, who currently ranks fifth on the team with 20 tackles. “He carries himself with a swagger. He has a strong arm and he's not afraid to sling it, even if it's in a tight window. We’ve just got to put pressure on him. He's not the best mobile-wise, so if we just put pressure on him and stick to our keys, we'll be just fine.”

The talent advantage is squarely with SEMO. Saturday afternoon will be another test of whether the Redhawks exemplify that.

“We're just going to treat this game like any game,” Pedraza said. “We’re going to treat it just like we did versus SIU. We're just holding the standard, making sure nobody relaxes and just keeping the same intensity. If we do that, we'll be fine the whole season.”

SEMO has a seven-game stretch against conference opponents on the other side of Saturday’s matchup with Northwestern State.

But before then, there lies an opportunity to do some polishing in pursuit of perfection – or at least living up to the standard that SEMO has carved for itself to open the season.