SE'S UPSET BID STRAYS OFF COURSE

A fired-up, determined Southeast Missouri State University football team gave powerful Eastern Kentucky a serious run for its money Saturday afternoon.

But in the end, the Colonels had just enough to avoid a major Ohio Valley Conference upset.

The Colonels fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter and didn't take the lead for good until fairly late in the third period on their way to a 20-10 victory in front of 3,253 fans at Houck Stadium.

EKU, ranked 24th nationally in Division I-AA, improved to 6-3 overall with its sixth straight victory. And more importantly, the Colonels are now 5-0 in OVC play as they took over first place all by themselves thanks to Eastern Illinois' 24-17 loss at Murray State.

Southeast fell to 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the OVC.

"We came down here to get a win and we got it, even though it wasn't pretty," said EKU coach Roy Kidd. "SEMO is pretty good and in the first half we didn't have the motivational intensity to knock them off the line."

In a disappointing season that has produced its share of sub-par performances so far, Southeast coach John Mumford had nothing but praise for the way the Indians handled themselves Saturday. He just wished the strong effort had been enough to pull off an upset.

"Our kids played with a lot of confidence. They played hard and flew around," said Mumford. "I'm proud of the effort and intensity. It's just a matter of being consistent throughout the game.

"We made a minimum of errors, but that's all a team like Eastern Kentucky needs. They're a very good football team and you have to play so well to beat them."

In the first half, the Indians did play well enough to probably beat the Colonels, although the halftime score was deadlocked at 10-10.

But in the second half it was pretty much all EKU, although the Indians still had some chances to make things mighty interesting.

Southeast had a solid statistical advantage over the first two quarters in several major categories: total yards, 173 to 143; first downs, nine to seven; and time of possession, 17:02 to 12:58.

In the second half, all the numbers favored EKU: total yards, 171 to 74; first downs, 11 to five; and time of possession, 21:34 to 9:26.

"We came out very fired up and did a lot of good things in the first half," Mumford said. "In the second half our defense probably got tired. The ball control factor in the second half was critical."

Southeast opened the contest with a bang. On the game's first play, quarterback Justin Martini handed off to tailback Aaron Layne, who immediately pitched the ball back to Martini, who fired downfield to Leslie Weaver for a 46-yard gain.

The drive stalled, but Eric Warren booted a 39-yard field goal for a 3-0 Southeast lead.

"Their safeties are very active on play-action and our kids executed well," said Mumford in explaining the opening flea-flicker.

Later in the first quarter, the Indians put together their longest drive of the season to go ahead 10-0. A 90-yard march ended when Dante Bryant went high to make a fingertip grab of a 6-yard TD strike from Martini.

EKU was able to salvage a 10-10 halftime tie thanks mainly to a pair of crucial blunders by the Indians.

First, a fumble on a punt return deep in Southeast territory led to a field goal early in the second quarter. Then a personal-foul penalty when EKU was saddled with a second-and-25 situation deep in its territory kept a drive alive that ended with a tying touchdown late in the period.

"We drop a punt and give them a first down with a personal foul," lamented Mumford. "Those were key areas. It gave them 10 points. You don't know if they would have got them back or not."

EKU controlled the ball in the second half and also took control of the game. John Wright's second field goal, a 45-yarder with 5:28 left in the third period, put the Colonels ahead 13-10.

Warren's 33-yard field-goal attempt late in the third period was blocked. EKU then iced the win with an 80-yard drive that culminated in Derick Logan's one-yard run with 8:10 left.