Simonhoff recognized nationally for punts vs. TSU

~ The junior attracted national honors for the second straight week.

Southeast Missouri State junior punter David Simonhoff is not having quite the season he had last year, when he earned All-American honors after setting school and conference records.

But Simonhoff has still been more than solid, and he has especially been impressive over the past two weeks.

On Monday, Simonhoff was chosen by The Sports Network as the national specialist of the week after averaging 44 yards on six punts during Saturday's 32-24 win over Tennessee State.

Simonhoff placed three punts inside the 20-yard line, including a boot that turned out to be one of the game's key plays.

A short time after Tennessee State had pulled within 23-17, Simonhoff boomed a 54-yarder to the Tigers' 5-yard line with under six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Southeast's defense ended up with a safety on that series and an ensuing touchdown gave the Redhawks some breathing room.

"That punt was really big," Southeast coach Tim Billings said.

The previous week, against Tennessee-Martin, Simonhoff averaged 45.7 yards on seven punts and Football Gazette named him national specialist of the week.

Simonhoff also won the Ohio Valley Conference specialist of the week award on Sunday, the second straight time he has been honored by the league. He has won the OVC award three times this season.

Simonhoff leads the OVC and ranks seventh nationally in Division I-AA with a 42.6-yard average on the season.

Last year, Simonhoff set OVC and school records by averaging 46 yards per punt, which ranked second nationally, as he earned second team All-American honors. He was a consensus preseason All-American this year.

"David started the season a little slow, but he's really been kicking the ball consistently well for a while now," Billings said. "He had such a great season last year, and he's having another really good year."

A major improvement

A horrendous start virtually doomed the Redhawks to another disappointing season, but the improvement in their play over the latter stages of the year has been marked.

After losing each of their first six games by at least 14 points, the Redhawks have gone 2-2 in their last four contests -- and the two defeats were by one and three points.

"No question, we could be 4-0 these last four games. The problem is, we're not," Billings said during his weekly media conference Monday. "The last four games, we're a really good football team. I think we could play with anybody in the league right now."

In addition to finally finding a running game, cutting down on turnovers has been a big key for the Redhawks over the past four games.

Southeast had 22 turnovers in its first six games, but just four turnovers in its past four contests.

It's likely not a coincidence that the top three teams in the OVC standings are also the top three squads in turnover margin, led by first-place Eastern Illinois at a whopping plus-18.

Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky -- tied for second place -- are plus-11 and plus-2, respectively.

Meanwhile, Murray State and Tennessee State -- the OVC's bottom two teams -- also rank that way in turnover margin, at minus-20 and minus-15, respectively.

"No question, turnovers are big, especially when teams are pretty even," said Billings, whose squad is minus-five on the season to rank sixth in the nine-team league.

The Redhawks (2-8, 2-5 OVC) hope to keep improving one more time when they end the season Saturday at Tennessee Tech (3-7, 2-5) in a 1 p.m. kickoff.

"It would be a big boost [to finish with two straight wins]," Billings said.

Southeast and Tennessee Tech are tied for sixth in the OVC. The winner could still finish as high as tied for fifth.

Conference leaders

Senior defensive end Justin Komondoreas continues to close in on the OVC sack title. With another quarterback sack Saturday, Komondoreas has 7.5 on the season. Nobody else in the league has more than five sacks.

Komondoreas also ranks first in the OVC in tackles for loss with 14, after having 2.5 Saturday.

While Simonhoff leads the OVC in punting, two Central High School products continue to rank first in various categories.

Redshirt freshman kicker Colin Schermann leads in field goals made and percentage, as he has hit 11 of 12 for 91.7 percent.

Sophomore cornerback Monroe Hicks is tied for first in passes defended with 11 (nine broken up, two interceptions).