Snyder's TD pass rallies Southeast Missouri State's offense in spring game

Kyle Snyder acknowledged that Southeast Missouri State's offense was put in some favorable situations late to give the unit a chance to rally.

Snyder said that didn't lessen the satisfaction of the offense earning bragging rights over the defense heading into fall camp.

"Going into the fall, they won't like us too much," Snyder said with a smile.

Snyder, Southeast's transfer quarterback, capped Saturday's comeback by throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Spencer Davis with 8 seconds left.

Southeast's offense beat the defense 28-25 at Houck Stadium in an intrasquad game that ended spring practice.

Southeast Missouri State fullback Ron Coleman runs for a first down during Saturday's spring game. (ADAM VOGLER)

"It was a real good game," Davis said. "It was good to see the offense get a 'W.'"

Southeast's defense had posted three straight spring game wins during the annual matchup that allows both units to score points in a variety of ways.

"I thought it was a very good game," said Southeast coach Tony Samuel, who will be entering his seventh season. "Our timing is getting better [offensively]. You can see good, solid contact [defensively]."

Snyder, a transfer from Football Bowl Subdivision Ohio University, continued his impressive spring. He enters fall camp as the heavy favorite to replace record-setting Matt Scheible.

Snyder, a sophomore, completed 11 of 20 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once and had several passes dropped.

Southeast Missouri State quarterback Kyle Snyder lunges forward to gain extra yards during Saturday's spring game.

"Kyle's going to be real good," Davis said.

Snyder, an athletic and mobile 6-foot-1, 225-pounder, also ripped off two early runs of 15 and 17 yards. He later scored on a 5-yard run.

"Kyle is making good progress," Samuel said. "He does really good things running the offense."

Snyder finished with just 21 yards on 10 carries, but that figure is misleading because officials were instructed to blow dead a play when a defender either put a hand on a quarterback or got near him.

"It's going to be nice to play when the whistle doesn't blow so fast," Snyder said with a laugh.

Southeast Missouri State cornerback Cantrell Andrews, right, breaks up a pass intended for wide receiver D.J. Foster during Saturday's spring game.

The offense, which trailed 25-15 with less than a minute remaining, was put in one of the favorable situations Snyder referred to when it was given the ball at the defense's 11-yard line.

Snyder and junior wide receiver D.J. Foster hooked up for a 4-yard touchdown to make it 25-21 with 28 seconds left. A 2-point conversion pass failed.

Snyder and the offense then were allowed to start a final possession from their 45-yard line.

"I think they gave us a little help at the end," Snyder said about Southeast's coaches. "They gave us some good situations. But I felt in the fourth quarter we really stepped it up."

Completions of 17 yards to junior wide out Matt Bell and 20 yards to senior wide out Ola Alli moved the ball to the 20-yard line.

Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Matt Bell goes up over safety Josh Freeman for a pass in the end zone. Bell was ruled out of bounds on the play.

Snyder then hit Davis over the middle for the winning touchdown. Senior Drew Geldbach tacked on his second extra point.

"It was open the majority of the day," Davis said about passes over the middle. "Kyle put the ball right there."

Junior Joe Vucic kicked a 46-yard field goal for the offense.

Sophomore fullback Ron Coleman led Southeast rushers with 68 yards on 12 carries. Davis caught three passes for 45 yards. Bell had two receptions for 71 yards.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Scott Lathrop completed 4 of 7 passes for 53 yards. He also rushed for 21 yards on seven attempts.

Southeast's defense scored 18 of its points on three sacks, which were worth two points each, and two interceptions, which were worth six points apiece.

Redshirt freshman cornerback Sam Poole and sophomore cornerback Reggie Jennings both had an interception. Jennings returned his for 17 yards.

Poole, senior tackle Joe Malolo and junior tackle Frankie Davis were credited with sacks.

All-American senior linebacker Blake Peiffer led the defense with 10 tackles.

"It was a good game, real competitive," senior defensive end Justin Love said. "It's going to make us better."

Samuel, whose squad opens the season Aug. 30 at Central Michigan, declared spring drills a success.

"It was a good spring. I'm pleased with the progress we made," Samuel said. "They like being around each other. That's a good sign."