Southeast football debuts with dominating victory over Missouri Baptist

Box score

About the only thing slowing down the Southeast Missouri State football team on Thursday night was a lightning delay that pushed the start time back about 20 minutes.

Not much else was stopping the Redhawks as they cruised to a 77-0 victory over NAIA affiliate Missouri Baptist, which is in its inaugural season, to start the season 1-0 and give Southeast first-year coach Tom Matukewicz his first win as a head coach.

"Well, it'd be hard to be any better," Matukewicz said when asked how he was doing. "I told the players you couldn't slap the smile off my face."

Southeast's 77 points broke the school record for most points scored in a game since it moved to the Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The previous record was 72 from the 2009 season.

Southeast Missouri State's Kyle Snyder scans for a receiver during the seasons first game against Missouri Baptist Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014 at Houck Stadium. (GLENN LANDBERG)

"Just the big thing is we got the win," Southeast senior quarterback Kyle Snyder said about the record. "And obviously people will look at that, but we look at the column and hey, there's a 'W' there so that's always a positive. We're just going to keep on building on that. We're just looking forward to going over to Kansas."

Southeast scored early and often -- the Redhawks scored on every offensive possession until a fumble early in the second half.

"I liked how not only our ones, but our ones and twos and threes stepped up and executed on the plays when they got the opportunities," junior wide receiver Paul McRoberts said. "That's big. I'm looking forward to them to keep doing that."

The Redhawks scored just 3 minutes, 2 seconds into the game on a 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Kyle Snyder and the PAT by sophomore Ryan McCrum put the Redhawks up 7-0.

That came after the Spartans were forced to punt on their first drive and senior returner Spencer Davis brought the ball back 61 yards to the 8-yard line.

"Normally we don't score that quickly so it felt pretty good," McRoberts said. "Like I said, one thing led to another and it all went back to confidence. We gained it fast and we just ran with it. We didn't let our foot off the pedal."

Southeast Missouri State's Lewis Washington breaks through Missouri Baptist's defensive line to score a touchdown in the third quarter during the seasons first game Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014 at Houck Stadium. (GLENN LANDBERG)

MBU went three-and-out on its next possession, and senior cornerback Reggie Jennings tackled the punter on the Spartans' 25-yard line after a bad snap.

Junior running back DeMichael Jackson took a handoff from Snyder and broke free to the left sideline for a 25-yard touchdown for a 14-0 lead.

The defense held MBU to a punt that rolled out at the Southeast 16-yard line, but a penalty on the Spartans put Southeast at its own 31. The teams combined for three penalties before Southeast called a timeout with the ball on its own 34, before a third-and-19 play with 1:39 to go in the first quarter.

"Well, we had a personal foul before that, and it wasn't an ignorant foul, it was an effort foul, but it was not OK," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said of the timeout. "... I'm saying it on the sideline, but I want to make sure you're listening. Like, 'Don't do that again and just settle down.' People were getting a little uneasy, so I just wanted to bring everybody back and 'Hey, let's just get the ball in a playmaker's hand and let's go to work. We're fine, but I just felt like we were getting a little off-kilter there."

The Redhawks' didn't stay off-kilter for long. Snyder completed about a 5-yard pass to Jackson following the timeout that he ran for a 66-yard touchdown that made it 21-0 to end the first quarter.

Southeast Missouri State's Ron Coleman avoids a tackle during the seasons first game against Missouri Baptist Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014 at Houck Stadium. (GLENN LANDBERG)

MBU had the ball on its own 28 to start the second quarter and only 40 seconds expired before the Spartans punted again, which the Redhawks downed at their own 21.

Snyder connected with senior tight end Ron Coleman on short pass that Coleman ran to the 11 -- a 68-yard reception -- before he was tripped up.

The Redhawks got it to the 2-yard line on a run by senior running back Lennies McFerren before Snyder hit junior wide receiver Paul McRoberts in the back of the end zone to make it 28-0 with 13:26 left in the half.

Southeast marched down the field -- slowed down by three penalties between the two teams -- before Snyder scored on a 5-yard run with 5:13 to go in the half.

The Spartans next drive ended with an interception by Wisler Ymonice and it didn't take long for Southeast to cover the 28 yards to the end zone, with Coleman running in from one yard out for the TD with 1:05 remaining in the half. It took mere seconds for the Redhawks to make it 49-0.

MBU downed the kickoff at its own 1-yard line and a fumble forced by sophomore linebacker Roper Garrett was recovered by freshman Josh Wilson for a touchdown with 59 seconds left on the clock.

Southeast Missouri State's Kyle Snyder leaps and land just shy of a touchdown during the seasons first game against Missouri Baptist Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014 at Houck Stadium. (GLENN LANDBERG)

"I have to back it up a second -- McCrum kicked it on the 1 and everybody was excited," Garrett said of the play. "We got out there and everybody was like, 'Alright, this is our chance to get one.' I got back there and they were running like a power play and I got back there and I hit him, and I thought it was a safety at first, but then you just hear, 'Ball, ball, ball, ball,' and then Josh jumped on the ball. We just started celebrating -- it was a good feeling to score on defense.

Southeast's first drive of the second half resulted in its first possession not to result in a touchdown. Jackson fumbled with 12:31 on the clock and was recovered by MBU linebacker Tremont Davis on the Spartans' 21.

Junior transfer quarterback Alex Niznak replaced Snyder, who was 10-of-12 passing for 198 yards and two touchdowns, midway through in the third and scored his first career touchdown on a 2-yard run. Junior transfer Clay Pickler's PAT made it 56-0.

"I thought he did what we talked about and distributed the ball," Matukewicz said of Snyder. "He handled not knowing what you're going to see and not forcing balls. ... Because you know, at quarterback, you see this big Paul McRoberts out there and you want to throw it a hundred miles. They're deep thirds, that's not possible, so he didn't get impatient and he took what they gave and he didn't turn it over and managed the game well."

A 12-yard rushing touchdown by Washington with 4:07 remaining in the third gave Southeast a 63-0 lead.

The Spartans' longest gain of the night came on a 20-yard run by running back JP Lowery. Four plays later, MBU attempted 4th-and-1 at Southeast's 46-yard line but was stopped.

McFerren scored 11 seconds into the fourth quarter on a 28-yard run to make it 70-0.

Chaffee graduate and sophomore running back Tyson Estes made it 77-0 on a 1-yard run with 8:21 to go in the game.

The Redhawks will travel to Lawrence, Kansas, to face the Kansas Jayhawks on Sept. 6. Kickoff is schedule for 6 p.m.

"My message was generally you get what your work's deserved," Matukewicz said of his message to the players. "You've handled this process and it showed tonight. And you've got to listen to me. Every time I've spoken, I feel like you have. And you've got 24 hours. Enjoy it because winning in college football is difficult. And so take this next 24 hours and enjoy the victory. After that you've got to flush it because this game has no bearing on the next game and so forth. We've got to go back to work and respect the process about preparing for each and every week."