Southeast football: First-half woes doom Redhawks in 24-3 loss

It took nationally ranked Jacksonville State less than one quarter to open a 21-0 lead.

To Southeast Missouri State's credit -- primarily its defense -- the Redhawks kept JSU from running away and hiding.

But the Gamecocks never seriously were threatened Saturday as they sent Southeast to its eighth straight loss, 24-3 at Houck Stadium.

"We never gave up," junior safety Bryan Blanfort said. "That was our main thing, to play four quarters."

JSU, ranked 15th and 17th in the two major Division I-AA polls, improved to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Southeast fell to 1-8 and 0-7.

Southeast Missouri State's Henry Harris is tackled by Jacksonville State's Rodney Garrott during the second quarter Saturday at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

"Yeah, it's frustrating," Blanfort said of the mounting defeats. "But we're just going to hang in there."

JSU drove 37 yards for its first touchdown after Southeast failed to convert a fourth-and-1 play in its own territory.

Sophomore Jacob McKinley fumbled the ensuing kickoff. James Shaw returned it 29 yards for a 14-0 lead as JSU had 14 points in the span of 17 seconds.

"That kickoff return was tough after we had just finished taking a chance [on the fourth-and-1 play]," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said.

On JSU's next offensive possession, star senior quarterback Ryan Perrilloux fired his second touchdown pass. The 54-yarder, to Alan Bonner with 2:57 left in the first quarter, capped a 78-yard drive.

At that point, with Southeast down 21-0 and JSU featuring such an explosive offense, it looked like the Gamecocks might be able to name the final score.

Southeast's defense wouldn't let that happen. The Gamecocks, after piling up 143 first-quarter yards, managed just 212 yards the rest of the way. They had been averaging 35.2 points and 448.2 yards in OVC play.

"They didn't back down," Samuel said of his players. "A lot of guys showed a lot of courage."

Perrilloux, the former LSU transfer who leads all of Division I in passing efficiency, completed 9 of 14 first-half passes for 140 yards, but he finished just 13 of 26 for 206 yards.

"He's a real good player with a bright future ahead of him," said Blanfort, who intercepted a halfback option pass in the end zone early in the fourth quarter to halt a JSU drive. "They're a real good offense with a whole bunch a good athletes."

But as solid as Southeast's defense played -- that's been the norm for the past several weeks -- the offense continued to struggle as it went up against the OVC's top-ranked defensive unit.

Senior wide receiver Walter Peoples said he feels bad that the offense hasn't been able to hold up its end of the bargain.

"Our defense came up big again. They've been playing great," Peoples said. "I feel really bad. ... We have to be able to put up at least 21 points."

The Redhawks, who entered the day averaging just 14.8 points per game in OVC play, didn't come close to that figure, although they moved the ball better in the second half than they have in several weeks.

Southeast was held to 100 yards in the first half, which ended 24-0 after JSU kicked a short field goal in the final seconds. The Redhawks crossed midfield just once and never got past the JSU 40.

Five of Southeast's six second-half possessions reached JSU territory, including two third-quarter drives that penetrated the 20 as Southeast threatened to make things interesting.

Peoples fumbled inside the 20 after he picked up nice yardage following a reception.

"I made a mistake," Peoples said. "I had a block coming and I thought I might be able to get in [the end zone]. A guy came from behind and I lost the ball. That's my fault."

Southeast then had another strong drive stall and redshirt freshman Curtis Huge booted a 33-yard field goal with 33 seconds left in the third quarter.

"We moved the ball. We mixed it up pretty good," Samuel said of a second half that saw Southeast gain 212 yards to finish with 312 yards, 235 on the ground. "But we've got to get four-quarter execution."

The Gamecocks fended off Southeast in the fourth quarter as they coasted to victory, although not nearly as dominant a triumph as coach Jack Crowe was looking for.

"We definitely lost our focus," Crowe said. "This is really, second half anyway, the worst we've played when you put it all together. I saw a lot of guys do a lot of good things. But as a team, there's very little evidence we played very well."