SOUTHEAST FOOTBALL GETS ITS FIRST LOOK AT... FRESH BLOOD

Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings smiled as he surveyed his freshmen on the practice field for the first time Tuesday.

"They can all play," he said. "It's just a matter of when."

Billings knows that it's tough for freshmen to make in impact in the hard-hitting, fast-paced world of college football. But he expects at least a few of the Indians' rookies to do just that. The question is who will they be?

"They'll all have an opportunity to play," said Billings. "I've told them I'm not worried about experience. We'll play the best players."

Southeast's incoming freshmen -- and a few other assorted first-year players who have not yet been in the program -- officially reported Monday and had their first two practices Tuesday. There will be two more workouts among the newcomers today before full-squad practices begin Thursday.

"These couple of days when the new guys practice among themselves is a good chance for them to get acclimated to what we do, our system, and to get used to the coaches because when the varsity comes in the pace picks up quick," Billings said.

Billings, entering his second season as the Indians' coach, thought his first recruiting class last year was solid. But he said this year's freshmen crop -- which numbers more than 20 -- is several steps ahead.

"This is by far the best recruiting class to come through the doors at Southeast," he said. "I thought last year we had a really good recruiting class and a lot of those guys really helped us. But this year is even better."

Partly because of the talent of the freshmen -- and partly because the Indians are thin at a few positions -- Billings will be counting on several of the youngsters to play key roles.

The offensive line, which is short of bodies, will definitely include several freshmen on its two-deep chart.

"We have no choice there," said Billings.

Ditto for the kicking department, where local products Bryan Emmendorfer of Cape Girardeau Central and Derek Kutz of St. Vincent in Perryville will apparently wage a two-man battle for the place-kicking and punting jobs.

"They're the only two we have on campus, but they're two really good ones," said Billings.

While Emmendorfer and Kutz were expected to battle for the place-kicking job all along, punter was supposed to be manned by fellow freshman Tyson Beattie from Australia. But Beattie has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA and is not in Cape Girardeau.

"We just found out last week," said Billings. "We thought he was fine. He has a really good SAT score, but the NCAA will only accept two of his high school years.

"He's still going to try and get eligible and maybe come at the semester, but either Kutz of Emmendorfer will be our punter. One of the two was already going to be our kicker."

They certainly have the credentials as they finished up their high school careers last year as two of the best in Missouri prep history.

Emmendorfer made field goals of 57 and 58 yards as a senior, the latter the second-longest in state history.

Kutz, while maybe not quite as strong-legged as Emmendorfer, is arguably the most accurate prep kicker ever in Missouri as he holds state records by making 98 of 99 career extra points, 52 of 52 last year and 93 straight. He also holds the state career field-goal record of 28.

"We feel like we were very fortunate to sign those two," Billings said.

Billings feels the same way about three other local products who were on the field Tuesday: Cape Central linebacker O.J. Turner, Jackson tight end/wide receiver Ray Goodson and Jackson defensive lineman Caleb Daniel.

"They've all got a chance to be really good players, as all our freshmen do," said Billings.

Now it's just a matter of finding out which ones are ready the soonest.