Southeast football season hits new low on senior day

The Southeast Missouri State football team has had some clunker games so far this year.

What took place Saturday afternoon at Houck Stadium -- on senior day no less -- might just top the list.

Tennessee Tech came to Cape Girardeau without an Ohio Valley Conference win this season, with the Eagles' closest margin of defeat in their six OVC losses being 11 points.

The Eagles had suffered seven consecutive OVC defeats dating back to last year and they had dropped 13 of their previous 14 conference games.

Tech took out its considerable frustrations on the Redhawks, romping 41-16 in front of an announced crowd of 2,206 for Southeast's final home game.

"I'm very surprised. We had great practices this week," Southeast sophomore tailback DeMichael Jackson said. "They came out real hungry. They did everything their coach wanted them to do."

Southeast fell to 2-8 overall and 1-5 in OVC play as the Redhawks missed out on a chance for their first two-game winning streak since 2010.

Tech improved to 4-7 and 1-6 in the conference as the Eagles snapped an overall five-game losing streak.

"It was definitely one of those days," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said.

The Eagles came to town averaging 23.8 points per game and they had not scored more than 24 points in any OVC contest. They had that beat by halftime when they led 28-3.

Tech, averaging only 295.6 yards per game, had 238 yards by halftime and finished with 392. The Eagles held Southeast to 281 yards -- and 81 of those came on a touchdown drive in the final minutes after the Redhawks trailed 41-10.

Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Paul McRoberts catches a Kyle Snyder pass against Tennessee Tech during the fourth quarter Saturday at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

"We played the four best teams in the league the last four weeks," Tech coach Watson Brown said. "It's been hard, but our kids are resilient."

Nine of the previous 10 meetings between Southeast and Tech had been decided by seven points or less.

Brown said he expected something similar Saturday, but it never came close to happening.

The Eagles led 21-0 less than two minutes into the second quarter and the closest Southeast got the rest of the way was 21-3. The Redhawks trailed by at least 25 points the entire second half.

"We've had great games with SEMO. It was just one of those days," Brown said. "We just had a good game. We didn't do much wrong. Our quarterback played well."

Did he ever.

Southeast had absolutely no answer for dual-threat junior Darian Stone, who shredded the Redhawks' defense for 162 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 29 carries. He also passed for 135 yards, completing 13 of 22 passes.

"We could have done better at tackling. We could have done better at our assignments individually," Southeast senior cornerback Cantrell Andrews said.

Tech needed to drive only 47 yards to take the lead for good on its second offensive possession set up by a 16-yard punt return. Stone's 2-yard run with 3 minutes, 15 seconds left in the first quarter made it 7-0.

Southeast answered with a solid drive resulting in a first-and-goal at the Tech 9-yard line. But the march stalled and freshman Alex Knight's 29-yard field-goal attempt was partially blocked. It was the Redhawks' seventh missed field goal of the year against just four successful attempts.

The Eagles drove 80 yards on the ensuing possession to make it 14-0.

"I felt our energy dropped as soon as they scored, especially the second one," Southeast sophomore wide receiver Paul McRoberts said.

If that was the case, then the Redhawks' energy must have really sagged two plays later when sophomore quarterback Scott Lathrop's pass was intercepted and returned 38 yards to the Southeast 2-yard line.

Tech scored on the next play for a 21-0 bulge just 1:43 into the second quarter.

"That's a hard thing," Samuel said of falling behind 21-0. "You'd like to be 14 [points behind] and keep working."

Tech remained in complete control the rest of the way.

Southeast made it 21-3 on Knight's 27-yard field goal early in the second period, but Tech responded with a 71-yard touchdown drive to lead 28-3 at the break.

The Eagles marched 65 yards for a touchdown on the opening possession of the second half to break things wide open at 35-3.

Southeast added two window-dressing touchdowns, a 15-yard run by junior wide receiver Spencer Davis late in the third period and a 17-yard pass from junior quarterback Kyle Snyder to McRoberts with 2:06 left in the game.

"It's a learning process. We have to learn from this," Jackson said.

Southeast will try to rebound Saturday at Austin Peay (0-10, 0-6), the only OVC team without any kind of victory this year.

"We always bounce back," McRoberts said.