Southeast football team routed by two-time defending OVC champion Eastern Illinois

About four minutes into the second half of his team's home game against two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz had a choice to make.

The Redhawks trailed by 11 points and had the ball on their own 23-yard line on fourth-and-5 when Matukewicz sent his punter Alex Knight onto the field.

Knight completed a screen pass to running back DeMichael Jackson, who got two yards before being taken down short of the first down.

The Panthers scored less than a minute later on a 1-yard run by Taylor Duncan and rolled to a 52-13 victory at Houck Stadium to drop Southeast to 4-4 on the season and 2-2 in the OVC.

"Just trying to get a spark, something to spark us," Matukewicz said. "I just felt like we were pretty dead right there. It was a bad call because it didn't work, and so that goes back to Coach Tuke got out-coached, and I'm going to try to be a better coach tomorrow than I was today."

"You just felt like the game was getting away," Matukewicz added. "Just like with Tennessee-Martin, I felt like that momentum had completely switched. I decided to try and execute a fake. It was fourth-and-5, and it was a manageable down. Those things were good. They did a good job and stopped us."

A few players said that stop took some air out of the sideline. The momentum swung in favor of the Panthers from then on as they outscored Southeast 28-0 the remainder of the game.

"That took a lot of energy out of everybody," Jackson said. "We were really counting on that play to work. We worked on it all week, and then it didn't work. But this is Division I football -- we've got to learn how to bounce back, which we will."

The teams traded punts on their next drives and then Southeast quarterback Kyle Snyder was intercepted at the Redhawks' 47 by Anthony Goodman, who returned it to the 13.

On fourth-and-7 an offsides penalty on the Redhawks put EIU at the 5. Panthers' quarterback Jalen Whitlow completed a 5-yard pass to Adam Drake to put EIU up 38-13 with 4:57 left in the quarter.

"On the outside it seems like it is [piling on for the defense], but as a defense, you love situations like that because that can change the momentum," senior cornerback Reggie Jennings said of field position. "We've just got to man up and get those stops. We did that a couple times, held them to some field goals. You've just got to be a man and strap your seatbelt in and just go to work."

Southeast Missouri State's Peter Lloyd is brought down by Eastern Illinois defense in the third quarter Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014 at Houck Stadium. (GLENN LANDBERG)

Southeast got it into EIU territory on its next drive, but kicker Ryan McCrum's 52-yard field goal attempt was wide left.

The Panthers moved the ball to the Redhawks' 23 before the end of the third quarter and Whitlow scored on a 2-yard run two minutes into the fourth to make it 45-13.

Snyder was hit hard and fumbled on the first play of Southeast's next drive, but Redhawks' lineman Garret Baker recovered. Snyder stayed on the ground for several seconds before jogging off the field on his own. He did not return to the game as a precaution and Alex Niznak replaced him. Niznak completed a pass on that drive before being intercepted at the 50.

It was returned to Southeast's 27, but the Panthers turned the ball over on downs.

The Redhawks next drive resulted in a 52-yard punt by Knight that was downed at the 4. EIU's Jimmy Lera escaped up the right sideline on the first play and took it 96 yards for the final score with 6:55 remaining.

It was one of two carries for Lera, who rushed for 96 yards. Shepard Little rushed for 103 yards on 22 carries while Whitlow finished finished with 75 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

"They just kept running hard and kept moving their feet," Jennings said. "We've got to wrap up and drive our feet as well. We can't just throw arms or throw a shoulder. I'm guilty of it throughout the game -- I missed a couple tackles."

EIU never trailed in the game after scoring on a 50-yard pass to Drake on a third-down play 4:23 into the game.

Southeast answered with a 51-yard field goal by McCrum a minute later. Receiver Peter Lloyd, who had a game-high eight catches for 97 yards, had a 22-yard reception on the drive before a 1-yard run and a couple of incompletions set up the field goal.

The Redhawks defense then came up with a couple of big stops. They held the Panthers short on fourth-and-9 and had to step back onto the field eight seconds later after Jackson lost a fumble at the SEMO 19. The defense then stopped EIU on fourth-and-2 at the 10 with a minute left in the first.

McCrum pulled the Redhawks within a point on a 39-yard field goal with 36 seconds left in the first quarter.

Southeast Missouri State quarterback Kyle Snyder scans for a receiver in the second quarter against Eastern Illinois on Saturday at Houck Stadium. Snyder went 19 of 32 (GLENN LANDBERG ~ glandberg@semissourian.com)

"The main thing we talked about was when we get inside the red zone we need to score," Snyder said of preparation for the game. "Obviously we had to kick some field goals, but any points are good. I just feel like we've really got to start getting into the end zone more, and I know we'll do better with that next week."

Whitlow extended EIU's lead to 14-6 with a 3-yard touchdown run with 10:21 left in the first half. The Redhawks answered with a 6-yard completion to Spencer Davis for their only touchdown of the day with 6:26 left in the half.

EIU (2-5, 2-1 OVC) scored on a 13-yard Whitlow run and a 45-yard field goal by Nick Bruno to close out the half, part of 38 unanswered points that sealed Southeast's first home loss this season.

It also marked the first time Southeast had allowed 50 or more points at home since a 58-23 loss to then-No. 5 Southern Illinois on Sept. 1, 2005.

"Today we obviously first and foremost got out-coached, got out-played and that's not the first time or probably the last time," Matukewicz said. "Our kids fought the whole game. Hats off to Eastern Illinois. They're a really talented football team and they took a lot of the things they needed to take off the film to be a good football team. They're going to win a lot more than just this game."