Southeast Missouri State football team suffers heartbreaker in finale

The Southeast Missouri State football team suffered some tough losses this season.

What happened Saturday in the Redhawks' final game has to top the list.

Southeast had an extra point that would have tied the contest blocked with just more than a minute left yet still got back the ball with a chance to pull out a win.

Southeast Missouri State quarterback Matt Scheible recovers the ball after Murray State blocked the extra point in the closing moments of the second half Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011 at Houck Stadium. Murray State's Darrell Davis covered on the play. (Fred Lynch)

But there would be no happy exit for 14 Southeast seniors.

Murray State escaped with a wild 35-34 victory in front of an announced crowd of 2,138 at Houck Stadium.

"You're mad about it, but we gave everything we had out on the field. We're exhausted," said Southeast senior quarterback Matt Scheible, who ended his record-setting career by accounting for all five touchdowns. "Unfortunately it happened to be the last game for the seniors."

Southeast finished 3-8 overall and 2-6 in OVC play a year after winning its first Ohio Valley Conference championship.

The Redhawks, who tied for seventh in the nine-team league, ended the season with consecutive one-point losses. Two other OVC defeats were by eight and seven points.

"People might think I'm crazy, but we weren't too far from being in the [title] hunt. That's about all you can ask for a young team," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said. "We lost those kind of games two years ago. Last year we won them. It's all about experience."

MSU (7-4, fourth-place 5-3) appeared to nail down the victory when Tyler Evans blocked junior Drew Geldbach's PAT with 1 minute, 3 seconds left.

That followed Scheible's third touchdown run of the day, a 2-yarder that capped a 60-yard drive to make it 35-34.

Southeast failed to recover the onside kick but had all three timeouts remaining, meaning the Racers couldn't run out the clock by taking a knee.

On second down, Southeast senior end Johnnie Morgan jarred loose the ball from tailback Mike Harris and fell on it at his own 44-yard line.

"Johnnie Morgan yanked on that ball so hard. It was a great play," said Scheible, who rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns while passing for 143 yards and two scores.

Scheible gained 16 yards and a first down then picked up 2 yards to make it second-and-8 at the MSU 38 with 30 seconds left.

Scheible lofted an on-target pass to senior wide receiver Chantae Ahamefule inside the 10-yard line.

Ahamefule appeared for an instant to catch the ball, but the ball popped out as he tumbled to the turf for an incompletion.

The Redhawks faced third-and-8 from the 38 instead of being within a short field goal of victory.

"It looked like they both went up for the ball. When he [Ahamefule] landed, it came out," Samuel said. "He was pretty shook up, but one play doesn't make the game. That's what I told him. He's had a great career. He's going to graduate."

Scheible rushed for a yard on third down then threw an incompletion while being pressured. The Racers took one knee and the game was over.

"We're always in there fighting, but it didn't turn out our way," Southeast senior linebacker Philip Klaproth said.

Southeast led just once, 14-7 early in the second quarter. The Redhawks trailed 21-14 at halftime and fell behind 28-14 midway through the third quarter.

Scheible's 1-yard run on the first play of the final period capped a 71-yard drive that made it 28-21.

After Southeast's defense forced a punt, the Redhawks quickly drove 72 yards. The key play was a 66-yard option run by redshirt freshman wide receiver Spencer Davis.

Davis also added a 53-yard run to set up Southeast's final score.

Scheible hit junior tight end Marq Goodlit from 1 yard out on fourth-and-goal to forge a 28-28 tie with 9:53 left.

The squads exchanged punts before the Racers drove 70 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:10 remaining.

That led to the wild final moments later.

"A tough way to end the season," Samuel said. "But the thing I liked about it, those kids never gave up. Neither did the coaches."

The one-point difference exemplified how close the contest was.

MSU, which leads the OVC in scoring offense and total offense, outgained Southeast by just 6 yards, 477 to 471.

Southeast's first-half scores were a 1-yard Scheible run and Scheible's 7-yard pass to junior tight end Tyler French, who recorded his first touchdown for the Redhawks.