Southeast Missouri State football team tumbles at Eastern Kentucky

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State's hopes of repeating as Ohio Valley Conference champion was on life support entering Saturday's game.

Eastern Kentucky pulled the plug on the visiting Redhawks with a 41-17 victory that turned amid a flurry of Southeast mistakes.

Southeast fell to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in OVC play. The champion has finished with as many as two losses only twice since the OVC began playing football in 1948.

Southeast Missouri State running back Renard Celestin gets tripped up by Eastern Kentucky defender Brooklyn Fox (5) during Saturday's game in Richmond, Ky. (Nathan Hutchinson)

The Redhawks pretty much only have themselves to blame for Saturday's defeat. They committed six turnovers after having only four in their first five games.

"It's hard to win with six turnovers," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said.

EKU (3-3, 2-1) scored 24 points off the miscues. Another of the turnovers came inside the Colonels' 15-yard line when Southeast was driving for a possible third-quarter touchdown that would have cut the deficit to three points.

"I blame myself," said senior quarterback Matt Scheible, who threw three interceptions after having just one in the first five contests. "It's hard to run offense when you turn the ball over."

Southeast lost despite holding a 387 to 343 edge in yards gained. But the Colonels, who gained just 135 yards in the second half, did not commit a turnover.

"In a way, we took a step forward on defense," junior linebacker Blake Peiffer said.

The Redhawks, who were crushed from beginning to end during a 55-3 loss at Tennessee State last week, came out strong.

"We made mistakes, but we fought as a team," redshirt freshman receiver/return man Spencer Davis said. "We fought hard."

But a series of mistakes helped the Colonels break up a scoreless battle when they put up 20 points in just less than 10 minutes beginning late in the first quarter.

Southeast had a chance to grab the early lead by marching inside the EKU 20-yard line on its second possession. But junior Drew Geldbach's 36-yard field-goal attempt was knocked down by a stiff wind and fell short.

It wasn't long before Southeast began to implode.

A 10-yard punt into that rugged wind by sophomore Joe Vucic set up EKU at the Southeast 43-yard line. The Colonels capitalized on a 40-yard field goal with 1 minute, 18 seconds left in the opening period.

EKU drove to the Redhawks' 4-yard line on its next possession. A third-and-goal pass was way off the mark, but Southeast was called for holding in the end zone, an automatic first down that placed the ball on the 2-yard line.

EKU scored on the next play to lead 10-0 just 49 second into the second quarter.

Sophomore Josh Nicks could not handle the ensuing pooched kickoff, and EKU recovered at the Redhawks' 33. The Colonels drove for a touchdown to make it 17-0 with 10:51 left in the quarter.

The Redhawks again fumbled the kickoff, this time on a return by Davis, and EKU recovered at the Southeast 40. The Colonels settled for a 24-yard field goal and a 20-0 bulge with 7:42 remaining before halftime.

"I was just trying to find a seam," Davis said. "I never like to go down easy."

Southeast did not fold. The Redhawks drove 97 yards for a touchdown. The key play was an 82-yard catch-and-run by Davis on Scheible's pass over the middle.

Scheible scored on a 3-yard keeper with 1:35 left in the half to make it 20-7.

"It was a real good throw," Davis said. "We've been working on that in practice."

After the Redhawks' defense forced a three-and-out, Southeast got in position for Geldbach's 44-yard field goal on the final play of the half. The Redhawks carried momentum into the break trailing just 20-10.

"They played hard through that tough situation, being down 20-0," Samuel said.

After EKU punted on the opening possession of the second half, Southeast marched to the Colonels' 13 where it faced third-and-5. But Scheible's second interception of the day killed the drive.

"You can't have turnovers in the red zone," Scheible said.

Southeast's fifth turnover came when Davis muffed a punt on a fair catch late in the third quarter. EKU recovered on the 8-yard line and scored three plays later to go up 27-10.

The Redhawks again pulled to within 10 points at 27-17 on Scheible's 1-yard keeper with 13:13 left in the game.

EKU came right back with its best drive of the day, a 76-yard march that chewed up 7:09 and ended on a touchdown with 6:04 left to make it 34-17.

"That last drive got us," Samuel said.

The Colonels iced the victory 12 seconds later when Scheible's third interception was returned 39 yards for a touchdown by Kevin Hamlin.