Southeast Missouri State football team's offense gets positive review from Samuel

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tony Samuel said Monday the Redhawks' offensive performance Saturday against undefeated Tennessee State ranks as their best so far this year.

Southeast hung in until the end but never led as TSU finally pulled away for a 40-28 win at Houck Stadium. The Tigers (7-0, 3-0 Ohio Valley Conference) are ranked 17th and 18th in the two major Football Championship Subdivision polls.

"We were able to run the ball, score a lot of points. We did a good job with the long drives," Samuel said. "We could have. and probably should have. won the game. I thought we were going to win."

Southeast (2-4, 1-2) piled up a season-high 510 yards against the OVC's top-ranked defense that had been allowing averages of just 323.5 yards and 14.5 points per game.

The Redhawks scored the most points that TSU has allowed this season. The Tigers had been one of just two FCS squads to not give up more than 20 points in any game.

"We wore their defense down," said Samuel, whose team's previous season-high total yardage output was 402 against Division II Mars Hill College. "But our defense wore down."

Southeast got a huge game from redshirt freshman quarterback Scott Lathrop, who rushed for 145 yards on 21 carries and scored on a 13-yard run. He also completed 17 of 26 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown.

Lathrop's previous high-water marks during his first collegiate season were 62 yards rushing and 120 yards passing. His 145 yards on the ground are third-most in a game by a Southeast quarterback.

"Scotty had his best game. He showed a lot of poise," Samuel said.

Senior tailback Levi Terrell had his third consecutive 100-yard rushing performance and fourth of the season with 110 yards on 18 carries.

Terrell scored his first two touchdowns of the season, including on a career-long 52-yard run. His other TD was from 7 yards out. He is the OVC's third-leading rusher with 700 yards.

"Levi is solid. He just keeps coming and coming," Samuel said.

While the Redhawks' offense thrived Saturday against one of the nation's top defenses, Southeast's ‘D' had trouble slowing down TSU's offense that got a career performance from junior tailback Trabis Ward.

Ward rushed for 267 yards on 43 carries, giving him an OVC-leading 908 yards on the season. The Tigers gained 460 yards rushing overall.

"We weren't able to take away the run," Samuel said. "We need to stop the run. That's the thing we're not doing a good job of."

Ward scored four touchdowns, his 30-yarder with 1 minute, 26 seconds left accounting for the game's final TD. He leads the OVC with 13 touchdowns.

"We played tough as a team, but we didn't get the stops on defense when we needed them," Southeast All-American senior linebacker Blake Peiffer said following the game.

Peiffer, the OVC's top tackler last season, is currently second with 70. His average of 11.7 per game ranks seventh nationally. The Jackson High School graduate has 312 career tackles, sixth all-time at Southeast.

Southeast's defense, after struggling against TSU's rushing attack, likely will have to shift gears Saturday when Tennessee-Martin visits for the Redhawks' 1 p.m. homecoming game.

The Skyhawks (5-2, 3-1) are coming off a 66-59 road win over Murray State in the highest-scoring game, based on combined points, in OVC history.

UTM senior quarterback Derek Carr, a three-year starter, set school records of 560 yards passing and seven touchdowns. He completed 42 of 46 passes without an interception. The Skyhawks piled up 693 total yards, while the Racers had 747 yards of offense.

Carr, who boasts a school-record 54 career touchdown passes, ranks sixth nationally in passing yards with 2,020.