Southeast suffers heartbreak in homecoming loss to EKU

~ The Colonels scored all of their points in the third period to beat the Redhawks 27-21.

Throw out Saturday's third quarter, and Southeast Missouri State has a big homecoming victory over a team the Redhawks had never beaten at Houck Stadium.

Unfortunately for Southeast, there are no mulligans in football.

So all the Redhawks had to show for their spirited late comeback is a 27-21 loss -- thanks primarily to 27 consecutive third-period points by Eastern Kentucky, which was shut out in the other three periods.

"That was of nightmarish proportions, that third quarter," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said.

And it basically sent the Redhawks to their third consecutive defeat, as Southeast fell to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

"That third quarter just killed us," Redhawks quarterback Kevin Ballatore said.

EKU, meanwhile, improved to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the league. The Colonels continued their domination of Southeast, particularly in Cape Girardeau. EKU leads the all-time series 15-2, and is 8-0 at Houck.

"This is a big win for us," said EKU coach Danny Hope, whose squad has not lived up to expectations after being voted the OVC's preseason favorite.

Southeast dominated the first half -- holding EKU to 49 yards of offense -- but several squandered opportunities left the Redhawks leading just 7-0 at the intermission.

"We could have scored more," Ballatore said. "That hurt us."

Then EKU came out and took total control in the third quarter, gaining 217 yards to minus-6 for Southeast.

The Colonels scored on two long touchdowns drives, added an interception return for a TD and kicked two short field goals, one after taking over on the Southeast 5-yard line following a punt snap that went over David Simonhoff's head.

"We just came out flat in the third quarter," said cornerback Romae Rucker, who intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble.

Several other Redhawks concurred with that assessment, as did Samuel -- and he doesn't believe it's the first time that has happened.

Samuel pointed to Southeast's most recent win -- 19-14 over Samford on Sept. 30 -- in which the Redhawks led 19-0 at halftime, then saw Samford dominate the third quarter and nearly pull off the comeback.

"It's been a problem for us lately," Redhawks linebacker Adam Casper said. "It seems like we come out flatter than we need to. We have to work on that."

Said Samuel: "That's the second time it's happened. We have to find some things to do as a coaching staff ... we have to address that."

The Redhawks were able to turn things around in the fourth quarter as Ballatore shook off his interception return for a touchdown that gave EKU a 24-7 lead. Justin Curry raced 60 yards with the pick of a short pass that Ballatore threw under pressure.

"I can't throw that stupid pick," Ballatore said. "I should have just eaten the ball and taken the sack."

"I thought that really changed the game," Samuel said. "That was the turning point."

Ballatore -- who completed 12 of 21 passes for 120 yards in the final period and was 17 of 32 for 155 yards overall -- threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Samora Goodson with 12:57 left to make it 27-14.

Redshirt freshman tailback Tony Anderson's second 1-yard touchdown plunge of the game, with 8:14 remaining, cut EKU's lead to 27-21 and appeared to give Southeast plenty of time for a comeback.

But EKU used up more than 7 minutes with a drive that started at its own 15-yard line and ended at the Southeast 10.

The Colonels picked up five key first downs, once converting on third-and-6 and another time on third-and-7.

"We had them in some third-and-medium situations and we just couldn't hold them. We just weren't doing our job," Casper said. "We just couldn't get the offense the ball back quick enough."

One of the Colonels' third-down conversions came on a 14-yard pass completion that reached the Southeast 27. Quinton Williams fumbled after the catch, with the Redhawks recovering, but the officials ruled the ball down.

Had the Redhawks been given possession, they would have at least had a few minutes left to try for the go-ahead touchdown.

As is turned out, Southeast did get the ball back one final time when tailback Mark Dunn fumbled at the 10 and Rucker recovered.

But just 1:04 remained, and the Redhawks needed to drive 90 yards. They didn't even come close, as they gained nine yards before a fourth-down pass fell incomplete. EKU then took one knee and ran out the clock.

Despite the disappointing loss, Samuel said, "I'm actually pretty proud. We faced a lot of adversity, but nobody gave up and we had a lot of energy down the stretch. They hung in there and fought through it."

Southeast took a 7-0 lead on Anderson's first 1-yard touchdown run, with 13:45 left in the second quarter. The Redhawks only needed to go 26 yards after Rucker's interception and 12-yard return.

But, with Southeast's defense dominating, the Redhawks' offense failed to capitalize further.

Once, Southeast was stopped on fourth-and-one from the EKU 25.

In the closing seconds of the half, freshman Doug Spada's 45-yard field-goal attempt -- the first of his Southeast career, as he replaced Colin Schermann because of a stronger leg -- was blocked.