Special teams propels Southeast Missouri State football team to win over Tennessee Tech

In a stretch of 5 minutes, 18 seconds during the third quarter of its game against Tennessee Tech, the Southeast Missouri State football team forced a turnover and scored 17 unanswered points on special teams.

The Redhawks returned a blocked punt for a touchdown, intercepted a pass that resulted in a field goal and capped their dominant third quarter at Houck Stadium with a punt return for a touchdown to propel them to a 38-17 victory Saturday over the Golden Eagles.

"I mean, I was fired up," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said with a smile. "I think all along, we talked about how we could make a lot of plays on punt block, and then turnovers was a big message all week long. We hadn't taken the ball away very much, so that was a great stretch there in the third quarter and really put the game out of reach. And then we actually finished it and didn't let them creep back in."

Southeast held a 14-10 lead at halftime. The teams exchanged punts on their first drives of the second half.

Southeast Missouri State's Paul McRoberts returns a Tennessee Tech punt 69 yards to score a touchdown during the third quarter Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

TTU was forced to punt on its second drive of the half after quarterback Brock McCoin was sacked by Terrance Hill for a loss of 10 yards on third down.

Receiver Darrius Darden-Box blocked the punt, scooped it up and ran it in for a 7-yard score with 7:48 left in the third to make it 21-10 Southeast.

"The energy picked up," safety Eriq Moore said. "That punt block, I mean, that was just phenomenal. I think that really triggered everything and got everything really going."

Darden-Box said sophomore linebacker Josh Kinzer pointed out that the kick was going to the left, so he "just went all out and tried to make a play for my team."

It was the first time Southeast has blocked a punt this season and the first time a Redhawk returned one for a touchdown since 2013.

"It was fun," Darden-Box said with a smile. "It was really fun just making plays with my guys and everyone doing their job -- that was the biggest part of that."

Moore intercepted a McCoin pass on the third play of the next drive and returned it 15 yards to the TTU 45.

It was the Redhawks' second pick of the game. Cornerback Mike Ford intercepted a pass at Southeast's 2-yard line in the closing seconds of the first half to maintain the lead at the break.

"My interception was really great coverage by Michael Ford," Moore said. "He had a great game also with an interception. He was in great coverage contesting a slant route. We had gone over it day after day in practice just, 'Oh, they're going to run a slant route. It's kind of their favorite route.' Slants and hitches. It was a man free, I was over top, the ball tipped up, I grabbed it and just got what I could."

Southeast moved to the TTU 33 before kicker Ryan McCrum, who missed a 47-yard field goal early in the second quarter, made a 50-yard field goal to push the lead to 24-10.

Southeast Missouri State's Tremane McCullough rushes 81 yards for a touchdown against Tennessee Tech during the first quarter Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

The Golden Eagles went three and out on the ensuing drive, and in only his second college game ever returning punts, Paul McRoberts eluded the defense and broke free up the right sideline and into the end zone for a 69-yard return.

"I feel great back there. I feel phenomenal," McRoberts said with a laugh. "As you can see, I never fair catch anything and [special teams] coach [Matt] Martin kind of gets mad at me because I don't. But it's just something with my vision. If I see the guy is far enough off, I feel comfortable catching it and getting some yards. I'm going for it, in other words."

The touchdown was the first punt return touchdown for Southeast since 2002, the third longest in school history and the longest in the Ohio Valley Conference this season. It gave the Redhawks a 31-10 advantage with 2:30 left in the third.

"It felt amazing because I just saw the gap, and I just hit it," McRoberts continued. "Then I saw Eriq Moore down there guiding me to the touchdown. I was just like, 'Man, slow up, really let him get in a position so he won't get a flag or something and just run it in when I can.'"

TTU scored on a 1-yard run by Dorian Carter 2:48 into the fourth quarter to cut it to 31-17.

Southeast Missouri State quarterback Dante Vandeven eludes Tennessee Tech's Bill Dillard on an 8-yard touchdown run during the fourth quarter Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

Quarterback Dante Vandeven capped a 5-play, 42-yard drive with an 8-yard TD run with 2:24 left for the final score.

Southeast Missouri State players salute the fans after their 38-17 victory over Tennessee Tech Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 at Houck Stadium. (Fred Lynch)

"It really does help when you have special teams step up and defense steps up because it really does take the weight off the offense's shoulder," Vandeven said. "I mean, we're not on the field almost the whole third quarter, and that really does help because it gets us time to gameplan a little bit."

The Golden Eagles led 3-0 after John Arnold made a 47-yard field goal attempt 3:25 into the game.

Running back Tremane McCullough broke through the middle of the defense and ran untouched into the end zone for an 81-yard score with 4:12 left in the first to put Southeast up 7-3.

Carter punched it in from the 1 to regain the lead for TTU at 10-7 with 2:47 left in the opening quarter.

Vandeven, who rushed for a career-high 91 yards on 12 carries, scored his first touchdown of the game with 3:46 left in the half from 1 yard out, putting the Redhawks ahead for good.

Southeast improved to 3-5 and 2-2 in the conference with the win while TTU remained winless in October with its fifth consecutive loss. The Golden Eagles dropped to 2-7 and 1-5 in the OVC.

The Redhawks travel Saturday to Clarksville, Tennessee, for a game against Austin Peay. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.

"Our main goal was to try to get back to even by the end of this year, and I think this win is really going to help us push to next week against Austin Peay," Vandeven said. "We're going to have another great week this upcoming week in practice, and we've just got to focus on gameplan again and come back and put together four quarters."