THE LATEST LINE: AMAZING INDIANS DO IT AGAIN

Last week, after the stunning 34-33 comeback win over Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tim Billings jokingly said that people were calling him a miracle worker.

Today, they're probably calling him a lot more. That's what a win over one of the nation's top NCAA Division I-AA teams will do for a first-year head coach.

"I just hope they don't call me the Messiah," said Billings with a laugh following SEMO's stirring 28-25 triumph over nationally-ranked Illinois State Saturday night.

Well, maybe Billings and his virtually brand-new coaching staff aren't exactly miracle workers. But there's something extremely mystical going on with a football program that had been struggling big-time over the past several years.

All of a sudden, SEMO is 2-1 after going just 3-8 last year. And you really can't even count the loss, because the Indians were expected to be drilled by I-A power Marshall, which is exactly what happened in the season opener.

And that 2-1 record is made even more impressive by the fact these last two opponents looked like two of the better I-AA teams on SEMO's schedule.

Billings, ever the calm one, was quick to point out in the giddy aftermath of Saturday's win that the season has barely started. There are still eight games left to play.

But if a SEMO sports fan can't get excited about what has taken place so far, then they better check their pulse.

A very nice crowd of 8,125 showed up for Saturday's game. Billings was elated with that, but there's no doubt he's shooting for even bigger turnouts in the future.

SEMO opens Ohio Valley Conference play next Saturday night at home against Western Kentucky. Who knows if that game will turn out to be as thrilling as the past two?

But my advice is you better be there to find out.

* Jackson, Scott City, St. Vincent and New Madrid County Central are the only undefeated local squads after three weeks of the high school football season.

New Madrid was particularly impressive Friday night, drilling Farmington 34-0. As many people had believed, the Knights' No. 2 state ranking in Class 4A was much too high. I don't know how they got rated so strongly to begin with after losing so many starters from last year.

Cape Central also had one of the more impressive performances Friday, destroying what was considered to be a solid Blytheville, Ark., squad 30-6. I think the Tigers opened plenty of eyes with that one and showed they're going to be an area force this year.

* Times sure have changed for the Rams, who until last year were perennially among the NFL's worst teams. Fans lusted for victories -- any kind of victories.

Now, the Rams reign as the NFL's best team after winning the Super Bowl in January. And they're off to a 2-0 start -- yet fans are wondering why those first two games were so precariously close.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian