Winning turnover battle was critical in Southeast Missouri State's football victory

Southeast Missouri State junior safety Eriq Moore spoke excitedly about the Redhawks' defensive performance against SIU three days earlier following Tuesday's closed practice at Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

Southeast forced seven Saluki turnovers without committing one in the back-and-forth game that was won by the Redhawks 27-24 over their regional rival with a last-second field goal Saturday.

Moore was thrilled by his team's domination in the turnover battle, but he tried not to get carried away while the Redhawks prepare for their road game against the nationally-ranked Indiana State Sycamores.

"There's kind of two approaches you can take," Moore said. "You can take, 'Oh, we just beat SIU. We're the king of the world. We don't have to do anything. We just beat them.' Or you can take it as, 'Alright, let's get it going. How about we take that and start something new? Let's use that as a seed. You just planted something, let's get it growing and let's string some wins together and beat Indiana State.'"

Moore had one of four fumble recoveries for the Redhawks. He forced and recovered the fumble, returning it 42 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.

It was the second defensive touchdown of the night for Southeast. Sophomore receiver-turned-cornerback Mike Ford intercepted the first pass of SIU's second drive of the game and returned it 21 yards for the score. Ford, who had two interceptions in the game, was named the Ohio Valley Conference's co-defensive player of the week for his performance.

Moore and Ford's two defensive touchdowns came before the Redhawks' offense had scored a touchdown this season. The offense has scored one touchdown in two games.

"It was really an all-around team effort," Moore said. "DBs were going to get the ball, front seven getting pressure on them and allowing us to do that. You look at a couple of those passes we picked off, and he wasn't back there just sitting down, taking his time. He had to get it out quick because the front seven was putting a lot of pressure on him. When the ball was in the air, DBs were being ball hawks and going to get it.

"That running and stripping [the ball] just comes from practice. I mean, I don't think anyone in the country did as many strips or scoop and scores or caught as many passes as we did [in practice]."

While the defense intercepted three passes from SIU quarterback Mark Iannotti, it also gave up some big plays like a 37-yard completion in the fourth quarter that brought the ball to the Redhawks 8-yard line with the game tied. Southeast forced and recovered its third fumble on third-and-goal play to end the drive.

Targeting ejection

For the second consecutive game a Southeast player was ejected for targeting. Sophomore linebacker Chad Meredith was thrown out of the game in the first quarter.

Mike Reis, the SIU play-by-play announcer for radio, commented on the Southeast defense during his weekly radio show "Lennon Live" with SIU coach Dale Lennon, saying, "Dale, I remarked during the game on Saturday, especially soon after Meredith was thrown out for them for targeting, I thought Southeast was playing at least borderline dirty football."

The public comment did not sit well with Southeast coach and former SIU assistant Tom Matukewicz, who voiced his feelings on his own radio show and following practice.

"You can say whatever you want about me, except I'm not lucky, and don't tell me I coach a dirty football team," Matukewicz said. "And certainly, don't call my team dirty."

Offense struggles

Southeast's offensive production is lackluster through the first two games.

The offense has just the one touchdown and three field goals by kicker Ryan McCrum.

The Redhawks' lone touchdown of the season was a 13-yard pass from quarterback Tay Bender to star receiver Paul McRoberts that tied Saturday's game in the third quarter.

"We're not playing well enough. We're not producing well enough," Matukewicz said. "We have really good players at receiver, our O-line is good, our running backs are good, and we're not scoring any points. So you can do that math. We need to find out if we've got a championship quarterback this weekend."

Bender, who transferred from Iowa Western Community College, has rushed for 96 yards and completed 28 of 51 passes for 215 yards in his first two games.

His longest pass of the season is 22 yards, and that was a short pass to running back Tremane McCullough where he gained several yards after the catch.

When asked what he needs to see from Bender against the Sycamores, Matukewicz replied: "I think we'll all know it. When you watch that game, you'll know."

Junior offensive lineman Garret Baker was optimistic after the team's practice.

"We're just that close to breaking everything," Baker said, pinching his thumb and a finger to indicate how close the offense is to being successful. "Everybody needs to get their blocks. We need to touch up on things. We're just that close to breaking it. We just need a little more time to smooth everything over."

The Redhawks had 385 yards of total offense Saturday, including a career-high 186 yards rushing by senior running back DeMichael Jackson. They also had 309 yards punting, which they had to do seven times.

"We were moving the ball," Baker said. "We could move the ball on them, we just kind of stalled out there at the end. *... We kind of made some bad decisions up front a couple times and just kind of stalled out."

Sanders injured

Southeast senior defensive end Travis Sanders is out for the remainder of the season after tearing his ACL on Saturday.

The injury occurred during the fourth quarter. Matukewicz said an offensive lineman was blocking him and came in low. The Salukis were penalized for the chop block.

"It was horrible," Matukewicz said. "I feel really bad for him."

Sanders recorded six tackles and a sack in two games.

The defensive line already shares playing time, but junior Selwyn Carrol, who has four tackles in two games, will start in place of Sanders.

Take a kid to the game

Southeast's next home game will be "Take A Kid to the Game Day" on Sept. 26.

Admission for children 14 and under is free and adult tickets start at $10 for the Redhawks game against Shorter University, which is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Houck Stadium.