Editorial: Redhawks football — plenty to be excited about in 2022

If there's one thing college football brings to the fan table, it's excitement, and the 2022 Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks have provided an early season dose -- with more certainly to come.

Coach Tom Matukewicz's team (1-1) will host Nicholls State University at 2 p.m. Saturday for the home opener.

This game will be a first and a last of sorts. First home game of the season and last home opener before a new multipurpose stadium construction project begins its rebuild in earnest.

Deterioration at the stadium required a piecemeal approach to last year's football season, and this season will require similar accommodation, but university officials planned for the eventuality and have handled the challenge about as well as anyone could expect. They are moving ahead with reconstructing the stadium, and we look forward to getting back to a sense of normalcy at the iconic facility, an anchor of downtown Cape Girardeau.

What has been normal, though, is the on-field product.

Coach "Tuke" has retooled, and the Redhawks are clicking early in the 2022 campaign.

After acquitting themselves well at powerhouse Iowa State University to begin the season, the Redhawks traveled to Carbondale, Illinois, on Saturday to face familiar foe and rival Southern Illinois University.

The game featured nine lead changes and came down to the last full possession of the game.

In the fourth quarter, the Redhawks took a 20-17 lead on the strength of a 45-yard field goal by DC Pippin five seconds into the frame. SIU stormed back to take a 24-20 lead seven minutes later, but SEMO quarterback Paxton DeLaurent put the Redhawks ahead again, 27-24, with a touchdown pass with a bit more than six minutes remaining. Another SIU touchdown put SEMO down 31-27 with less than three minutes left. Another DeLaurent touchdown pass with 11 seconds left secured the 34-31 win.

For the game, DeLaurent, a sophomore from Camdenton, Missouri, was 33-44 passing, totaling 332 yards and four touchdowns through the air. At one point, he completed 16 passes in a row, and he didn't throw an interception. His performance earned him Ohio Valley Conference offensive player of the week, as well as the conference's newcomer of the week award.

Pippin's day was similarly impressive. In addition to his 45-yarder, the Springfield, Illinois, junior split the uprights on a 50-yard field goal and made all four extra point attempts, earning him the OVC's co-specialist of the week honor.

College football is a spectacle. As the leaves begin to fall, and the evenings begin to have a little chill in the air, there is little more enjoyable than singing along with a marching band and tailgating with friends and family.

Add to that an exciting team to root for, and all is well.

Good luck Redhawks! We'll see you at the stadium.