Gameday blog: Eastern Kentucky at Southeast

Posted Saturday, September 30, 2017, at 5:48 PM

Our view from the press box at Houck Field, as Southeast Missouri State takes on Eastern Kentucky. (Josh Mlot)

At halftime, Southeast Missouri State leads Eastern Kentucky 20-3.

In what was the best half of football this season for the Redhawks, the home side was able to limit the Colonels' offense, holding it to 220 yards on 37 plays. The Southeast defense was especially stiff on the ground, holding EKU to less than 20 yards of rushing.

The visitors were 1 of 7 on third down and 0 of 2 on fourth down.

Offensively, SEMO was opportunistic. The Redhawks scored their first touchdown of the game at the 9:38 mark of the second quarter on a 4-yard Marquis Terry run. That play was set up after Eastern Kentucky fumbled the ball away at its own 13-yard line and former Cape Girardeau Central standout Al Young recovered the loose ball.

The 10-0 lead was, at the time, the largest advantage of the season for SEMO.

Southeast found the end zone on its next possession thanks to a big play — a 77-yard TD run by Cameron Sanders.

However, the Redhawks also twice settled for field goals, first after a 15-play, 69-yard drive fizzled out on Southeast's first series of the game, and then again with 3:41 left in the second quarter to give the hosts a 20-0 lead. Nick Litang hit field goals from 38 and 36 yards. His first, at 11:57 of the second quarter, gave the Redhawks just their third lead of the season.

The Colonels didn't get on the scoreboard until converting a 41-yard field goal with 53 seconds remaining in the half.

Southeast has 214 yards of offense on 33 plays, led by 22 carries for 169 yards on the ground. It managed just 45 yards through the air.

Sanders has 81 yards and a TD on two carries, while Terry has 15 rushes for 68 yards and a score.

EKU is led by Ryan Markush's three catches for 81 yards. Quarterback Tim Boyle is 9-for-20 for 161 yards.

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The Southeast Missouri State football team will look to snap its losing skid to open the 2017 season when the Redhawks take on Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Kentucky at 6 p.m. Saturday at Houck Field.

Southeast Missourian sports reporter Trent Singer and sports editor Josh Mlot will provide live updates from the game.

You can follow on Twitter @semoballTrent and @semoballJosh, and you don't need to have a Twitter account to see the tweets.

Southeast (0-4, 0-1 OVC) and EKU (1-2, 1-0) will meet for the 28th time on Saturday. The Colonels are coming off a 24-21 win over visiting Tennessee Tech in last week's OVC opener. EKU forced five turnovers in that contest and held on to open conference play on a positive note. Click here for a full preview of the game.

Meanwhile, the Redhawks dropped a 19-16 defeat at Eastern Illinois, a game that ended on an interception in the red zone. Click here for a recap from last week's game.