Gameday blog: Jacksonville State at Southeast Missouri State football

The streak is over. The Southeast Missouri State football team ended Jacksonville State's 36-game Ohio Valley Conference winning streak Saturday.

SEMO dominated from start to finish, scoring on the game's opening possession, and never trailed in the 37-14 win over No. 4 JSU at Houck Field. It was the Gamecocks' first conference loss since 2013, and coach John Grass' first OVC loss.

With the win, SEMO's first over JSU since 2007, the Redhawks ended the longest conference winning streak in Division I. It's also coach Tom Matukewicz's fourth win over a ranked opponent.

It was a complete team performance as all three phases, offense, defense and special teams, scored.

Quarterback Daniel Santacaterina was 13-of-21 passing for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Despite re-injuring his left ankle, Marquis Terry rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

Slow starts have been a problem for SEMO (5-2, 3-1 OVC) at points this season. Not Saturday, though. Zack Smith returned the opening kickoff to the Jacksonville State 49-yard line, receiving a lucky break when he fumbled the ball but it bounced right back into his hands.

Three plays later, Smith scored around the left side on a 14-yard shovel pass from Daniel Santacaterina. Less than two minutes in, SEMO led 7-0.

The Redhawks kept the momentum going with a DJ Freeman interception stopping JSU's first drive. The Gamecocks (5-2, 4-1) defense toughened up, and the visitors found success with their tight ends.

A 15-yard pass from Zerrick Cooper to tight end Landon Rice tied the game at 7-all with 13 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first half.

JSU forced a three-and-out on the next possession and took over at its 4 and drove all the way to the SEMO 8. But the Redhawks made a third-down stop and then blocked the 25-yard field goal, which Bydarrius Knighten returned it for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead.

SEMO extended that advantage to nine late in the half, thanks to punter Jake Reynolds pinning JSU at its 1. On second-and-9, Zach Hall brought down Leander Burrowes for a 2-yard loss and a safety.

The halftime break didn't slow down SEMO. On the first offensive play of the second half, Justin Swift sacked JSU QB Zerrick Cooper, forcing a fumble that Omardrick Douglas recovered.

Two plays later, SEMO cashed in on a 13-yard TD pass from Santacaterina to Kristian Wilkerson to take a 23-7 lead of the Gamecocks just over a minute into the second half.

Early in the fourth quarter, Mark Robinson scored on a 10-yard run to extend the lead to 30-7. It was the first rushing touchdown JSU had given up all season.

A 4-yard TD pass from Cooper to Josh Pearson got JSU within two scores, but that was as close as the Gamecocks got.

A late 39-yard TD run from Terry put an exclamation point on the historic win.

Check semoball.com later tonight for an updated story with quotes.

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Jacksonville State's 36-game Ohio Valley Conference winning streak is in jeopardy as the Southeast Missouri State football team leads 16-7 at halftime.

All three units — offense, defense and special teams — have scored for the Redhawks.

Slow starts have been a problem for SEMO at points this season. Not Saturday, though. Zack Smith returned the opening kickoff to the Jacksonville State 49-yard line, receiving a lucky break when he fumbled the ball but it bounced right back into his hands.

Three plays later, Smith scored around the left side on a 14-yard shovel pass from Daniel Santacaterina. Less than two minutes in, SEMO led 7-0.

The Redhawks kept the momentum going with a DJ Freeman interception stopping JSU's first drive. The Gamecocks defense toughened up, and the visitors found success with their tight ends.

A 15-yard pass from Zerrick Cooper to tight end Landon Rice tied the game at 7-all with 13 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first half.

JSU forced a three-and-out on the next possession and took over at its 4, driving all the way to the SEMO 8. But the Redhawks made a third-down stop and then blocked the 25-yard field goal, which Bydarrius Knighten returned it for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead.

SEMO extended that advantage to nine late in the half, thanks to punter Jake Reynolds pinning JSU at its 1. On second-and-9, Zach Hall brought down Leander Burrowes for a 2-yard loss and a safety.

SEMO couldn't score on the following possession, taking a 16-7 lead into halftime as it looks to end JSU's conference winning streak.

Quarterback Daniel Santacaterina is 9-of-15 for 70 yards, and Marquis Terry has 56 yards on nine carries.

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The Southeast Missouri State football team hosts No. 4 Jacksonville State on Saturday in a battle of two of the top teams in the Ohio Valley Conference.

SEMO (4-2, 2-1 OVC) is tied for third in the conference while JSU (5-1, 4-0) leads the conference and has won 36 consecutive OVC games. The Gamecocks are three games away from tying the FCS record for conference winning streak.

Southeast is coming off a dramatic 31-27 homecoming win over Austin Peay last week while Jacksonville State beat Eastern Illinois 49-22.

JSU is the only FCS team ranked in the top 10 nationally on total offense and total defense.

You can read more about the game here.

Check back for updates throughout the day. You can follow along on Twitter@semoballPhillip, and you don't have to have a Twitter account to see the updates.