Southeast Football

Jim Lohr, who coached football at his alma maters Poplar Bluff High School and Southeast Missouri State University, died Saturday. A member of the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame, Lohr was an all-state tackle for the Mules in 1951 before helping Southeast to an undefeated season four years later as a player. He went on to coach at both schools...

Former Southeast Missouri State punter Alex Knight will take part in a tryiout at rookie minicamp with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Knight, a left-footed punter, was a first team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection as a senior in 2016, leading the league and ranking sixth in the nation with 43.8 yards per punt...

Two Southeast Missouri State football players received some exciting news on Sunday, as inside linebacker Rider Garrett and defensive tackle Ryan Ochoa were awarded scholarships. Formerly walk-ons, Garrett and Ochoa were caught off guard during a team dinner at Houck Field House...

Neither offense during the Southeast Missouri State Football Spring Game appeared to be in sync on Thursday, but with one final shot, the White team executed a two-minute drill to near perfection. Starting quarterback Jesse Hosket completed 4 of 5 passes for 72 yards on the final drive, as tight end Marquette Murdock hauled in a 14-yard touchdown catch in the right corner of the end zone with 29.9 seconds remaining to give the White team a 14-6 win over the Red team at Houck Field...

The Southeast Missouri State football team will wrap up its spring practice session with its spring game on Thursday. The game, which marks the end of a 15-practice spring period, will be at 6 p.m. at Houck Field. SEMO will split its roster into two squads -- Red and White -- for the game, which will be officiated. Defensive coordinator Bryce Saia will coach the Red team and offensive coordinator Jon Wiemers will coach the White team...

The Southeast Missouri State women's tennis team secured a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with a 6-1 victory over Jacksonville State on Saturday at the Redhawks Tennis Complex. The Redhawks, who improved to 13-5 overall and 5-2 in the OVC, will compete in the conference tournament for the first time since 2007. They finished no higher than eighth in the OVC in the previous nine seasons...

The Southeast Missouri State football team completed its second week of spring practice with an intrasquad scrimmage on Friday at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex. "We played hard today and I thought we did some good things," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said in a news release. "We have changed the tempo of our practices and are going a lot harder toward the end. I feel good about our roster and where we are two weeks into this spring. We are getting better every day."...

Lennies McFerren concluded his college football career at Southeast Missouri State in 2014 with 950 career rushing yards. That chapter is over, but he's not quite ready to pack in his gear. "I want to prove my point that it's never over, that you can always achieve your dream and keep fighting for what you love to do," said McFerren in a recent telephone interview from his home in Paris, Tennessee...

For the fourth year in a row, Southeast Missouri State football will hold the Southeast Missouri Football Free Youth Clinic on April 1st at Houck Stadium. The event is open to boys and girls entering grades 1-8 and is sponsored by Academy Sports. Registration begins at 9 a.m., and the clinic runs from 10 a.m. to noon...

The Southeast Missouri State football team returns to the field Tuesday for the beginning of spring practice. The Redhawks will hold the first of 15 spring practices at 8 a.m. today at Houck Stadium. As of now, SEMO has 76 players on the roster. That group includes five returning starters on offense and four on defense. There are also 12 transfers who will participate in the drills...

The Southeast Missouri State football team released its 11-game schedule on Thursday, a slate that features give games at Houck Stadium and six on the road. The Redhawks open their season with back-to-back road games, beginning Sept. 2 against Football Bowl Subdivision Kansas. Southeast will take on Pioneer Football League member Dayton on Sept. 9 in the first meeting between the two schools before squaring off against regional rival Southern Illinois in its home opener on Sept. 16...

The Southeast Missouri State University Athletics Hall of Fame gained six inductees on Friday night with the official inductions of the 2016 class at the Show Me Center. The class included four former players, including volleyball player Lea(Beckemeyer)Nenninger, Heather Jenkins of track and field, baseball catcher Jim Klocke and former football player Eddie Moss...

As National Signing Day progressed on Wednesday, the names kept coming. And coming. And coming. If one thing marked the Southeast Missouri State football 2017 signing class, it was its sheer size, as the Redhawks welcomed 34 new players to the family (and maybe another familiar face in the future, but more on that later)...

For Kway'Chon Chisom, Wednesday was a year in the making. When Chisom celebrated a football future with Southeast Missouri State during a signing day ceremony on Wednesday afternoon at Cape Girardeau Central High School, he was following in the footsteps of SEMO freshman and childhood friend Al Young. Exactly a year earlier, Young had signed with the Redhawks with Chisom in the audience...

Previous school: Independence CC (Kan.) Position: Defensive line Measurables: 6-foot-4, 325 pounds Twitter handle: @J_avery66 Avery appeared in all 10 games last season for the Pirates, finishing the season with 13 tackles, including one for loss. He graduated from Cane Ridge High School (Antioch, Tenn.) in 2014...

The Southeast Missouri State athletics department recognized 220 student-athletes who achieved a 3.0 cumulative grade point average or higher during a banquet Wednesday night at the Show Me Center. For the second year in a row, more than 60 percent of the school's student athletes earned a 3.0 GPA or higher...

Former Southeast Missouri State football standout Paul McRoberts has been promoted from the Los Angeles Rams' practice squad to the active gameday roster for the team's game against the San Francisco 49ers tonight. This will be the first time the undrafted rookie will be available for a game after remaining on the practice squad for the 4-10 Rams all season...

Benefiting from a dominant defense but hindered by an inconsistent offense, 2016 was a double-edged sword for the Southeast Missouri State football team. Third-year coach Tom Matukewicz was one of many who expected to see a breakthrough campaign -- Southeast entered the year with 17 returning starters and 24 seniors, the program's largest senior class in four years -- but the results on the field failed to meet those expectations, as the Redhawks finished 3-8...

Junior outside linebacker Chad Meredith, senior punter Alex Knight, sophomore kick returner Cameron Sanders, senior running back Will Young and junior quarterback Jesse Hosket represent Southeast Missouri State football on the 2016 All-Ohio Valley Conference team, which was announced Tuesday...

Honestly, it was a fitting ending. How else was Southeast Missouri State's football season supposed to end but with a heartbreaking, final-seconds defeat? A close-but-no-cigar closing? Yes, it was poignant punctuation on a year in which the Redhawks were undoubtedly competitive and flashed some very good moments, but were too inconsistent to really pull it all together...

Southeast Missouri State announced its 2016 Hall of Fame class on Monday, featuring Lea Nenninger (nee Beckemeyer), Dr. John and Judy Holcomb, Heather Jenkins, Jim Klocke, Eddie Moss and Ron Shumate. The group will be inducted in the school's Hall of Fame ceremony on Feb. 3, 2017 at the Show Me Center...

The afternoon practices, the early-morning workouts, the late-night bus rides departing from small towns across the Ohio Valley -- all those years of preparation and study culminated Saturday for 28 seniors on the Southeast Missouri State football team...

With the final score hanging in the balance Saturday, the Southeast Missouri State football team had its most proven 11 players on the field. Unfortunately for the Redhawks' defense, their skill couldn't quite match Tennessee State. In the final seconds, quarterback Ronald Butler delivered a 14-yard touchdown pass over the middle to wide receiver Patrick Smith, sending the Tigers to a 32-31 victory over Southeast on Senior Day at Houck Stadium...

Time is elusive for inside linebacker Roper Garrett and his fellow senior teammates. Garrett was a redshirt freshman in 2013 when he first took the field for the Southeast Missouri State football team. Four years later, he'll be doing that for the 43rd and final time of his career, as the Redhawks conclude their season and celebrate Senior Day against Tennessee State at 1 p.m. Saturday at Houck Stadium...

MARTIN, Tenn. -- When the game clock hit double zeros for the Southeast Missouri State football team on Saturday afternoon, a 24-10 loss to UT Martin turned ugly. A fight broke out on the field following the game at Graham Stadium and spilled over into the Skyhawks' bench area in front of the home fans. Seconds earlier, the Skyhawks had taken a knee, and with no need to run another play, both teams gathered on the field for their normal handshakes, daps and hugs...

For the Southeast Missouri State football team, there's still plenty to play for with two games remaining. After coming up just short against the second-ranked team in the nation last week, the Redhawks will square off against the Ohio Valley Conference's second-place team when they hit the road for the final time this season to face UT Martin at 2 p.m. Saturday at Graham Stadium...

The reigning Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year is moving on from the Southeast Missouri State football program. Coach Tom Matukewicz announced on Wednesday afternoon that sophomore quarterback Dante Vandeven, a former star at Jackson High School, is transferring from the program...

The Southeast Missouri State football team was up against the Ohio Valley Conference's most physical team in Saturday's homecoming game at Houck Stadium. But the Redhawks knew that all along. Southeast established nothing on the ground against No. 2 Jacksonville State. Literally nothing...

A fourth-quarter game was what Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz wanted from his team heading into Saturday's homecoming contest against the No. 2 team in the nation, and in the end, that's what he got. The Redhawks shut out the Gamecocks in the second half, but it wasn't enough to erase a three-score deficit at halftime against Jacksonville State, which relied on its defense to secure a 17-10 victory at Houck Stadium...

There's nothing to hide when it comes to how dominant the Jacksonville State football team has been in Ohio Valley Conference, but drawing the Gamecocks on homecoming might be Southeast Missouri State's best advantage. The two forces will collide at 1 p.m. Saturday when the Gamecocks, who are ranked No. 2 in both Football Championship Subdivision national polls, visit Houck Stadium to face the Redhawks...

There's no denying that Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz wants his offense to have a run-first mentality, but that all starts with an imposing offensive line. Fortunately for the Redhawks, those protectors in the trenches might be peaking as the team's stretch run continues. SEMO's offensive line has paved the way for season-high rushing performances in back-to-back weeks and has allowed only six sacks in the past four contests...

When Southeast Missouri State junior cornerback Mike Ford went down with a broken arm last week at Tennessee Tech, the Redhawks defensive secondary lost an All-Ohio Valley Conference, shutdown corner. Not ideal timing ahead of a matchup with the OVC's leading wide receiver...

Nothing about the Southeast Missouri State football team's practice on Tuesday appeared reflective of what had happened over the weekend. Three days removed from dropping a 21-20 heartbreaker at Tennessee Tech, the Redhawks were jovial yet focused during their first two hours of the week at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex, and it was everything coach Tom Matukewicz wanted from his team heading into a Pink Up Game against winless Austin Peay at 1 p.m. Saturday at Houck Stadium...

An inability to score in the red zone had not figured into the outcome of a game all season for the Southeast Missouri State football team before Saturday's game against Tennessee Tech. The Redhawks had come away empty-handed inside the 20 only four times all season, all of which came in consecutive wins against Murray State and Eastern Illinois...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Despite holding one of the Ohio Valley Conference’s top passers in check for the final two quarters, the Southeast Missouri State defense was left empty-handed. Heading into Saturday’s game, only Jacksonville State had been able to slow down Tennessee Tech senior quarterback Michael Birdsong, limiting the 6-foot-5 signal caller to 167 yards passing earlier in the season...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — The game’s only turnover and a pair of missed field goals inflicted too much damage on the Southeast Missouri State football team during Saturday’s game. The Redhawks outperformed Tennessee Tech in a number of statistical categories, but it was those decisive moments that stood out the most in the Golden Eagles’ 21-20 homecoming win at Tucker Stadium...

An extra week to recuperate couldn't have come at a better time for the Southeast Missouri State football team. Coach Tom Matukewicz said the team accomplished a lot during its bye week. The coordinators stayed home to self-scout the previous six games, the assistants hit the recruiting trail to offer more than a dozen scholarships and the players collectively took a breath of fresh air, lifting three times and practicing twice to remain in a rhythm...

Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team tied for the third time in four games as it played Belmont to a scoreless deadlock in Ohio Valley Conference play Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee. Redhawks junior goalie Kindra Lierz made six saves through regulation and two overtime periods to record her seventh shutout of the season and 23rd of her career...

RICHMOND, Ky. — Taking a step back wasn’t what the Southeast Missouri State football team’s offense had in mind after coming off one of the program’s biggest wins in recent memory. But so goes the game of football, and so goes consistency. Although they had their fair share of explosive plays, the Redhawks never found pay dirt until 3 minutes, 42 seconds were left on the game clock in Saturday’s 31-16 loss to Eastern Kentucky at Roy Kidd Stadium...

RICHMOND, Ky. — A culmination of things caught up to the Southeast Missouri State football team on Saturday at Roy Kidd Stadium. Altogether, it hardly gave the Redhawks a chance against the Ohio Valley Conference’s most electrifying offense. Redshirt senior quarterback Bennie Coney threw for 337 yards and four touchdowns, and Southeast was never able to slow down Eastern Kentucky, which shook off a slow start and cruised to a 31-16 win...

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz and his staff had some questions about potential complacency following last week's 21-14 win over then-No. 13 Eastern Illinois. It didn't take long for those questions to be put to rest. Matukewicz was pleased to see his players focused during their first practice of the week Tuesday heading into another crucial Ohio Valley Conference matchup against Eastern Kentucky at 5 p.m. Saturday at Roy Kidd Stadium in Richmond, Kentucky...

In a small room on the first floor of the Show Me Center, Southeast Missouri sports royalty gathered at rectangular tables situated around a podium. The players and coaches were in town Thursday for a press conference announcing the area's 2016 inductees into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame...

As St. Vincent football looks to post six wins for the first time since 2008, host Josh Mlot (@semoballjosh) stops in Perryville to gain some insight into Indians quarterback Tyler Monier's journey back from twice tearing his ACL during his high school career. (Apologies for some wind noise)...

A concerted effort to excel in red zone defense is working for the Southeast Missouri State football team. The Redhawks' opponents have come away with points only 67 percent of the time in the red zone this season, which ranks atop the Ohio Valley Conference and ninth in all of the Football Championship Subdivision...

For the first four weeks of the season, the Southeast Missouri State football offense searched for both big plays and consistency. Finding a little bit of both was critical in pulling a 21-14 upset of then-No. 13 Eastern Illinois (now ranked No. 19/20 in the STATS/coaches' polls after the result) on Saturday at Houck Stadium...

Juniors Chad Meredith and Jesse Hosket represented the Southeast Missouri State football team as the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week, respectively, after Saturday’s 21-14 win over 13th-ranked Eastern Illinois at Houck Stadium...

When Tom Matukewicz took over the Southeast Missouri State football program ahead of the 2014 season, he instituted a new tradition. The Brickyard. For each victory over a ranked opponent, a brick is installed in the practice facility locker room at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex featuring the result and roster from the game. Following Saturday night’s 21-14 upset of No. 13 Eastern Illinois, brick No. 3 will soon be on its way...

The potential of the Southeast Missouri State football team’s defense had been noticeable all season, but it had yet to turn in its signature performance. That all changed on Saturday night. Against one of the most dynamic offenses in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Redhawks held 13th-ranked Eastern Illinois to only one offensive touchdown and came up with several key plays en route to a 21-14 victory at Houck Stadium...

Here lies a crucial chapter in the story of the Southeast Missouri State football team's 2016 season. The Redhawks continue the Ohio Valley Conference portion of their schedule against an Eastern Illinois squad that's ranked No. 13 in both Football Championship Subdivision national polls. ...

It took a little bit of fine-tuning, but Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz likes what he’s seen so far from his front seven on defense. The Redhawks had eight players combine for 11 tackles for loss in last week’s 17-16 win over Murray State, as seven of those players were either linebackers or defensive linemen...