Southeast Football

When Bryson Donnell isn’t using his feet to come off the edge of Southeast Missouri State’s defensive line, his hands are creating havoc in the interior. At 6-foot-2 and 300 pounds, the versatile Donnell bears the aesthetic of a true defensive tackle, but his athleticism and innate nose for the football give him license to line up in different techniques. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. - By the time the Mizzou marching band broke into its rendition of AJR's "Bang" at Memorial Stadium, its hit chorus matched the Tigers' first three drives against a visibly outclassed Southeast Missouri State. Bang. Bang. Bang. It took Mizzou all of 17 first-quarter plays for the nation's all-purpose yards leader, Tyler Badie, to score on a 49-yard touchdown, a 11-yard reception and for preseason All-SEC quarterback Connor Bazelak to hit D'ionte Smith on a 46-yard scoring strike...

Connor Tollison doesn’t have clearance to speak to the media, an almost universal policy for Power 5 true freshmen. But before the hulking offensive tackle cracked Mizzou’s two-deep depth chart, he cleared sizable running lanes for a Jackson High offense that had its way with Class 5 opposition...

Many of the same Southeast Missouri State figures who endured a 50-0 thrashing at the hands of Mizzou in 2019 get a mulligan on Saturday. Geno Hess and Zion Custis - an established 1-2 punch in the Redhawks' backfield - were a pair of unknown underclassmen who combined for a meager 34 yards on 16 carries in Columbia...

A confluence of injuries, new faces and perhaps the toughest nonconferernce slate in the Football Championship Subdivision makes Southeast Missouri State a hard team to gauge among its Ohio Valley Conference peers. That won't change Saturday after SEMO locks up with physically superior Mizzou, which cut the Redhawks a $550,000 check for the short trek to Columbia...

Moments into Kennett’s wild 40-38 win over Ste. Genevieve last Friday, Indian senior LaTrevion Thompson exhibited his athletic brilliance.

As Southeast Missouri State kicker Kenny Doak lined up for a 47-yard field goal late in the second quarter Saturday, top-ranked Sam Houston was on its heels. The Redhawks -- playing a cleaner, more assertive brand of football than they did in a season-opening blowout loss to rival Southern Ilinois -- were moving the football on a defense chalked with All-Americans...

Quarterbacks and linebackers zipping across Southeast Missouri high school football fields on Friday weren’t yet born. Most of Southeast Missouri State’s players were infants and toddlers. They’re aware of the magnitude of Sept. 11, 2001, the most somber day in American history, but didn’t experience the real-time shock and heartbreak of millions as smoke billowed from the Twin Towers...

If there's an asterisk near Sam Houston State's recent national championship, it conveys circumstance more than the legitimacy of the Football Championship Subdivision power. The Bearkats - annually among the top FCS programs in the country - concluded a strange, truncated and pandemic-delayed 2020 season in May when they clipped South Dakota State 23-21 for the subdivision's crown...

Whataburger is on Terry Cook's mind. Texas -- home of the popular fast-food chain -- is in the 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior's soul. When the Southeast Missouri State offensive tackle sinks his teeth into his foremost burger this weekend, just one ingredient can enhance its flavor: An upset over top-ranked Sam Houston State on Saturday in Huntsville, Texas, a two-hour trek from Cook's hometown of Elgin...

As it turned out, having a dilapidated stadium was the least of the concerns on Thursday for the Southeast Missouri State football program.

The day Southeast Missouri State University athletic fans knew was coming has now arrived. Beloved Houck Field has reached its endpoint in its current state, and the timing could not have been worse. ...

Opportunity will eventually knock for Southeast Missouri State redshirt freshman defensive back Dony’e Taylor, however, it just won’t be on the first defensive possession of the 2021 season.

After completing one of the most storied seasons in MSHSAA history, the Jackson High School football program graduated a TON of talent and leadership. “You don’t take turns,” veteran Indian coach Brent Eckley said. “The best team wins. It’s not whosever turn it is.”

There are few businesses anywhere in the world that haven’t had to think differently over the past couple of years in this ever-changing environment that we are all immersed in, more than likely, forever. And Semoball.com is not immune to that. The website devoted to providing sports fans thorough coverage of sports throughout Southeast Missouri is still going to make that its mission on a daily basis, however, the internal pieces are going to be doing some shifting moving forward.

There were some early indications last season that Southeast Missouri State running back Geno Hess was on the cusp of emergence. Such as his breaking off a 64-yard jaunt against nationally-ranked Southern Illinois on his third carry of the 2020 season.

The past 18 months have been like no other for Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz.

There were a lot of unknowns for the Southeast Missouri State football program in 2020. Often there were surprises that weren’t so pleasant (canceled games/season, transferring players, etc.). But there were also some pleasant surprises, one of which came in the form of a 285-pound defensive lineman.

Issac Reed has been involved in college football for a decade as both a student-athlete and a coach. He’s endured just one losing season during that time, so he found joining the successful Southeast Missouri State football program this summer as the Redhawks’ running backs coach to be a natural fit.

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz walked off the turf at Houck Field on Saturday being non-committal on who the Redhawks’ starting quarterback was going to be until he had an opportunity to watch the film from Saturday’s scrimmage. “We’ll watch the film right after (the scrimmage),” Matukewicz said. “But we’ve got to move forward.”

Last winter, veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz THOUGHT he liked the kind of football player that Jackson High School senior linebacker Bryce Norman had evolved into. However, Matukewicz “didn’t really know” because the Redhawk coaches weren’t allowed to recruit off-campus due to the pandemic, per NCAA rules.

There were some big names that departed out of the Southeast Missouri State defensive secondary following this spring, which would lead some to question the ability and depth of the Redhawks pass coverage unit. However, don’t make that assessment in front of senior Lawrence Johnson or defensive backs coach Ray Smith.

Earlier this summer, eighth-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz said his recruiting preference when it came to quarterbacks was to sign players out of high school and “grow every one of them.” But he also stated that he “likes winning,” which is why he has a history of signing transfers at the position. After watching four quarterbacks through the first two weeks of training camp – two signed out of high school and two via transfer – Matukewicz stuck with his recent history and announced on Tuesday that the two transfers were sitting atop the depth chart.

The massive question remains hovering over the Southeast Missouri State football program as to who will start at quarterback on Sept. 2 when it opens the 2021 season against Southern Illinois. However, which players will be catching passes from that quarterback isn’t in question at all.

There is no one with more of a pulse on the quarterback competition that is ensuing at Southeast Missouri State than Redhawk offensive coordinator Jeromy McDowell. However, following the opening day of training camp on Wednesday, McDowell wasn’t ready to make a decision regarding the position, to say the least.

Success can spoil a lot of people involved in athletics and the media is no exception to that.

Several factors have gone into why the Kennett High School football program has been wildly successful over recent years and having talented athletes is just one of those.

There is no lack of unknowns surrounding the Southeast Missouri State football program entering the 2021 season.

The Southeast Missouri State football program is never going to “wow” any prospective assistant coach with its incredible facilities or exorbitant resources.

Both Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz, as well as Redhawk offensive coordinator Jeromy McDowell, have spoken about how they like their quarterbacks to have an edge of toughness to them.

The Southeast Missouri State football program has undergone several personnel changes this off-season, which eighth-year Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz explained recently can be a positive thing if viewed from the right perspective.

Whether you are passionate about the football program at Southeast Missouri State University, your personal and professional growth, or both, veteran Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz is providing an opportunity next month to help both you, as well as the Redhawk football program.

Southeast Missouri State football Tom Matukewicz has five-plus years remaining on his contract and that may be a good thing because the Redhawks have scheduled one of the more difficult 2021 schedules that anyone could conceive.

The good news for eighth-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz is that the 2021 training camp isn’t kicking off anytime soon. The bad news is that he has no idea who will be his starting quarterback in the fall.

Tom Matukewicz and Bryce Saia have been with each other on football fields, meeting rooms, and locker rooms for large swaths of the past four decades, but for now, for who can predict the future, the two Southeast Missouri State coaches will go down separate paths.

You don’t have to mention to a Southeast Missouri State athletics follower the damage that student-athletes transferring can wreak.

The off-season in sports always provides time for reflection.

Southeast Missouri State graduate quarterback Andrew Bunch would NEVER say a disparaging word regarding the performance of his offensive line, but seventh-year Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz wasn’t always pleased with the physical pounding that his quarterback took during this past spring season.

Tennessee State University was riding a wave of euphoria on Tuesday, as the Tigers announced the hiring of former Heisman Trophy winner, and NFL great, Eddie George, to lead its football program. However, there was one fellow Ohio Valley Conference coach that wasn’t joining the parade.

The 2019 Ohio Valley Conference football championship squad included a senior class that was the most successful group in Southeast Missouri State history.

The fact that Southeast Missouri State has the top punter in the Ohio Valley Conference this spring is a surprise to absolutely no one. After all, Jake Reynolds was named to the 2020 Punter of the Year “watch list” by the Augusta Sports Council heading into this school year.

Southeast Missouri State outside linebacker Bryant Pirtle was voted the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week Tuesday. Pirtle, who calls Louisville, Kentucky home, finished the week with seven tackles, recorded a sack, added two tackles for loss, recorded one forced fumble, and recovered a fumble, in the Redhawk's win against UT Martin on Saturday...

The adage is that “numbers don’t lie,” but anyone who watched the Southeast Missouri State football squad win at UT Martin 21-16 on Saturday will surely vouch that sometimes the statistics are misleading.

Interviewing seventh-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz can be a reporter’s dream. You often simply turn on the tape recorder and sit back while your story writes itself.

FCS programs are dropping out of this spring season with some degree of regularity, as this unique year winds down. Illinois State pulled the plug on its season recently, while Chattanooga and Cal Poly both did on Monday. However, there is no such talk lingering through the halls of the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

It’s easy for a football team to display positivity when things are going well. The challenge in athletics is measured in how it reacts to negativity.

The numbers don’t add up in some ways when studying the Southeast Missouri State football program this spring.

Southeast Missouri State (1-4, 1-3 Ohio Valley Conference) and Tennessee Tech (1-3, 1-3) are among four teams that sit on the floor of the OVC football standings, while Murray State and Jacksonville State (both 4-0) are leading the league.

The lone defeat that the No. 8-ranked Jacksonville State football program has endured in the past 12 months is a road loss at Florida State, so only the most fervent Southeast Missouri State fan had much confidence that the Redhawks would venture to Jacksonville, Ala. on Sunday and knock off the Ohio Valley Conference power for an unfathomable third consecutive year.

As former Southeast Missouri State great Kristian Wilkerson climbed atop the all-time categories in pass receptions a year ago, what was overshadowed was a decline in production by then-redshirt junior wide receiver Zack Smith.