Southeast Football

This is the third of a four-part series on Ryan Flournoy as he prepares for the NFL Draft. In just two years, Ryan Flournoy left behind a legacy at Southeast Missouri State University. From the beginning of his collegiate football career at the University of Central Missouri to finding his way to Cape Girardeau where he made his mark, Flournoy now has a chance to be the highest-drafted player in Redhawks history at the 2024 NFL Draft...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. — With every carry, Jamarion Smith is out to prove something. Few could have predicted the meteoric rise of Portageville running back, but after a quiet start to his high school career, an engine that never quits and tireless drive transformed him into a record-breaking force...

For new Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Tate Crane, the transition from Division II Truman State to the FCS ranks is as similar to going from being an undergraduate student to graduate school. Which he just so happens to be doing at SEMO. The Iowa native will have one season of eligibility and will compete with returning wide receivers Jack Clinkenbeard and Dorian Anderson for key roles left by Ryan Flournoy and Damoriea Vick. ...

This is the second of a five-part series on Ryan Flournoy as he prepares for the NFL Draft. Ryan Flournoy is inching ever closer to fulfilling his lifelong dream of being drafted to the NFL, but, the dream had to start somewhere. For Flournoy, it began when he was five years old...

Coaching staff changes are a natural annual occurrence in today’s college football. Success leads to new opportunities for assistants to become head coaches and failure leads to them falling on the sword and off their perch. After following up an Ohio Valley Conference championship season in 2022 with a 4-7 2023 season, the Redhawks entered the spring with new faces on the staff and a new approach to practices...

The current state of college recruiting and name, image, and likeness, are forever intertwined. And just because Southeast Missouri State is a mid-major and FCS Division I program, that does not mean the Redhawks can allow themselves to be left in the dust...

Spring practice continues for the Southeast Missouri State football team at Houck Field. The Redhawks had their first inter-squad scrimmage this past Saturday and are halfway past Week 2 of practices. The theme of the spring has been integrating the newcomers and sort out the competition for who will be in position to replace receiver Ryan Flournoy and running back Geno Hess by training camp...

Southeast Missouri State football fans are familiar with seeing Ryan Flournoy perform on Saturdays, but they might not be familiar with who the standout SEMO wide receiver is off the field...

Jared Pedraza arrived at SEMO as a grad transfer looking for a new opportunity to continue his college football career. Instead, he found a new home in Cape Girardeau.

Preparations for the 2024 college football season have begun for the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks, who began their slate of 15 spring practices on Tuesday, March 19, at Houck Field. SEMO’s 15 practices will stretch over the next five weeks, concluding with the team's annual spring game on Apr. 20. 92 total players arrived at the stadium to participate in spring drills and put on the pads and helmet for the first time since November of last year...

The Southeast Missouri State football squad took its next step in development for the 2024 season on Tuesday, as the squad gathered for the first of 14 spring practices before playing in its annual spring game on April 20 at Houck Field (5:30 p.m.).

The biggest positive for the Southeast Missouri State football program as it begins spring drills on Tuesday will be the fact that senior quarterback Paxton DeLaurent doesn’t have his arm in a sling any longer.

The fact remains that in three of the past six football seasons, Southeast Missouri State has won nine games in three of those seasons (2018, 2019, 2022), won the Ohio Valley Conference championship twice (2019, 2022), and advanced to the FCS Playoffs in each of those nine-win campaigns...

With the career Southeast Missouri State running back Geno Hess has had over his six seasons, one would think he would be a locked-in pick for the NFL Draft. Had he worn a more prolific uniform. Hess finished his Redhawk career with 5,111 rushing yards and 63 touchdowns. In 2022, he rushed for 1,691 yards and 21 scores to be voted 2023 OVC Male Athlete of the Year...

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks wide receiver Ryan Flournoy had a successful weekend at the 2024 NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Flournoy posted a 4.44 in the 40-yard dash, ran a 1.53 in the 10-yard split, and had a vertical jump of 39.5” and a broad jump of 11’0”...

Jackson senior Adrian Fox only had one chance to prove that he not only had what it took to be a starting quarterback in the highest class of high school in Missouri, but also at the collegiate level. He proved to be the real deal, as he finished the season with over 1,900 passing yards while leading the Fighting Indians to a district championship...

Mark Panagos and Tyson Underwood have spent their entire careers as two of Scott City's top athletes over the last four years, especially on the gridiron. On Wednesday, what has long felt like the inevitable became reality, as the senior duo signed their letter of intent to play college football in front of coaches, friends, and family...

It didn’t take long for veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz to realize that Redhawk wide receiver Ryan Flournoy was unique. Just days into his first practices in the spring of 2022, Matukewicz remarked that Flournoy “scores a touchdown every day.”

Tom Matukewicz is entering his 11th season of leading the Southeast Missouri State football program and his objective for his student-athletes during the winter months has never been in question.

After spending a year in Cape Girardeau, the one thing that has pleasantly surprised me about this place is how many athletes currently competing at Southeast Missouri State who have aspirations for a career in journalism. Chandler Davis plays on the SEMO women’s basketball team and recently covered the football team as a reporter for the student newspaper, the Southeast Arrow. ...

A lot of football fans are under the mistaken belief that the 2024 football season for Southeast Missouri State will begin next August, however, that is definitely NOT the case.

The world of collegiate athletics is a new one in terms of leading a program and building a roster.

After making his initial commitment back in August, Zane Coon celebrated college football’s National Signing Day by putting pen to paper and inking his National Letter of Intent to Southeast Missouri State University. Taking place in Jackson High School’s Event Center commons, Coon’s signing confirmed that he’d join his father, SEMO defensive coordinator Ricky Coon, as a Redhawk football player...

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz, now entering his 11th season with the program, gave his annual press conference on National Signing Day on Tuesday, and like every college football coach across America, he expressed an air of optimism.

Jackson native among 2023 SEMO Hall of Fame class Southeast Missouri State announced its 2023 Hall of Fame Class on Wednesday, Dec. 13. Among the six-member class is Jackson native Blake Smith, who currently runs the Cape Girardeau based athletic training center, Prep Athletics...

Have you ever wanted to learn how to camp and fish with an “elite tent camper,” who also serves as the head football coach at Southeast Missouri State (Tom Matukewicz)?

In the present, veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has to figure out how to get his program back on track following Saturday’s season-ending 45-21 loss at Bryant in Smithfield, R.I.

In the Big South/OVC Football Association standings, there is little significance that will come from Saturday’s match-up between Southeast Missouri State (4-6, 3-2) at Bryant (5-5, 3-2). However, from a test of character perspective, veteran Redhawk Coach Tom Matukewicz sees a lot of value that can come from both teams having an opportunity to wrap up their seasons on a positive note.

Since his football players returned to Cape Girardeau from their 2022 Christmas Break in January, veteran Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz has been preaching on the “mission” of this team winning a Big South/OVC Football Association championship and advancing to the 2023 FCS Playoffs.

There is no need for a dramatic motivational speech delivered by veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz this week. His team is traveling to No. 16-ranked UT Martin (7-2, 4-1 Big South/OVC Football Association) on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN+), and all that is riding on this game is how the Redhawk fan base will view this entire season.

Southeast Missouri State linebacker Bryce Norman picked the last home game of the season to have the game of his life. The Jackson High School alum had 3.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and a touchdown. Norman had dealt with injuries since the start of the season, so this was a sign of the junior returning to form...

Southeast Missouri State falls to Robert Morris 21-20 on Saturday, Nov. 4, at Houck Field.

When you have the most successful football program in your conference for a length of time, watching each senior class exit the program on an annual basis is bound to be a somewhat disheartening endeavor.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has spoken for years about the importance of chemistry among the offensive line unit. After graduating three starters from the 2022 offensive line, formulating that degree of necessary cohesion up front has been a process since January, and will continue on Saturday.

While it is factual to state that the 35-31 victory at Nicholls on Saturday by the Southeast Missouri State football squad had no bearing on whether the Redhawks can make the postseason, 10th-year SEMO coach Tom Matukewicz knew that it played a significant role in determining how the remainder of this season unfolded.

There isn’t a college athlete in America who signs with a program envisioning never getting an opportunity to play, and you can include Southeast Missouri State redshirt freshman Patrick Heitert in the group.

In a season that has frustrated the fans of Southeast Missouri State football, and one in which veteran Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz referred to as “crazy” on Tuesday, just got a whole lot worse.

We’ve seen this scenario unfold before.

Of all the positions on a football field, the position group that is most thought of in terms of pizzazz, are the wide receivers.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz drank a gallon of truth serum before his postgame press conference on Saturday following the Redhawks’ 35-28 win over Eastern Illinois at Houck Field.

Southeast Missouri State beat Eastern Illinois 35-28 in Big South/OVC Football Association action on Saturday at Houck Field in front of 7,236 fans. So, let’s be clear, the Redhawks won the game, and thus, snapped a three-game losing streak.

Southeast Missouri State beat Eastern Illinois 35-28 in Big South/OVC Football Association action on Saturday at Houck Field in front of 7,236 fans.

When the Southeast Missouri State offensive line had to replace three starters this fall, veteran Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz knew in training camp that getting that unit to reach its potential was a process, not something instantaneous.

For the fans of Southeast Missouri State football who show up to Houck Field on Saturday afternoon to celebrate Homecoming, as well as cheer on the Redhawks to a victory, they need to see the trees, not necessarily focused on the forests, figuratively speaking.

If something occurs once, well, stuff happens.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has had two weeks to analyze just how a season with magnificent potential has evolved into a 1-3 start with a tough road challenge staring his team in the face on Saturday, and his evaluation this week was pretty concise and blunt.

Buried beneath the 1-3 mark in the win-loss column for the Southeast Missouri State football program so far this fall, is the indisputable fact that the Redhawks have had several areas of play that have been strong.

If a physician was examining the 2023 Southeast Missouri State football program today, the most critical thing that he/she would have to be careful NOT to do is confuse the symptoms with the diagnosis.

There may be no statistic that veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz speaks of with more emphasis than turnover margin.

Southeast Missouri State falls to Southern Illinois 26-25 on Saturday, Sept. 16, at Houck Field in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

An experienced and successful college basketball coach once explained how he got over the frustration of losing a recruit to another program, whom he had spent years (plural) pursuing with zeal.

The greats write songs about Saturday nights. “It's getting late, have you seen my mates,” the legendary Sir Elton John screamed. “Ma, tell me when the boys get here…”

The punt game for Southeast Missouri State took a hit last December when the best punter in the Ohio Valley Conference, Zach Haynes, decided to leave the Redhawks for the FBS program at New Mexico State.

The task that lies ahead for the No. 13-ranked Southeast Missouri State football squad is hard enough, let alone having to do it shorthanded.

In some regards, many actually, the 2023 home-opener played by the Southeast Missouri State football squad was absolutely magnificent.

Southeast Missouri State christened a renovated Houck Field on Saturday with a complete 45-7 domination of Big South/OVC Football Association rival Lindenwood in front of a large throng of 7,000-plus fans.

In May of 1929, Houck Field was just a drawing. Audrey Hepburn was born that month. Al Capone was imprisoned. Prohibition was a thing. In just a few months, the “Great Crash” on Wall Street, later named Black Tuesday, would trigger the Great Depression...

Many movies, TV shows and written pieces have portrayed a young fan — or perhaps an aging veteran player — walking into a sports cathedral for the first time. Marveling at the new, while feeling the familiar. That’s the effect Southeast Missouri State University officials are shooting for with a new Houck Field...

This fall, Houck Field opens with a new south grandstand and an exciting vision for its future. It’s a good time to be a Redhawks fan. The road to a new Houck, though, has been a longtime coming. Just days before the Sept. 2, 2021, SEMO home opener against rival Southern Illinois University, a site visit by structural engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti Inc. ...

There is no shortage of reasons to be excited about the 2023 home-opening football game on Saturday for the Southeast Missouri State program. The Redhawks (0-1) are ranked No. 14 in the country (FCS) and have been projected to be the champions of the newly-formed Big South/OVC Football Association this season.

John Wittenborn All-MIAA (1958-1968) played 11 years in the offense line and as a kicker for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Houston Oilers. He won an NFL championship with the Eagles and spent the last four years of his career as a kicker for the Oilers...

Q: You’ve been the radio voice of the SEMO Redhawks since 2000, calling football, basketball and baseball games for River Radio. What are some of your favorite memories from calling games over the last 20-plus years? It’s always the most enjoyable to broadcast championships. ...

Of the several thousand people who gather on Saturday at Houck Stadium to watch the “MRV Banks Game Ball Brawl” football game between visiting Lindenwood (1-0) and No. 14-ranked Southeast Missouri State (6 p.m., ESPN+), no individual will have the perspective of Cade Brister.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has been following the Kansas State football program since before he was shaving, so he knew how difficult of a task his team was going to have in playing the No. 16-ranked Wildcats in Manhattan on Saturday.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has spoken often of how critical the play of the offensive line has been each time that his team has ventured West to compete in the FCS Playoffs against a nationally-ranked squad.

Tom Matukewicz wasn’t even old enough to drive a car when he knew what he aspired to be throughout his adulthood.

Through its Ohio Valley Conference football championship season a year ago, there wasn’t much that the Southeast Missouri State football team didn’t do well. However, when it came to kickoff coverage, stunningly, the Redhawks ranked dead last of the seven league teams in both net average (36.3), return yards allowed (600), and touchbacks (three).

Pick a defensive statistic from the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference team football leaders and chances are the league champions, Southeast Missouri State, was either the best team or second-best.

Every football fan who follows the Southeast Missouri State program knows of graduate student defensive back Lawrence Johnson and his greatness.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz was none-too-pleased with the performance of his team following a recent practice – and he was crystal clear in letting his players know exactly how he felt.

The Southeast Missouri State football squad went through a training camp practice on Wednesday at Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

A former Southeast Missouri State football assistant coach once made the remark: Long-snappers are like oxygen. You don’t think about it until you don’t have it. The same could be said for the advantage of field position that a top-notch punter can give a football team.

I was never into college sports until I got into college. And when I was in college, I was convinced my team played in the most pure model of college sports. The PAC-10. The year was 2008. I was a freshman at the University of Arizona, walking to the football stadium for about seven Saturdays per fall semester. ...

When he was discussing his wide receiver corps last fall, veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz would use the term “three-headed monster,” as he referenced pass-catchers Johnny King, Ryan Flournoy, and Damoriea Vick.

Over 250 high school football players from throughout the Mid-South region centered recently to Southeast Missouri State for a "prospect camp" organized by the Redhawk coaches.

At 3 a.m. on Wednesday, Tom Matukewicz was wide awake, and his mind was racing. “It’s amazing,” Matukewicz said. “It’s my 30th year (of coaching football) and I still woke up at 3 in the morning and I sat there and thought about the first day of practice.

If there was ever a parent that could provide a good evaluation of their child as an athlete, Ricky Coon is the guy (and one of the few that actually could do so). However, as the recruiting process for his 16-year-old son, Zane Coon, unfolded over the past couple of years, Ricky stood on the periphery as much as he was allowed to.

For nearly three decades, Tom Matukewicz has climbed into bed the night before football training camp opens and carried a touch of anxiousness into his slumber.

The Southeast Missouri State football team conducted practice on Wednesday, August 2, at Cape Central High School in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

At any given Cape Catfish game, you can find the architect of success for the franchise standing atop the hill glancing over a baseball diamond that he has carried in his heart since he was a boy.

The 2023 edition of Southeast Missouri State football has had a lot of preseason hype put upon its broad and talented shoulders, and no one is more cognizant of that than the reigning Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz.

The marketing campaign for season tickets for the 2023 edition of Southeast Missouri State football is in full swing on social media, and for fans of the sport in this region, it shouldn’t be a tough sell to ask people to come and watch one of the nation’s best teams.

Southeast Missouri State announced their cross-country schedule recently, with their lone home meet taking place at the Osage Centre on September 1. On the whole, cross country represents a small piece of the athletic pie, but it is an opportunity to see local athletes run at the college level after thriving in high school...

It might be a good idea for New Madrid County Central senior-to-be, Jadis Jones, to hire not just a travel agent, but a business manager, as well.

Scan the 2023 Southeast Missouri State football roster and it is evident that 10th-year Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz values following the exploits of the top athletes throughout the region.

Sikeston High School athletes are not spending their summers lounging around a swimming pool, or worse, playing video games all day.

MINER - The Southeast Missouri State football program hosted a leadership seminar, the L.E.A.D. event, at the City of Miner Convention Center on Tuesday, which was attended by several hundred people from all walks of life.

The reigning Ohio Valley Conference Football Coach of the Year made that self-assessment recently, and 10th-year Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz isn’t just spouting words, he backs his self-critique up with action.

There rarely is a shortage of negativity in the daily news cycles, and intercollegiate athletics is never immune to such.

For the second time in three years, Southeast Missouri State has won the OVC Commissioner's Cup. The Redhawks won eight Ohio Valley Conference championships during the 2022-23 school year. The football team took a share of the championship after defeating rival Murray State 52-22. The Redhawks won the coin flip that determined whether SEMO or UT Martin would receive the automatic berth to the NCAA FCS Playoffs...

Any parent can sympathize with the Southeast Missouri State football coaching staff, as they tried to keep 89 student-athletes on the straight and narrow academically this spring semester. Sometimes, it is difficult to manage several young people through school, let alone 89 of them. However, as with everything else that the Redhawks accomplished during the 2022-23 academic year – both on and off the football field – SEMO reached heights previously thought unattainable.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has conducted several seminars on leadership throughout the region, and at one point in the presentation, he shows a film of Redhawk running back Geno Hess in action. No, it isn’t one of the scintillating and powerful bursts that Hess has become famous for, as he evolved into the most productive running back in both SEMO, as well as the Ohio Valley Conference histories. It is actually a low moment in the development of Hess, who is shown lumbering through off-season wind sprints after coming back to campus for summer workouts out of shape.

Last fall, veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz often boasted of his deep and talented wide receiver group, which played an integral part in the Redhawks leading the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring offense and being the second-best squad in the league in terms of pass efficiency.

The Southeast Missouri State University football team added another Mule to its roster for the upcoming season. Poplar Bluff’s Chris Matlock signed a letter of commitment Tuesday for an opportunity at the next level with the SEMO Redhawks.

ON the field, there hasn’t been much for 10th-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz to criticize when it comes to the play and production of Redhawk junior linebacker Bryce Norman. However, what you need to understand about Matukewicz is he is a coach that analyzes every aspect of his student-athletes, not just their ability to make tackles.

Southeast Missouri State sophomore-to-be tight end Braden Thompson made an impression on the Redhawk coaching staff throughout this past off-season, as he grew into a 256-pound “man” (23 pounds heavier than a year earlier) under the tutelage of SEMO Director of Sports Performance Ryan Napoli.