SATURDAY'S SCORES
#15 Southeast Missouri 26, @Eastern Illinois 12
@Eastern Kentucky 22, Tennessee Tech 10
#22 Austin Peay 42, @Murray State 7
@UT Martin 28, Tennessee State 17
#15 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 26, EASTERN ILLINOIS 12
CHARLESTON, Ill. - #15 Southeast Missouri (8-3, 6-1) scored 20 second-half points en route to a 26-12 win over Eastern Illinois (1-10, 1-6) Saturday afternoon at O'Brien Field.
With the win, SEMO nailed down its second-straight eight-win season marking the first time in program history where the Redhawks won eight games in back-to-back years. The eight-win season is SEMO's ninth all-time since its football program began in 1904.
The Redhawks trailed, 7-6, at halftime before taking their first lead of the game thanks to a big play on special teams.
Shabari Davis returned Stone Galloway's punt 36 yards for a touchdown to put SEMO ahead, 13-7, with 13:03 remaining in the third quarter. It was the Redhawks first punt return for a touchdown in four years.
SEMO tacked on 13 more points in the fourth quarter to finish off the Panthers.
Daniel Santacaterina scored on a 1-yard run to cap a 9-play, 31-yard drive. A 48-yard kickoff return by Zion Custis gave the Redhawks excellent field position before Santacaterina's touchdown made it a 20-10 game.
Mark Robinson scored the final touchdown when he ran 16 yards to the end zone to polish off a 5-play, 41-yard march with 4:47 to go.
Isaiah Hill, who initially scored on an 85-yard completion, had his touchdown called back early in the game due to a taunting penalty. Hill, however wound up hauling in a 26-yard pass on the same drive to put EIU ahead, 7-0, with 5:39 remaining in the first quarter.
Tiller connected on field goals of 32 and 34 yards in the second quarter to cut the Panthers lead to 7-6 at the intermission.
The Redhawks gained 140 yards in returns with 53 on punts, 70 on kickoffs and 17 on an interception.
Robinson ran for a game-high 77 yards on 13 carries and scored his team-high seventh rushing touchdown, while Santacaterina completed 16-of-27 passes for 139 yards. Kristian Wilkerson again led SEMO in receiving with 56 yards on four catches.
Defensively, Zach Hall paved the way with 12 tackles, a sack, 1.5 for loss and an interception. Hall went over 100 tackles for the second-straight season, becoming the first Redhawk to accomplish that feat since fellow linebacker Blake Peiffer (151 in 2011; 117 in 2012).
The Redhawks beat the Panthers in Charleston for the first time since 2010 ending a four-game losing streak at O'Brien Field. SEMO extended its winning streak to five games, as well.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 22, TENNESSEE TECH 10
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University’s football team beat Tennessee Tech University, 22-10, in the Colonels final home football game of the 2019 season on Saturday at Roy Kidd Stadium.
The EKU defense shut down a Golden Eagle offense that came into the game averaging 31 points and 398 yards of offense per game. Tech’s lone touchdown was set up by an Eastern Kentucky fumble that was returned to the five yard line. TTU was held to 150 yards of offense on the day, including just two rushing yards. The Tennessee Tech passing attack was held more than 100 yards below its average of 254 yards per contest.
The Golden Eagles (6-5, 3-4 OVC) grabbed the lead first when quarterback Bailey Fisher scored on a 6-yard run up the middle with 6:46 left in the first quarter. That touchdown was set up by an EKU fumble that gave the visitors the ball at the Eastern five yard line. Daryl McCleskey Jr. tied the game when he capped a 78-yard, 9-play drive with a 1-yard scoring run with 2:14 left in the opening quarter.
Samuel Hayworth kicked three field goals in the second quarter to extend the Colonel lead to 16-7. He connected from 22, 36 and 29 yards.
Eastern Kentucky (6-5, 4-3 OVC) held Tennessee Tech to 83 yards in the first half, including just 37 through the air.
Tennessee Tech closed within six on Haidar Zaidan’s 52-yard field goal with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Alonzo Booth secured the victory with a 1-yard touchdown run with 10:52 remaining in the game. The run finished off a 10-play, 64-yard drive that chewed up 3:57.
The Colonels out-gained TTU 230-2 on the ground and totaled 442 yards of offense.
McCleskey finished with 106 yards on 26 carries to go along with his touchdown. Booth totaled 52 yards. Quarterback Parker McKinney ran for 68 yards. McKinney finished 13-for-26 with 188 passing yards. Matt Wilcox Jr. caught five passes for 58 yards.
EKU seniors Corey Glass had a team-best seven tackles, and Taquan Evans had three sacks.
Fisher went 20-for-35 for 148 yards for Tech. Seth Carlisle led all players with 13 tackles.
#22 AUSTIN PEAY 42, MURRAY STATE 7
MURRAY, Ky. - In the penultimate game of the regular season, Austin Peay State University’s football team went on the road and throttled arch-rival Murray State. Led by Prince Momodu the Governors rushed for 295 yards while holding the Racers to 39 rushing yards in a 42-7 Ohio Valley Conference win, Saturday, at Roy Stewart Stadium.
It was a wire-to-wire win for the Governors, who opened things up with one of the steadiest marches downfield of the entire season. After a touchback on the opening kickoff, the Govs embarked on a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took 4:32 before Prince Momodu punched in his first touchdown of the day from a yard out.
After the touchdown on the opening drive, a punting exhibition broke out for the rest of the first quarter, with each team punting twice before the second quarter began. But the Governors struck again in the second quarter, when JaVaughn Craig found his favorite target streaking down the seam, connecting with DeAngelo Wilson for a 40-yard touchdown.
Next it was the defense’s turn to make the big plays. Twice in the second quarter the Racers had the ball inside the Austin Peay 12-yard line, and twice the defense turned them away and forcing them to kick two field goals – which were both no good. The first drive saw tackles for a loss from Shaun Whittinghill and Jack McDonald slam the door on a Racer touchdown. On the second it was Whittinghill and Josephus Smith who combined for a sack to stop the Racer offense in its tracks.
The rest of the first half went by without much action, and at the break the Governors led 14-0.
The third quarter went in similar fashion to the first two. The Govs forced the Racers to punt on their first drive, then kicked off another drive similar to their first of the game. The Govs went 52 yards on eight plays, setting up a 10-yard touchdown run form Momodu – his second of the game.
Just like the first two quarter, the Governors scored a single touchdown, and that was all the scoring for that quarter, but things would change in the fourth quarter.
The Governors have not been known for their prowess in the fourth quarter this season, but with a two touchdown lead over Murray State at the beginning of the final frame, the Govs simply put on more steam.
The Govs got things started by going 75 yards in 5:23, with Craig finding a wide open Wilson in the corner of the endzone on a play action pass. With the Racers trailing by three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, they made the decision to go for it on fourth and ten on their next drive. On fourth down, Kwame Sutton broke free and sacked Racer quarterback Preston Rice for a loss of 16 yards, giving the Governors control of the ball on the Murray State 40-yard line.
It didn’t take long for the Govs offense to capitalize after the fourth down stop, as four plays later Ahmad Tanner punched in his first score of the day from seven yards out, giving the Governors a 28-point lead with under nine minutes to play,
After a Craig interception, the Racers started a drive on their own two-yard line, sending out backup quarterback Brendan Bognar to take the rest of the snaps. On Bognar’s first play from scrimmage, he ran up the middle where he was met by a host of Governors. One of Govs got a helmet on the ball, which popped free only to be scooped up and carried into the endzone by none other than Kordell Jackson.
On the Racers final drive of the day, the Governor defense bowed its neck one last time and forced the Racers to turn the ball over on downs again. With the ball back, a five touchdown lead, and less than two minutes on the clock, Mark Hudspeth made the call to the bullpen, sending Kam Williams and Armond Carter Jr. to take the snaps on the final three plays. Williams handed off to Carter Jr. three times before the clock ran out and the Governors claimed their fourth straight OVC win.
The Governors 42-7 win over Murray State in the First Financial Bank Battle of the Border sets the Govs up to play for the OVC title in final week of the season. A Governor win and a Southeast Missouri win in the final week of the season means the Govs share the title, but clinch the automatic berth thanks to their 28-24 win over the Redhawks. A Governor win and a Southeast Missouri loss means an outright OVC title for Austin Peay football – the first in 42 years.
UT MARTIN 28, TENNESSEE STATE 17
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin football team sent its senior class out on top in its final game at Hardy M. Graham Stadium this season with a 28-17 victory.
The Skyhawks (7-4, 6-2 OVC) picked up their seventh win of the season to wrap up Ohio Valley Conference play. Along with the victory, UT Martin clinched at least a share of the coveted Sgt. York Trophy for the seventh time since 2010 by finishing the campaign with a 2-1 mark against Tennessee members of the OVC while improving their mark to 18-5 in the trophy series since 2012. The win also improved the Skyhawks to 5-0 at home this season.
One of the highlights of the day was the play of graduate running back Jaimiee Bowe who posted one of his best games since a devastating injury two seasons ago. After missing the entire 2017 campaign with an Achilles injury, Bowe has returned to the fold and back into the starting role while rolling to an impressive showing with 108 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in his final game at Graham Stadium. With his final touchdown in the fourth quarter, he moved into third place on the program’s career list with his 21st rushing touchdown.
Other seniors posting big performances were the receiving duo of Terry Williams and Jaylon Moore. Williams led the team with six receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown while Moore tallied his fourth touchdown in the last two games with three receptions and 57 yards – including an acrobatic 27-yard touchdown snag.
Then on the defensive end, senior linebacker TJ Jefferson paced the team with 12 tackles while graduate punter Zane Cox tallied six punts which traveled an average distance of 38.7 yards – including a 49-yard punt – while pinning five balls inside the 20.
Freshman quarter John Bachus III threw for three touchdowns to help rally the Skyhawks to a fourth quarter victory. Bachus would complete 16-of-25 pass attempts on the day for 216 yards and touchdown strikes of seven, 27 and nine yards.
Tennessee State (2-9, 1-6 OVC) fought back to quickly tie the game in the first quarter following a seven-yard touchdown by Bowe on the Skyhawks opening possession. After knotting the game up, an 18-yard field goal by Antonio Zita in the second quarter gave the Tigers a 10-7 lead heading into halftime.
UT Martin would strike quickly again in the third quarter as Bachus lofted a ball to Moore which the senior playmaker reached back for and brought in for a 27-yard touchdown strike – the 18th of his career to move into sole possession of third place in program history. The lead would be short-lived as a lengthy six-minute drive by TSU resulted in a one-yard touchdown carry by Andrew Knox to take a 17-14 advantage.
The Skyhawks would later take advantage of a short field following a Tennessee State punt with Bachus capping the scoring drive with a nine-yard pass to Williams to take a 21-17 lead in the fourth. Needing just a bit more breathing room, the Skyhawks added another touchdown in the final minute on Bowe’s five-yard run.