ST. CHARLES, Mo. - John Anthony, Jr. caught three touchdown passes and Braylen Ragland threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another to lead Southeast Missouri (3-3, 1-0) to a 38-27 win over Lindenwood (1-4, 1-1) Saturday afternoon at Hunter Stadium.
SEMO won the Game Ball Brawl trophy in the annual game between the only two NCAA Division I Missouri schools that are conference rivals.
The Redhawks started Ohio Valley Conference play strong with season-highs in points, total yards (423), rushing yards (215) and first downs (32) during their best offensive game of the year to date.
Both SEMO and LU, which entered the game off their bye week, battled to two ties and three lead changes in the first half alone.
The Lions took a 7-0 lead on a 50-yard run by quarterback Pops Battle capping a 13-play, 93-yard drive with 4:15 remaining the first quarter.
Aided by a pair of roughing the passer penalties, SEMO covered 80 yards in eight plays and tied things up when Ragland threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Anthony, Jr. with 1:12 to play.
Another long touchdown, this time a 43-yard run by Jared Rhodes regained a 14-7 advantage for LU early in the second quarter at the 14:21 mark.
Anthony, Jr. caught his second touchdown pass on a 29-yard throw from Ragland to bring the game to a 14-14 deadlock one minute and 41 seconds later. That play finished off a 5-play, 75-yard strike for the Redhawks in less than two minutes.
After a missed 31-yard field goal by Will Graham, SEMO got the ball back at its own 20-yard line with 3:06 on the clock.
The Redhawks then marched 80 yards in 11 plays and pulled ahead, 21-14, on a 4-yard run by Khyair Spain just before halftime.
SEMO never trailed again after that.
LU managed to tie the game once more on a third-and-Goal at its own 1-yard line. A direct snap soared high off the hands of SEMO running back Cole Ruble. Brayon Crawford scooped up the fumble and ran 86 yards for touchdown to make it a 21-21 game with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Redhawks, however, immediately responded when they manufactured a 10-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with Anthony, Jr.'s 23-yard over the shoulder catch in the right corner of the end zone.
SEMO proceeded to build its largest lead of the contest with the help of a 1-yard run by Ragland and 45-yard field goal by Justin Keller. Keller's kick stretched the Redhawks margin to 38-21 with 7:56 on the clock.
Ragland completed 73.9 percent (17-of-23) of his passes and ran for 17 yards on five carries. He did not throw an interception.
Anthony, Jr., who transferred to SEMO from Lindenwood, scored a touchdown on three of his four receptions. He finished with four catches for 82 yards. Anthony, Jr. tied the Redhawks' single-game record in touchdown receptions becoming the fifth different receiver in program history to get three TD receptions.
Spain ran the ball 16 times for 85 yards and one touchdown with an average of 5.3 yards per touch, as well.
Defensively, Cyler Christmas led the way with six tackles and David Jones recorded his team-high third interception. The Redhawks, after allowing 189 rushing yards in the first half, gave up only nine in the final two quarters of play.
Saturday's win marked Tom Matukewicz's 70th career victory as SEMO's head coach
UT MARTIN 42, TENNESSEE STATE 28
NASHVILLE - Four forced turnovers, two defensive touchdowns and a second-half surge powered the University of Tennessee at Martin football team to a 42-28 victory over Tennessee State on Saturday at Nissan Stadium, securing the program's 12th Sgt. York Trophy and head coach Jason Simpson's 100th career Ohio Valley Conference victory.
The Skyhawks (2-4, 1-0 OVC) overcame a 21-7 second-quarter deficit and scored 28 unanswered points to take control of their conference opener. UT Martin outscored the Tigers 28-7 after halftime, using a 97-yard fumble return by Farand Washington and a 23-yard interception return by Joel Castleberry to help deliver the milestone victory behind a pair of defensive touchdowns.
The win added another championship to UT Martin's trophy-leading total in the Sgt. York Trophy series while giving Simpson his 100th career OVC victory in his 21st season leading the Skyhawks. The Skyhawks now improve to 39-15 in Sgt. York Trophy games while Simpson joins legendary coaches Roy Kidd (207) and Boots Donnelly (102) as the only coaches to eclipse 100 conference victories in OVC history.
UT Martin's defense intercepted three passes and recovered a fumble, turning Tennessee State's four turnovers into 21 points. LaMarion Pierce, Jamal Mayers and Castleberry each recorded an interception, while Broderick Tommie Jr. forced the fumble that Washington returned nearly the length of the field (97 yards) for the program's longest fumble return for a touchdown.
The Skyhawks also limited Tennessee State to just 15 rushing yards on 21 attempts and stopped the Tigers on all three of their fourth-down tries. Brylan Jordan and Chris Wilson shared the team lead with six tackles apiece, while Duston Chavis recorded 1.5 tackles for loss, including a half-sack.
Offensively, UT Martin generated 193 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Chris Franklin carried the ball 22 times for 82 yards and two scores, while Jaydon Peete added 79 yards on 12 attempts. Makhia Sherrard provided a 34-yard touchdown run, and quarterback Tate Surber also reached the end zone on the ground.
Surber completed 15 of 21 passes for 114 yards without an interception. Kaleb Washington paced the receiving corps with six catches for 53 yards, while Peete added two receptions for 24 yards to finish with 103 yards from scrimmage.
Tennessee State (1-5, 0-2 conference) built an early advantage behind quarterback Daylin Lee, who connected Cam Bullock for three of his four touchdown strikes on the afternoon. Lee finished the day completing 20-of-39 pass attempts for four touchdowns but threw three interceptions in his Nissan Stadium debut. Bullock finished a monster day with seven catches for 191 yards and three touchdowns while Aaron Duncan II added the team's first of four touchdowns on the day
EASTERN ILLINOIS 21, GARDNER-WEBB 7
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Six turnovers forced by the Eastern Illinois defense and a big rushing day by Charles Kellom carried the Panthers to a 21-7 win on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Gardner-Webb.
The Panthers improved to 2-4 overall, 1-0 in the OVC. GWU fell to 2-5 overall, 1-1 in the OVC.
The first big turnover came on special teams in the third quarter after a scoreless first half. Davian Humphrey recovered a muffed punt attempt at the 1-yard line. Kellom plunged in from 1-yard out with 13:21 to play in the third quarter.
An interception by Jerry Addo-Boateng stopped the next GWU drive before the Bulldogs finally broke through scoring with 9:41 to play in the game on a Lan Farmer 37-yard touchdown pass to Kory Jones.
EIU leaned on the run all day and late in the fourth quarter it paid off as Charles Kellom broke a big 30-yard run as he finished with 147 yards on the day. Cole LaCrue capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:31 to play in the game. EIU completed just one pass all day with a 10-yard completion to Devin Whitlock coming on that play.
The Panthers defense made a fourth down stop on the next GWU drive only to see Kellom score again to ice the game. Kellom scored a four-yard run with 1:18 to play.
The final turnover closed out the game as Aidan Archibald had a sack and forced fumble giving EIU the ball with 15 seconds left in the game.
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 49, #21/21 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 39
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern knocked off #21 South Carolina State on Saturday afternoon with a signature win in the Gabe Giardina era that featured four forced turnovers and two touchdowns from the Buccaneers' special teams units. This marked the first victory over a ranked opponent for the Bucs since 2024 when they took down #16 Furman. Steve Zayachkowsky finished the day with a season-high of 17 tackles with Jared Echols earning the win in his first career start.
The storyline entering the game was the Buccaneers turning to Jared Echols to be their starting quarterback and he delivered. On the opening possession, he led them on a six-play, 82 yard drive that was capped off with him connecting with Mekhi Campfield for a 33 yard touchdown. Later in the quarter, Hakeem Watters returned a punt for 60 yards and a touchdown to put them ahead 14-0. The Bulldogs were able to get on the board with Keely Watson scoring on a rush from seven yards out to bring it back within a score.
After this, the teams traded blows in the second quarter with Dwayne Wright finding the endzone from a yard out, Campfield hauling in his second TD of the day from 13 yards out and Quay Kindell returning a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. S.C. State was able to tally a touchdown and a short field goal during the period, which brought the score to 35-16 entering halftime.
Coming out of the half, CSU forced a turnover which led to a 24 yard rushing touchdown by Watters for a 42-16 edge, their largest lead of the day. The Bulldogs responded with two touchdowns and a two-point conversion in third as well as a safety at the start of the fourth to bring the game to 44-32.
Echols notched his third touchdown pass of the day as he connected with Maxwell Warren for a 15 yard score midway through the final quarter. S.C. State scored with 15 seconds left to draw within 10 points again, but it was not enough for them to overcome the CSU lead placing the final score at 49-39.
Echols finished the day going 17-29 for 194 yards and three touchdowns as well as 28 yards on the ground. Watters added 72 rushing yards off 14 attempts. Campfield led the receivers with five catches for 82 yards and two scores.
Defensively, Zayachkowsky led the team with 17 tackles to go with a forced fumble and two pass breakups. Avery Dixon added 10 tackles and interception. Tristan Lennon had eight while Kason Hooks and Brandon McDonald each had seven. Jayden Hancock had an interception with Joshua Singleton adding a forced fumble.