Southeast Missouri Stays Unbeaten in the OVC, Grinds Out 20-10 Win at Eastern Illinois

Eastern Illinois led by a touchdown for most of the second quarter, with a Homecoming crowd behind it. Then Southeast Missouri scored on the last play before halftime and again two plays into the second half, and the Panthers never caught up.

Southeast Missouri beat Eastern Illinois 20-10 on Saturday afternoon at O'Brien Field in Charleston, a win built on a ground game that would not quit and 14 points around the break. The Redhawks improved to 5-3 and 3-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference, keeping them unbeaten in league play. Eastern Illinois fell to 2-6 and 1-2.

It was also Southeast Missouri's ninth straight win in the series, and a third straight win overall for coach Tom Matukewicz's team.

A slow start, then a Panthers lead

The first quarter was a field goal trade. Justin Keller put the Redhawks on the board with a 44-yarder with 5:09 left in the quarter, and Drew Schiller answered for Eastern Illinois from 29 yards with two seconds left on the clock.

The Panthers' defense then did what it has done all season. Jerry Addo-Boateng picked off Braylen Ragland in the second quarter, his second interception of the year, and Eastern Illinois has now forced a turnover in 11 straight games. The offense cashed in right away. Cole LaCrue found Samuel Gonzalez for an 18-yard touchdown on the following drive, and the Panthers led 10-3 with 12:22 left in the half.

For a team that had lost a 20-13 heartbreaker to Lindenwood the week before, when a potential tying drive died on fourth-and-6 inside the red zone, it was exactly the start Eastern Illinois needed.

The turning point

The next few minutes of game clock changed everything.

Keller cut the lead to 10-6 with a 29-yard field goal with 3:37 left in the half. Then Southeast Missouri got the ball back and made the most of it, with Ragland hitting Jobe Bryant for a 4-yard touchdown as time expired in the second quarter. A Homecoming crowd that had watched its team lead for most of the second quarter headed into the break down 13-10.

The Redhawks were not finished. Khylen Harris-Norman took the opening kickoff of the second half deep into Eastern Illinois territory, and only a touchdown-saving tackle by Alex Stoyanovich kept him out of the end zone. Nobody should have been surprised. Harris-Norman returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown against Central Arkansas earlier this season, tying the program record, and came into the day among the OVC's best in kick return average. The tackle did not buy much time anyway. Two plays later, Khyair Spain ran 16 yards for a touchdown, and it was 20-10.

That was 14 points in what amounted to a handful of snaps around halftime, and it was the last scoring of the day. The touchdown at the end of the half was the backbreaker. Eastern Illinois had controlled most of the second quarter and went to the locker room trailing anyway.

Grinding it out

From there, Southeast Missouri did what good teams with a lead do. It ran the ball and ran the clock.

The Redhawks finished with 219 rushing yards on 47 carries. Tyrell Reed Jr. led the way with 109 yards on 18 carries, including a long of 34, and Spain added 74 yards and the touchdown on 22 carries. Between them, the two backs touched the ball 40 times on the ground. Southeast Missouri ran 74 plays to Eastern Illinois' 55 and held the ball for 36:50, leaving the Panthers just 23:10 to work with.

Ragland, a transfer from Alabama State, did not need to do much through the air. He completed 19 of 27 passes for 139 yards with the touchdown and the interception, spreading the ball to eight different receivers. Bryant led the way with five catches for 35 yards.

Eastern Illinois keeps knocking

To its credit, Eastern Illinois kept making plays in the fourth quarter. Kaleb Lyons blocked a punt to set the Panthers up in Southeast Missouri territory, giving them a real chance to make it a one-score game.

They went for the big one, and the Redhawks were waiting. David Jones intercepted a pass at the goal line to snuff out the threat, and with it, the comeback.

LaCrue threw for 210 yards and the touchdown, completing 14 of 34 passes. Eli Evans was his favorite target with six catches for 83 yards, and three other Panthers, Gonzalez among them, made catches of 18 yards or longer. On defense, Alex Koulovatos led the Panthers with eight tackles.

The stats that matter

The rushing numbers tell the story. Southeast Missouri ran for 219 yards. Eastern Illinois ran for 31 on 21 carries, an average of 1.5 per attempt, with Charles Kellom managing 19 yards on 10 carries. The Redhawks also sacked LaCrue twice.

When one team cannot run, it has to throw, and LaCrue's 34 attempts were the result. Eastern Illinois actually outgained Southeast Missouri through the air, 210 to 139, but the Redhawks won total yardage 358 to 241 and controlled the clock.

Turnovers came out even at one apiece, and both teams' defenses had their moments. The difference was that Southeast Missouri's points came at the right times, at the end of the first half and the start of the second, while Eastern Illinois' last real chance ended at the goal line. Keller made two of his three field goal tries, and the eight points he scored were nearly the margin by themselves.

What it means

For Southeast Missouri, this is the kind of win that keeps a conference race honest. The nonconference slate was rough, with losses at Iowa State and Southern Illinois and a 20-17 home loss to West Florida, but league play has been a different story. Wins at Lindenwood and over Western Illinois, both with 38 points or more, came before this grinder in Charleston, which shows the Redhawks can win in more than one way. The Redhawks came into the day tied for first in the OVC with UT Martin and as the only league team with a winning record overall. They are now 3-0 in league play with three straight wins, and the formula is clear. Run the ball, win the clock and let Keller handle the rest. Next on the schedule was a home game against Gardner-Webb in Cape Girardeau on Oct. 31.

For Eastern Illinois, it was another one that got away. This is a team that trailed No. 2 South Dakota State just 14-7 at halftime in September before falling 42-7, and it has been competitive far more often than its record suggests. The Panthers have lost back-to-back home games by a combined 17 points, and the defense, which forced six turnovers in a 21-7 win at Gardner-Webb earlier this month, has kept them in games. The offense, and especially the run game, has to give it more help. Next on the schedule for Eastern Illinois was a rare Halloween game at UT Martin. Both programs have more details on their sites, including the Eastern Illinois recap (opens in a new tab) and the box score (opens in a new tab).

The last word

Homecoming at O'Brien Field had all the ingredients for a Panthers upset of the OVC leader. A takeaway, a lead, a blocked punt in the fourth quarter.

What it did not have was an answer for the 14 points Southeast Missouri scored around halftime, or for a running game that kept the Panthers' offense on the sideline for nearly 37 minutes. That is how a league leader wins on the road without its best day, and it is why the Redhawks are still unbeaten in the OVC.

Sources: Eastern Illinois Athletics recap, Southeast Missouri game notes and the box score via FOX Sports. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: EIU Athletics.