Football Recaps - October 30
Posted October 30, 2021
SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 38, Eastern Illinois 15
#12 UT Martin 17, Austin Peay 16
@Tennessee State 27, Murray State 21
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 38, EASTERN ILLINOIS 15
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (3-6, 3-1) used 31 second-half points to key a 38-15 win over Eastern Illinois (1-8, 1-3) Saturday afternoon during Homecoming weekend.
SEMO trailed, 9-7, at halftime before Shabari Davis returned the second half kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown to begin the Redhawks surge. The kickoff return for a touchdown was SEMO's first in three years. Ironically, the Redhawks last kick return for a touchdown also came against EIU (Nov. 17, 2018).
Davis' big special teams play was part of a 17-point third quarter for SEMO. A 36-yard field goal by Kenny Doak and 24-yard touchdown run by CJ Ogbonna gave the Redhawks a 24-9 advantage at the end of three periods.
The Redhawks tacked on 14 more points to bury the Panthers for good.
Johnny King and Rashaan Palmer each caught touchdown passes from Ogbonna. King scored on a 33-yard completion and Palmer scored on a 23-yard pass to polish off SEMO's third Ohio Valley Conference win.
EIU took advantage of an early turnover to score the first points of the game.
On SEMO's first drive of the contest, Palmer caught a 6-yard pass from Ogbonna. Jordan Vincent forced and recovered a fumble on the play, and ran 51 yards to the Redhawks 28-yard line.
After picking up a first down on a fourth-and-6, running back Isaiah Hill ran five yards for a touchdown. Stone Galloway's pass for a 2-point conversion attempt failed and the Panthers led, 6-0, with 8:01 remaining in the first quarter.
SEMO put together an 11-play, 64-yard drive capped by a 17-yard touchdown run by Geno Hess to claim a 7-6 edge. The Redhawks had a fourth-down conversion of their own to keep their possession alive when Ogbonna threw a 16-yard pass to Will Weidemann on a fourth-and-four.
The Panthers responded with a 41-yard field goal by Galloway to regain a 9-7 advantage at halftime.
Ogbonna completed 9-of-16 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 34 yards and another score to lead SEMO. Hess ran for 107 yards and a touchdown. For Hess, it was his fourth-straight 100-yard game and sixth in nine starts this year. Additionally, he went over 1,000 yards (1,006) in a season for the first time in his career.
Special teams wise, Davis wasn't the only one who impacted the game. Punter Zach Haynes averaged 54.7 yards on three punts and twice pinned EIU at its own 1-yard line. Haynes had a 76-yard punt and 51-yarder on those kicks.
Defensively, Omardrick Douglas paved the way with eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a half-sack. Brandon Mincey also had eight tackles, one breakup and a quarterback hurry.
Isaiah Hill led the Panthers with 207 yards and one touchdown on 11 recaptions.
With today's win, the Redhawks improved to 16-14 all-time on Homecoming during its NCAA Division I era. SEMO has won four-straight Homecoming matchups.
#12 UT MARTIN 17, AUSTIN PEAY 16
MARTIN, Tenn. - Trailing 16-7 entering the fourth quarter, UT Martin scored the final 10 points of the game to top Austin Peay 17-16 and extend its winning streak to seven games.
The Skyhawks (7-1, 3-0 OVC) started the final quarter with a 42-yard field goal by Tyler Larco. After getting the ball back, UTM used a 20-play, 96-yard drive that took 8:28 off the block and was capped by a 5-yard pass from Keon Howard to Peyton Logan to give it a one-point lead.
Austin Peay (3-5, 1-2 OVC) had a final chance, bu Maddux Trujillo's 49-yard field goal with seven seconds left was blocked.
TENNESSEE STATE 27, MURRAY STATE 21
NASHVILLE - Tennessee State quarterback Geremy Hickbottom accounted for four touchdowns (3 rushing, 1 throwing) as Tennessee State topped Murray State 27-21 on Homecoming.
The win was the fourth in a row for TSU (5-3, 3-1 OVC), the team's longest winning streak since the 2016 season.