Southeast Football

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz was certainly not born with a silver whistle in his mouth, which enabled him to have a carefree journey through his career, so, when it comes to hiring Redhawk assistant coaches, he takes a liking to guys who had to climb their way to this point. That absolutely applies to first-year SEMO defensive line coach Kevon Beckwith. “He has kind of had to take the back stairs,” Matukewicz said of Beckwith’s career.

There is only one tight end that receives recognition by the Ohio Valley Conference on each of its postseason honor squads, and Southeast Missouri State senior Will Weidemann was named to the league’s Second Team last season, which means there was only one other player at that position in the conference deemed better than him.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz didn’t necessarily plan on having to utilize Redhawk true freshman outside linebacker Latrevion Thompson last fall. However, injuries, as well as Thompson showing some potential, forced the Redhawk coaches' hands, and the former Kennett High School standout ultimately participated in five games.

What has never been debatable has been the talent level on a football field that former North County High School standout Nolan Reed possessed. The only question was: Where exactly should he play to best utilize his talents?

There are six pages distributed each game week by the Southeast Missouri State media relations department chronicling the accomplishments of 10th-year Redhawk football coach Tom Matukewicz. However, if you listen to Matukewicz speak in advance of the opening of spring practice on Wednesday, he comes across as a guy who is hungry for success as a coach on his first day on the job.

A Poplar Bluff Mules football player is taking a different route to continue his career on the gridiron. Offensive lineman and defensive tackle Kayson King signed his letter of commitment as a preferred walk-on last Friday with Southeast Missouri State University...

After a successful high school football career at Scott City over the past four seasons, Ram senior defensive back Trent Lathum will challenge himself at the next level.

What became very clear in November for the Southeast Missouri State football program was that without the services of starting quarterback Paxton DeLaurent, who injured his foot in a rout of Tennessee State on Nov. 5, the Redhawks were still a good team capable of winning games, but they weren’t an elite-level squad.

If there is a football coach – at any level – throughout Southeast Missouri that has earned the right to chill a bit this off-season, it would be 10th-year Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz.

Some college football programs will add to their Class of 2023 recruiting classes today, as the second of two National Signing Days kicks off. However, in the case of Southeast Missouri State, the work of the Redhawk coaching staff, in particular, first-year recruiting coordinator Madison Bunch, is complete. SEMO added 26 signees from 10 different states during the initial signing period in December, and the overall assessment of the class, which was under the guidance of Bunch, was positive.

Four years ago, after watching Southeast Missouri State left tackle Drew Forbes be selected in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, veteran Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz stated that “the guy on the O-line that we’ll really miss is Lucas Orchard.”

Last month, the Southeast Missouri State football program signed 26 student-athletes from 10 states, several of which are already in Cape Girardeau, as the program begins its work today towards another Ohio Valley Conference championship.

Wednesday was a big day for the Southeast Missouri State football program because it was National Signing Day, and the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference champion squad inked 26 new players for the 2023 season. However, as happy as ninth-year Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz was, he was even happier than expected because of who “verbally” committed to the 2023 Redhawks.

Longtime Missouri State Director of Athletics, Kyle Moats, may have found himself on Thursday in the enviable position of having to make a monumental task, relatively easily.

The Southeast Missouri State University football recently wrapped up its 2022 campaign. The Redhawks won the Ohio Valley Conference league title, punching their ticket for the FCS where they would lose a hard-fought game against Montana. Here's a look at the Redhawks season by the numbers...

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has been coaching football for parts of four decades, so it is fairly difficult to get something past him as he observes a team. That was true in January when he pulled the 2022 Redhawks together for the first time. It was in those early days that he believed he saw something different about this team...

Ninth-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz wasted no time in announcing his off-season priorities following his team’s loss at Montana in the recent FCS Playoffs.

The disappointing 34-24 loss on Saturday by Southeast Missouri State football at Montana in the opening round of the FCS Playoffs wasn’t even 30 minutes old when Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz acknowledged the reality facing him. “What makes the loss so sad,” Matukewicz said, “is that 2022 is over, and there are such unbelievable men (in that locker room), who I won’t get to coach anymore.”

After consecutive non-winning seasons in 2020 and 2021, the followers of Southeast Missouri State football were more than likely surprised at how magnificent the 2022 season, in which the Redhawks won a share of the Ohio Valley Conference championship, unfolded.

The magnitude of today’s FCS Playoff football game for Southeast Missouri State is not lost on ninth-year Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz.

Over the last two weeks, ninth-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has referred to the availability of injured sophomore quarterback Paxton DeLaurent as a “game-time decision.”

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz is among 16 finalists for the 2022 Eddie Robinson Award, which is presented to the national coach of the year in college football's Division I subdivision.

There is no love lost between rivals Murray State and Southeast Missouri State. On the football field, the Racers had beaten the Redhawks three consecutive times, and on Saturday at Houck Field, they had hopes of doing two things: * Making something of their dismal two-win season with a closing win over a rival, and * Ruining SEMO’s hopes of winning an Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship The Redhawks had other ideas.

The Southeast Missouri State football program has already achieved one of its “missions” this season.

When a football program has been as great as Southeast Missouri State has been this season, no one wants to see it conclude, but that is the case as far as the regular season is concerned for the Redhawks today.

You couldn’t blame Southeast Missouri State freshman Patrick Heitert if he – at times – drifted off with his concentration level throughout this football season.

The future at the quarterback position for Southeast Missouri State is without question in the hands (and arm) of sophomore Paxton DeLaurent. However, in Saturday’s 31-7 win at Eastern Illinois, freshman Patrick Heitert had an impressive enough collegiate debut that the immediate future may be pretty good in HIS hands.

Ninth-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz would more than likely dispute that there is a downside to achieving success as a football program, however, if there are any negatives to winning a lot of games, one could be that it results in other programs stealing the Redhawk assistant coaches on an annual basis.

A year ago, Southeast Missouri State quarterback CJ Ogbonna was THE man. He started 11 games in 2021, including a season-ending beating of then-No. 8-ranked UT Martin, a game in which he threw for over 200 yards and three touchdowns.

The tale of the great Geno Hess added “another unbelievable chapter” on Saturday, as the Southeast Missouri State junior running back became the Redhawks’ all-time leader in rushing yards in a 42-0 beating of Ohio Valley Conference opponent Tennessee State at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

“The Music City Miracle” is known throughout Nashville as the famous kick-off return for a touchdown pulled off by the NFL’s Tennessee Titans to win an AFC playoff game in the final seconds 23 years ago. However, something of a “miracle” took part on Saturday in the same Nissan Stadium that former Titans Frank Wychek and Kevin Dyson made memorable.

With all due respect to the Southeast Missouri State football coaching staff, who have sung the praises of Redhawk Geno Hess all season, the junior running back drew adulation recently from a pretty impressive admirer.

When Kristian Wilkerson caught his 219th and final pass of his magnificent football career at Southeast Missouri State less than three years ago, common sense would have told everyone that Redhawk fans would probably never see a wide receiver of that caliber again.

Following his team’s 28-23 home loss to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at Houck Field, ninth-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz said what every coach should say following a disappointing loss, which was: You win, and you lose, as a team.

Today’s Southeast Missouri State football game won’t impact the Redhawks’ goal of winning an Ohio Valley Conference championship in any way, due to the fact that its opponent, Eastern Kentucky, left the league for the Atlantic Sun Conference a couple of years ago.

The Eastern Kentucky football team not being ranked in the FCS Top 25, more than likely due to its 4-3 record, is precisely why national polls, whether they be in sports or politics, are often nonsensical.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz is constantly thinking up ways to challenge his players to overcome new obstacles, but that task is getting more and more difficult with the 2022 squad.

Ninth-year Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz loves to talk about “all of the sugar-coated lies” that the media and fans heap onto his nationally-ranked team when things are going well. However, sometimes he can’t help himself from being a tad giddy about his program.

The 2022 Southeast Missouri State football program is venturing into rare territory this season after winning five of its initial six games. The No. 18-ranked Redhawks (2-0 Ohio Valley Conference) were off this past week and will travel to Northwestern State on Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN+).

It can’t possibly be fun to be a football coach in the Ohio Valley Conference this season when it comes to preparing to play Southeast Missouri State. The No. 21-ranked Redhawks have beaten every FCS opponent they have played this season and with Saturday’s 34-20 win over Tennessee Tech, SEMO (5-1, 2-0 OVC) has won five straight games heading into this week’s bye week.

Dewayne Alexander has been guiding the Tennessee Tech football program since 2018, which coincidentally, is the same length of time that Geno Hess has been carrying the ball for Southeast Missouri State, which isn’t lost on Alexander. “Quite honestly,” Alexander said this week of Hess, “I am tired of seeing him. He is a good football player.”

The Southeast Missouri State football program has won four consecutive games and is currently ranked as high as No. 21 in the latest national poll, as it hosts Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee Tech (1-3, 0-1 OVC) today at Houck Field at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).

ST. CHARLES – At 56 years of age, I still have difficulty differentiating between a “watch” and a “warning” as those terms relate to inclement weather. However, in the case of Lindenwood University joining the Ohio Valley Conference this summer, the remainder of the OVC athletic programs need to prepare themselves, because the Lions have the right conditions for success (so “watch” for them), and without question, Lindenwood is coming to achieve success – soon – in the league (so take “warning”).

Two former members of the Southeast Missouri State football program teamed up to release a book detailing the program’s long history. Eliott Shostak and Matt Chaney’s book titled, “SEMO Football Player Stories And Program History,” released on Aug. 9...

ST. CHARLES – Four years ago, Geno Hess was just another face in the Southeast Missouri State offensive backfield during his freshman season.

During his six seasons guiding the Lindenwood University football program, coach Jed Stugart has felt that he has competed with Southeast Missouri State on the recruiting front long before 2022.

For what it is worth (which isn’t much), the latest FCS Coaches Poll continues to hand the Southeast Missouri State football program a dose of humility. Despite the Redhawks having played impressively through four weeks, which included a beating of then No. 17-ranked Southern Illinois in Carbondale, the aforementioned poll continues to rank the Salukis (26th) ahead of SEMO (32nd).

The sign of a really good football team is being able to win when it doesn’t play its best, which is precisely what Southeast Missouri State did on Saturday at Houck Field against Central Arkansas in beating the Bears 35-27.

When the name Zach Hall is mentioned within the confines of the Rosengarten Athletic Complex at Southeast Missouri State, there is a pause that follows, because what that name constitutes is a reverence that is almost a defensive Jesus.

It may only seem that the 2022 Southeast Missouri State football season has been all lollipops and unicorns because the Redhawks have often looked magnificent in their performances and execution. However, the reality is that adversity will hit a program in the chest as soon as it gets too comfortable, and SEMO is having to figure out how to navigate some adversity now.