Southeast Football

This is the third of a four-part series on Ryan Flournoy as he prepares for the NFL Draft. In just two years, Ryan Flournoy left behind a legacy at Southeast Missouri State University. From the beginning of his collegiate football career at the University of Central Missouri to finding his way to Cape Girardeau where he made his mark, Flournoy now has a chance to be the highest-drafted player in Redhawks history at the 2024 NFL Draft...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. — With every carry, Jamarion Smith is out to prove something. Few could have predicted the meteoric rise of Portageville running back, but after a quiet start to his high school career, an engine that never quits and tireless drive transformed him into a record-breaking force...

For new Southeast Missouri State wide receiver Tate Crane, the transition from Division II Truman State to the FCS ranks is as similar to going from being an undergraduate student to graduate school. Which he just so happens to be doing at SEMO. The Iowa native will have one season of eligibility and will compete with returning wide receivers Jack Clinkenbeard and Dorian Anderson for key roles left by Ryan Flournoy and Damoriea Vick. ...

This is the second of a five-part series on Ryan Flournoy as he prepares for the NFL Draft. Ryan Flournoy is inching ever closer to fulfilling his lifelong dream of being drafted to the NFL, but, the dream had to start somewhere. For Flournoy, it began when he was five years old...

Coaching staff changes are a natural annual occurrence in today’s college football. Success leads to new opportunities for assistants to become head coaches and failure leads to them falling on the sword and off their perch. After following up an Ohio Valley Conference championship season in 2022 with a 4-7 2023 season, the Redhawks entered the spring with new faces on the staff and a new approach to practices...

The current state of college recruiting and name, image, and likeness, are forever intertwined. And just because Southeast Missouri State is a mid-major and FCS Division I program, that does not mean the Redhawks can allow themselves to be left in the dust...

Spring practice continues for the Southeast Missouri State football team at Houck Field. The Redhawks had their first inter-squad scrimmage this past Saturday and are halfway past Week 2 of practices. The theme of the spring has been integrating the newcomers and sort out the competition for who will be in position to replace receiver Ryan Flournoy and running back Geno Hess by training camp...

Southeast Missouri State football fans are familiar with seeing Ryan Flournoy perform on Saturdays, but they might not be familiar with who the standout SEMO wide receiver is off the field...

Jared Pedraza arrived at SEMO as a grad transfer looking for a new opportunity to continue his college football career. Instead, he found a new home in Cape Girardeau.

Preparations for the 2024 college football season have begun for the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks, who began their slate of 15 spring practices on Tuesday, March 19, at Houck Field. SEMO’s 15 practices will stretch over the next five weeks, concluding with the team's annual spring game on Apr. 20. 92 total players arrived at the stadium to participate in spring drills and put on the pads and helmet for the first time since November of last year...

The Southeast Missouri State football squad took its next step in development for the 2024 season on Tuesday, as the squad gathered for the first of 14 spring practices before playing in its annual spring game on April 20 at Houck Field (5:30 p.m.).

The biggest positive for the Southeast Missouri State football program as it begins spring drills on Tuesday will be the fact that senior quarterback Paxton DeLaurent doesn’t have his arm in a sling any longer.

The fact remains that in three of the past six football seasons, Southeast Missouri State has won nine games in three of those seasons (2018, 2019, 2022), won the Ohio Valley Conference championship twice (2019, 2022), and advanced to the FCS Playoffs in each of those nine-win campaigns...

With the career Southeast Missouri State running back Geno Hess has had over his six seasons, one would think he would be a locked-in pick for the NFL Draft. Had he worn a more prolific uniform. Hess finished his Redhawk career with 5,111 rushing yards and 63 touchdowns. In 2022, he rushed for 1,691 yards and 21 scores to be voted 2023 OVC Male Athlete of the Year...

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks wide receiver Ryan Flournoy had a successful weekend at the 2024 NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Flournoy posted a 4.44 in the 40-yard dash, ran a 1.53 in the 10-yard split, and had a vertical jump of 39.5” and a broad jump of 11’0”...

Jackson senior Adrian Fox only had one chance to prove that he not only had what it took to be a starting quarterback in the highest class of high school in Missouri, but also at the collegiate level. He proved to be the real deal, as he finished the season with over 1,900 passing yards while leading the Fighting Indians to a district championship...

Mark Panagos and Tyson Underwood have spent their entire careers as two of Scott City's top athletes over the last four years, especially on the gridiron. On Wednesday, what has long felt like the inevitable became reality, as the senior duo signed their letter of intent to play college football in front of coaches, friends, and family...

It didn’t take long for veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz to realize that Redhawk wide receiver Ryan Flournoy was unique. Just days into his first practices in the spring of 2022, Matukewicz remarked that Flournoy “scores a touchdown every day.”

Tom Matukewicz is entering his 11th season of leading the Southeast Missouri State football program and his objective for his student-athletes during the winter months has never been in question.

After spending a year in Cape Girardeau, the one thing that has pleasantly surprised me about this place is how many athletes currently competing at Southeast Missouri State who have aspirations for a career in journalism. Chandler Davis plays on the SEMO women’s basketball team and recently covered the football team as a reporter for the student newspaper, the Southeast Arrow. ...

A lot of football fans are under the mistaken belief that the 2024 football season for Southeast Missouri State will begin next August, however, that is definitely NOT the case.

The world of collegiate athletics is a new one in terms of leading a program and building a roster.

After making his initial commitment back in August, Zane Coon celebrated college football’s National Signing Day by putting pen to paper and inking his National Letter of Intent to Southeast Missouri State University. Taking place in Jackson High School’s Event Center commons, Coon’s signing confirmed that he’d join his father, SEMO defensive coordinator Ricky Coon, as a Redhawk football player...

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz, now entering his 11th season with the program, gave his annual press conference on National Signing Day on Tuesday, and like every college football coach across America, he expressed an air of optimism.

Jackson native among 2023 SEMO Hall of Fame class Southeast Missouri State announced its 2023 Hall of Fame Class on Wednesday, Dec. 13. Among the six-member class is Jackson native Blake Smith, who currently runs the Cape Girardeau based athletic training center, Prep Athletics...

Have you ever wanted to learn how to camp and fish with an “elite tent camper,” who also serves as the head football coach at Southeast Missouri State (Tom Matukewicz)?

In the present, veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has to figure out how to get his program back on track following Saturday’s season-ending 45-21 loss at Bryant in Smithfield, R.I.

In the Big South/OVC Football Association standings, there is little significance that will come from Saturday’s match-up between Southeast Missouri State (4-6, 3-2) at Bryant (5-5, 3-2). However, from a test of character perspective, veteran Redhawk Coach Tom Matukewicz sees a lot of value that can come from both teams having an opportunity to wrap up their seasons on a positive note.

Since his football players returned to Cape Girardeau from their 2022 Christmas Break in January, veteran Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz has been preaching on the “mission” of this team winning a Big South/OVC Football Association championship and advancing to the 2023 FCS Playoffs.

There is no need for a dramatic motivational speech delivered by veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz this week. His team is traveling to No. 16-ranked UT Martin (7-2, 4-1 Big South/OVC Football Association) on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN+), and all that is riding on this game is how the Redhawk fan base will view this entire season.

Southeast Missouri State linebacker Bryce Norman picked the last home game of the season to have the game of his life. The Jackson High School alum had 3.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and a touchdown. Norman had dealt with injuries since the start of the season, so this was a sign of the junior returning to form...

When you have the most successful football program in your conference for a length of time, watching each senior class exit the program on an annual basis is bound to be a somewhat disheartening endeavor.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has spoken for years about the importance of chemistry among the offensive line unit. After graduating three starters from the 2022 offensive line, formulating that degree of necessary cohesion up front has been a process since January, and will continue on Saturday.

While it is factual to state that the 35-31 victory at Nicholls on Saturday by the Southeast Missouri State football squad had no bearing on whether the Redhawks can make the postseason, 10th-year SEMO coach Tom Matukewicz knew that it played a significant role in determining how the remainder of this season unfolded.

There isn’t a college athlete in America who signs with a program envisioning never getting an opportunity to play, and you can include Southeast Missouri State redshirt freshman Patrick Heitert in the group.

In a season that has frustrated the fans of Southeast Missouri State football, and one in which veteran Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz referred to as “crazy” on Tuesday, just got a whole lot worse.

We’ve seen this scenario unfold before.

Of all the positions on a football field, the position group that is most thought of in terms of pizzazz, are the wide receivers.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz drank a gallon of truth serum before his postgame press conference on Saturday following the Redhawks’ 35-28 win over Eastern Illinois at Houck Field.

Southeast Missouri State beat Eastern Illinois 35-28 in Big South/OVC Football Association action on Saturday at Houck Field in front of 7,236 fans. So, let’s be clear, the Redhawks won the game, and thus, snapped a three-game losing streak.

When the Southeast Missouri State offensive line had to replace three starters this fall, veteran Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz knew in training camp that getting that unit to reach its potential was a process, not something instantaneous.

For the fans of Southeast Missouri State football who show up to Houck Field on Saturday afternoon to celebrate Homecoming, as well as cheer on the Redhawks to a victory, they need to see the trees, not necessarily focused on the forests, figuratively speaking.

If something occurs once, well, stuff happens.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz has had two weeks to analyze just how a season with magnificent potential has evolved into a 1-3 start with a tough road challenge staring his team in the face on Saturday, and his evaluation this week was pretty concise and blunt.

Buried beneath the 1-3 mark in the win-loss column for the Southeast Missouri State football program so far this fall, is the indisputable fact that the Redhawks have had several areas of play that have been strong.

If a physician was examining the 2023 Southeast Missouri State football program today, the most critical thing that he/she would have to be careful NOT to do is confuse the symptoms with the diagnosis.

There may be no statistic that veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz speaks of with more emphasis than turnover margin.

An experienced and successful college basketball coach once explained how he got over the frustration of losing a recruit to another program, whom he had spent years (plural) pursuing with zeal.

The greats write songs about Saturday nights. “It's getting late, have you seen my mates,” the legendary Sir Elton John screamed. “Ma, tell me when the boys get here…”

The punt game for Southeast Missouri State took a hit last December when the best punter in the Ohio Valley Conference, Zach Haynes, decided to leave the Redhawks for the FBS program at New Mexico State.