Southeast Football

The glory for New England Patriots wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson on Sunday was in catching two touchdown passes in a 50-10 rout over Jacksonville, which clinched a spot for the team in the upcoming NFL Playoffs. However, the touchdowns weren’t the STORY for Wilkerson, just the GLORY.

Prior to the recent National Signing Day for Southeast Missouri State football, veteran Redhawk coach Tom Matukewicz hoped for the best in terms of how his 2022 recruiting class would unfold, but he’s been in the business long enough to not get his hopes too high before the recruits signed their names.

There is always an excitement for the possibilities that come with a new calendar year, and people will embrace the coming of 2022 with hope based on those possibilities. However, you can’t blame Southeast Missouri State senior running back Geno Hess if he is distraught over the closing of 2021, after all, the past 12 months have been incredible for him.

Luke Berblinger is still in the infancy of his football coaching career, but that didn’t stop veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz from entrusting the future of the program in the hands of the 26-year-old. Matukewicz promoted Berblinger to recruiting coordinator earlier this year and the young Kansas native delivered the largest recruiting class in the history of SEMO football on Wednesday.

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz spoke recently of emphasizing two areas in putting together the Redhawks’ 2022 recruiting class. He wanted to sign Missouri players and he wanted to find high school athletes, more so, than college transfers.

There is never a shortage of people to be impressed with – on or off of the athletic fields – at Southeast Missouri State.

The implementation of the transfer portal has had a seismic impact on intercollegiate athletics over the past couple of years.

Less than eight months after taking ownership of the Southeast Missouri State defense, veteran Redhawk head coach Tom Matukewicz is sliding over from that role. Sort of.

Southeast Missouri State junior punter Zach Haynes is one of 10 finalists for the 2021 FCS Punter of the Year Award. Haynes recorded the sixth-longest punt of the FCS season — the longest punt in the Ohio Valley Conference this year — when he booted a 76-yarder against Eastern Illinois...

Twelve Southeast Missouri State football players were named to All-Ohio Valley Conference teams on Tuesday, including Jackson native Bryce Norman who was named to the second team. Norman — a true freshman — led the Redhawks in tackles with 66 and was the No. 2 freshman tackler in the conference. He also added 7.5 tackles for loss and is one of 23 finalists for the Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award which is awarded to the top freshman FCS player in the country...

It's appropriate that Southeast Missouri State earned a commemorative brick following its 31-14 upset of eighth-ranked Tennessee-Martin. The Skyhawks – crowned Ohio Valley Conference champions a week ago — appeared to hit a brick wall on Saturday at Houck Field...

he fastest man on Southeast Missouri State's roster, Shabari Davis is utilized in a variety of ways. At cornerback, he is often lock-step with the most fleet-footed receivers in the Ohio Valley Conference. As a returner, Davis has blown by kickoff and punt coverage teams...

At least Tom Matukewicz has maintained a sense of humor, all things considered. If Southeast Missouri State didn’t recently have its worst Ohio Valley Conference outing of the season in a 28-10 loss at Murray State, the Redhawks would be playing for a conference championship this week...

MURRAY, Kentucky — Murray State appears to have Southeast Missouri State's number. So does freshman quarterback D.J. Williams. Williams rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns and completed 10 of 17 passes for 175 yards, helping the Racers down the Redhawks 28-10 on Saturday Roy Stewart Stadium...

The Football Championship Subdivision playoffs don’t begin until Nov. 27, but don’t tell that to Southeast Missouri State. SEMO — two wins away from at least a share of the Ohio Valley Conference title and automatic playoff berth  — is playing like they begin tomorrow...

Southeast Missouri State hasn’t had much time to process the enigmatic nature of its season. There’s been highs, including a 3-1 Ohio Valley Conference mark that has the Redhawks in championship contention. There’s been lows, like surrendering multiple second-half leads and dealing with an inordinate amount of key injuries...

Leave it up to one of Southeast Missouri State's most fiery players to ignite the flame. When Shabari Davis ran back the opening second-half kickoff Saturday, it livened a Houck FIeld homecoming crowd witnessed two underwhelming quarters. The electric 86-yard play jolted SEMO, too, which proceeded to handle Eastern Illinois 38-15 to improve 3-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play and keep a potential championship within reach...

The Hess Express can’t leave the station unless the tracks are clear. It can power through logs and boulders, but this train — conducted by All-American running back Geno Hess — prefers a clearer passage. Sizable men like Southeast Missouri State offensive lineman Jaden Rosenthall provide it...

When Bryce Norman began his first collegiate practices in August, the former Jackson star linebacker figured he’d earn early time on kickoff and punt teams. When injuries depleted his position group last month, he was thrust into a much bigger role...

Look to the left Southeast Missouri State's dual record and it conveys hardships, a brawny schedule and squandered opportunities. Look to the right — the Redhawks' standing in the Ohio Valley Conference — and there's hope. SEMO (2-6, 2-1 OVC) dives into the most important three-game stretch of its schedule on Saturday when it hosts Eastern Illinois (1-7, 1-2) for homecoming...

MARTIN, Tenn. — It still had a heartbeat, but it was faint. When Southeast Missouri State defensive tackle Bryson Donnell recovered a fumble by Tennessee-Martin quarterback Keon Edwards with 2:12 left in the fourth quarter on Saturday, the Redhawks were in a position to push the country's 13th-ranked team to overtime...

It’s been awhile since Southeast Missouri State has experienced the sting of a losing season. The Redhawks have been an upper-tier Ohio Valley Conference program in recent years, a stretch that includes back-to-back postseason berths and a 2019 OVC title...

Both of Zach Smith’s senior seasons were derailed. Southeast Missouri State’s sure-handed receiver has had the strange experience of being granted a pandemic-related mulligan for his final year of eligibility followed by another frustrating setback...

If Southeast Missouri State can take any solace from Saturday's gut-punching 32-31 loss to Murray State, it's that it didn't count. Not in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, anyway. Racers sophomore quarterback D.J. Williams — making his first collegiate start — orchestrated a six-play, 84-yard drive in the final 62 seconds, an effort capped by Aaron Baum's 35-yard game-winning field goal that took the air out of a half-filled-because-of-stadium-conditions Houck Field...

Southeast Missouri State hasn’t strayed from its identity, but continues to learn about itself. Its secondary — a once-shaky unit that’s since helped the Redhawks rank No. 7 in the country in turnovers (13) — has swiftly matured. It’s rotating two quarterbacks in C.J. Ogbonna and Jalyn Williams, the latter getting most of the reps the past two games despite coming off the bench...

The shrinking Ohio Valley and Southland football conferences have agreed to an alliance to help fill their respective 2022 and 2023 schedules. Recent OVC departures include Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky, which have largely affected Southeast Missouri State's 2021 schedule...

One of the most menacing linebackers to play in the Football Champion Subdivision, Southeast Missouri State alum Zach Hall continues to punish ball carriers. He doesn't need a helmet these days. Hall — winner of the 2018 Buck Buchanan Award, the FCS level's most prestigious defensive award — has transitioned to professional rugby...

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — At a fork in the Ohio Valley Conference road, Southeast Missouri State yanked the steering wheel. The Redhawks  chose the correct course Saturday when their turnover-forcing defense spoiled Austin Peay's homecoming 31-14 at Fortera Field...

It had the leg, but not the direction. Kenny Doak’s 56-yard field goal attempt against light gusts Saturday at Tennessee Tech sailed outside the left upright. It was late in the second quarter, so Southeast Missouri State — then holding a 7-0 lead — wasn’t at a point of desperation...

Southeast Missouri State’s margin for error got a whole lot thinner. When Tennessee Tech upset the Redhawks 28-17 on Saturday in Cookeville, it put an early dent in their Ohio Valley Conference title hopes. Next up: OVC heavyweights.  SEMO (1-4, 1-1 OVC) turns its attention to Austin Peay a (2-3, 0-0), a former league doormat that tied for second with the Redhawks in the preseason coaches poll behind favorite Murray State, which visits Houck Field next week...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech looked like the team that couldn't total five September touchdowns. The Golden Eagles appeared offensively inept Saturday, mustering just 27 first-half yards against Southeast Missouri State in front of a sparse crowd at Tucker Stadium...

It’s easy to distinguish Aaron Alston from the rest of Southeast Missouri State’s receivers. At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Alston’s length and bounce help get him over the top of smaller Football Championship Subdivision defensive backs. He can stick his foot in the ground, too, on sharp intermediate routes...

Southeast Missouri State swiftly reminded the Ohio Valley Conference that its early-season lumps provided beneficial lessons for an important stretch. The Redhawks’ 47-14 home demolition of Tennessee State on Saturday to open OVC play was the first of eight steps in their pursuit of December football...

As it turns out, about a lot of things in life, your parents were correct when they advised us all as youth that we are known by the company that we keep. That is applicable in social circles, education, business, and politics. And it is true in intercollegiate athletics, as well.

Jackson State saw its relatively obscure Football Championship Subdivision profile hit an upsurge with the unforeseen hire of Deion Sanders. Former Cape Central and Southeast Missouri State defensive back Al Young noticed. When the HBCU school brought on one of football’s most prominent figures, it immediately changed the complexion of a small Mississippi program that rarely enjoyed success...

Geno Hess kept his legs pumping as he hit holes - some narrower than others - with a full head of steam. When the Southeast Missouri State running back wasn't punishing Tennessee State linebackers on Saturday at Houck Field, he was sprinting past defensive backs...

Two minutes of postgame press conference video after Saturday's convincing Ohio Valley Conference win.

Southeast Missouri State fans who can't use Houck Stadium' south grandstands due to recent safety concerns, take solace. Your stadium is getting a major upgrade. The 91-year-old venue was approved for construction Friday by the Missouri State Board of Governors, a pursuit that will be done in three phases...

Tom Matukewicz, the Southeast Missouri State head man who’s helped turn the Redhawks into a consistent Ohio Valley Conference contender, has had better years. The pandemic did no favors for SEMO and the 2020-delayed Football Championship Subdivision, opening the door for several key players to make the leap to the larger Football Bowl Subdivision, including new Auburn safety Bydarrius Knighten...

When Bryson Donnell isn’t using his feet to come off the edge of Southeast Missouri State’s defensive line, his hands are creating havoc in the interior. At 6-foot-2 and 300 pounds, the versatile Donnell bears the aesthetic of a true defensive tackle, but his athleticism and innate nose for the football give him license to line up in different techniques. ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. - By the time the Mizzou marching band broke into its rendition of AJR's "Bang" at Memorial Stadium, its hit chorus matched the Tigers' first three drives against a visibly outclassed Southeast Missouri State. Bang. Bang. Bang. It took Mizzou all of 17 first-quarter plays for the nation's all-purpose yards leader, Tyler Badie, to score on a 49-yard touchdown, a 11-yard reception and for preseason All-SEC quarterback Connor Bazelak to hit D'ionte Smith on a 46-yard scoring strike...

Connor Tollison doesn’t have clearance to speak to the media, an almost universal policy for Power 5 true freshmen. But before the hulking offensive tackle cracked Mizzou’s two-deep depth chart, he cleared sizable running lanes for a Jackson High offense that had its way with Class 5 opposition...

Many of the same Southeast Missouri State figures who endured a 50-0 thrashing at the hands of Mizzou in 2019 get a mulligan on Saturday. Geno Hess and Zion Custis - an established 1-2 punch in the Redhawks' backfield - were a pair of unknown underclassmen who combined for a meager 34 yards on 16 carries in Columbia...

A confluence of injuries, new faces and perhaps the toughest nonconferernce slate in the Football Championship Subdivision makes Southeast Missouri State a hard team to gauge among its Ohio Valley Conference peers. That won't change Saturday after SEMO locks up with physically superior Mizzou, which cut the Redhawks a $550,000 check for the short trek to Columbia...

Moments into Kennett’s wild 40-38 win over Ste. Genevieve last Friday, Indian senior LaTrevion Thompson exhibited his athletic brilliance.

As Southeast Missouri State kicker Kenny Doak lined up for a 47-yard field goal late in the second quarter Saturday, top-ranked Sam Houston was on its heels. The Redhawks -- playing a cleaner, more assertive brand of football than they did in a season-opening blowout loss to rival Southern Ilinois -- were moving the football on a defense chalked with All-Americans...

Quarterbacks and linebackers zipping across Southeast Missouri high school football fields on Friday weren’t yet born. Most of Southeast Missouri State’s players were infants and toddlers. They’re aware of the magnitude of Sept. 11, 2001, the most somber day in American history, but didn’t experience the real-time shock and heartbreak of millions as smoke billowed from the Twin Towers...

If there's an asterisk near Sam Houston State's recent national championship, it conveys circumstance more than the legitimacy of the Football Championship Subdivision power. The Bearkats - annually among the top FCS programs in the country - concluded a strange, truncated and pandemic-delayed 2020 season in May when they clipped South Dakota State 23-21 for the subdivision's crown...

Whataburger is on Terry Cook's mind. Texas -- home of the popular fast-food chain -- is in the 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior's soul. When the Southeast Missouri State offensive tackle sinks his teeth into his foremost burger this weekend, just one ingredient can enhance its flavor: An upset over top-ranked Sam Houston State on Saturday in Huntsville, Texas, a two-hour trek from Cook's hometown of Elgin...