Southeast football team suffers heartbreaker at Jacksonville State

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- Just about everything has gone right for the Southeast Missouri State football team during this historic season.

It looked like that was going to happen one more time -- until junior quarterback Marques Ivory and Jacksonville State finally rained on the Redhawks' parade.

Ivory fired a 17-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Alan Bonner with 11 seconds left as a Southeast defender appeared to hang on Ivory's leg.

That capped a frantic finish and ended a wildly entertaining game between this year's Ohio Valley Conference heavyweights.

JSU was the last squad standing Saturday afternoon with a 29-27 win, but both sides agreed that there were no real losers in the matchup between the sixth-ranked Gamecocks and seventh-ranked Redhawks.

"It was two top 10 teams. Both of them believed they were going to win," JSU coach Jack Crowe said.

Southeast junior quarterback Matt Scheible was asked if he ever had participated in such an instant classic.

"Back in high school, I think we had a triple overtime game or maybe double overtime. But that's high school," Scheible said. "I've never been a part of anything like this."

The lead changed hands six times over the final 18 minutes, 16 seconds. There never was more than a one-score separation between the teams.

"It was a great game," Southeast senior linebacker Joshua Jackson said. "This is something you live to play for."

And the good news for the Redhawks is that it's a virtual certainty they'll live to play another day.

Despite having their nine-game winning streak snapped and being denied an outright OVC title -- at least for now -- the Redhawks are a lock to earn a playoff berth, which would be the first in school history.

Southeast, which ended the regular season 9-2 overall and 7-1 in conference play, already earned at least a share of the program's first OVC championship.

The Redhawks still have a shot at capturing the outright league title, which would happen if JSU (9-1, 6-1) loses at Tennessee Tech on Nov. 20 in the Gamecocks' regular-season finale.

"Nothing could be greater than the outright championship," senior linebacker Justin Woodlief said. "We still have a chance at it."

Crowe gave kudos to Southeast coach Tony Samuel, whose squad has recorded one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history after going 2-9 and finishing last in the OVC a year ago.

"Nobody has done a better job since I've been in this league than Tony Samuel," Crowe said.

Samuel naturally was disappointed in the loss but not much else.

"It's a sad, sad finish for us. But it was a great game. It was a battle," he said. "No one will understand how proud I am. I can't be prouder.

"Nobody expected us to win all year except them [Southeast's players and coaches]. It was a championship game. We are champions. It [at least an OVC co-title] is a great accomplishment. We all know that."

In a game that was so closely contested throughout -- only 51 yards separated the teams, JSU having 392 yards to 341 for Southeast -- Ivory's late heroics stole the show as the Gamecocks also likely cinched a playoff spot regardless of who earns the league's automatic berth.

After Southeast went ahead 27-22 on a 1-yard run by senior tailback Henry Harris with 4:06 left -- a 2-point conversion pass failed -- JSU took possession at its 43-yard line.

JSU picked up two first downs to the 37, then lost 21 yards when a snap went over Ivory's head as the Gamecocks were forced to fall on the ball with 1:10 remaining.

Facing second-and-31, Ivory fired a 29-yard completion to senior wide receiver Jeffrey Cameron. Ivory picked up three yards and a first down at the 26 on the next play.

Ivory threw a nine-yard completion to the 17, then eluded pressure and fired his dart to Bonner in the right corner of the end zone.

"I just had faith in him and I just put it out there for him to make a play on it. He made a great catch," Ivory said. "The catch was much better than the throw."

While the catch was strong, Crowe and Samuel thought the throw was better.

"I saw somebody was hanging on to his legs," Samuel said. "It was a great throw and a great catch."

Said Crowe: "He threw it with his hips going one direction and his arm going another direction."

The Redhawks weren't sure who had a piece of Ivory's leg. Not that it mattered.

"It was a great play by him," sophomore linebacker Blake Peiffer said. "Somebody was hanging on to his ankle. Nothing more we could do."

Scheible's 1-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter gave Southeast a 7-0 lead for the biggest advantage by either side.

Southeast trailed 10-7 at halftime, which led to the wild second half.

Scheible's 7-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter put the Redhawks up 14-13.

With Southeast behind 19-14, the Redhawks recovered a fumbled punt at JSU's 23 early in the final period.

The Redhawks capitalized with Scheible's 19-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman wide receiver D.J. Foster -- only his second career catch and first TD -- for a 21-19 advantage.

That led to three more lead changes in the final 6:43, with JSU having the final word.

"It was a great game," Peiffer said. "It was a tough one to lose. We wanted it so bad."

Harris -- the nation's second-leading rusher who gained 134 yards for his ninth 100-yard game of the season -- said he was thrilled to be involved despite the defeat.

"This is really the highlight of my life right now," Harris said. "To be a part of something like this, it's great for the community, for our school."