Southeast Missouri State football team falls to top-ranked Jacksonville State

The Jacksonville State football team claimed its second straight Ohio Valley Conference title with a victory against Southeast Missouri State on Saturday.

The Redhawks sustained a 56-28 loss to the top-ranked Gamecocks at Burgess-Snow Field in Jacksonville, Alabama. It was the 16th consecutive conference win for JSU, which improved to 9-1 and 7-0 in the OVC.

"You've just got to give credit to Jacksonville State," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said. "They're an exceptional team and can beat you multiple ways. After playing them, we feel like they were as good as advertised."

Jacksonville State took a 7-0 lead with 5 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the first quarter on a 28-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Eli Jenkins to Markis Merrill. The score remained 7-0 after one quarter.

Southeast cornerback Mike Ford intercepted a Jenkins pass at the Redhawks' 39 on the Gamecocks' first drive of the second quarter.

The Redhawks answered with a 3-yard TD run by QB Dante Vandeven 1:23 later.

Vandeven's TD capped a five-play, 61-yard drive, which included a 56-yard pass to running back Tremane McCullough, and evened the score at 7-all.

JSU regained the lead at 14-7 on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jenkins to Jose Barge with 6:33 left in the half.

Both teams punted on their next possessions.

Southeast had the ball on the JSU 42 with 3:43 left and moved 3 yards before Vandeven was stopped for a loss on fourth down.

JSU took over on its 39, and Jenkins was sacked for a loss of 10 on the first play. A 13-yard run set up third-and-8, and Jenkins found Barge for an 18-yard gain and the first down.

Jenkins hit Barge two plays later on a 24-yard pass to the end zone with 0:29 left in the half. The Gamecocks held a 21-7 advantage at the break.

"That really was the drive, that one right before half," Matukewicz said of the turning point. "(We) had them in a long-yardage situation, and you've just got to give them credit. They were able to make those plays. They were able to make those plays on lots of people, but I really feel like that was a big turning point in the game."

JSU extended its lead to 28-7 on the first drive of the second half, scoring on a 2-yard run by Troymaine Pope with 9:55 left in the third.

A 22-yard Miles Jones touchdown run on the Gamecocks' next possession made it 35-7 with 6:24 to go in the quarter.

Southeast scored on its ensuing possession on a McCullough 7-yard run 2:00 later.

JSU needed just 56 seconds and Pope runs of 18, 3 and 30 yards to score after starting the drive at midfield, set up by a 40-yard return. Pope's 30-yard TD run made it 42-12 with 3:15 to go in the third.

"They just were able to run the ball, able to get some big plays in the passing game, too," Matukewicz said of the Gamecocks, who finished with 617 yards of total offense. "They made some big plays on us and we'd mis-hit here or mis-tackle there, and they had enough speed to get a bunch of chunk yardage at a time."

Christian LeMay, who took over at QB after Jenkins left the game with an injury to his non-throwing hand, gave JSU a 49-14 lead with 10:24 to play when he escaped for a 42-yard run. He made it 56-21 1:34 later with a 51-yard TD run.

Southeast true freshman Cam Sanders returned a kickoff 99 yards for a TD between LeMay's two scores.

The Redhawks scored on a 15-yard pass to Darrius Darden-Box for the final score with 4:34 left. Darden-Box then forced a JSU fumble on the ensuing kickoff that Southeast's Taron Divens recovered.

"If you look at all of special teams, I think we performed well," Matukewicz said. "We created a turnover on kickoff. We scored a long touchdown on kickoff return. Net punt was really solid, had some decent returns. Paul had a poor decision on a punt return, pinned us down in there. But that was probably the bright spot of the day, special teams."

JSU had 399 yards rushing and 218 yards passing.

The Redhawks had 332 yards of offense. Vandeven threw for a career-high 239 yards, completing 19 of 35 passes. He was sacked four times, including on Southeast's first drive of the game at the JSU 20. The sack led to a fumble that was recovered by the Gamecocks.

Vandeven rushed for 29 yards on 13 carries while McCullough led the Redhawks with 49 yards rushing on 19 attempts. He also had 104 yards receiving on six catches. Paul McRoberts had 10 catches for 93 yards.

"It's no secret that we've been trying to improve on offense, and I think we have," Matukewicz said. "We felt like if we could hold them in the low 30s, we had a shot in the game, and offensively, other than the turnover in the red zone, I think we did OK versus a really, really good team. So overall I'd say I was pleased."

Southeast dropped to 4-6 and 3-3 in conference with the loss.

The Redhawks conclude the regular season at 1 p.m. Saturday against UT Martin at home.