Defense shows consistency during Southeast Missouri State football preseason camp

The confidence of the Southeast Missouri State defense shone through at the Redhawks' sixth practice of fall camp on Wednesday.

Every time the team came together for a drill that pitted the two sides against one other, the voices of one defensive leader or another could be heard around the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.

Southeast Missouri State running back Chase Abbington carries the ball while defensive lineman Ryan Truvillion attempts to bring him down during practice Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016 at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.Trent Singer ~ tsinger@semissourian.com

Junior outside linebacker Chad Meredith urged his teammates to, "Win the red zone. We own the red zone," while junior cornerback Mike Ford and senior safety Eriq Moore hollered words of encouragement.

And the defense, which returns seven defensive starters, backed up its talk. Meredith had an interception early in the two-hour practice, a few fumbles were forced and the offense had to settle for field-goal attempts after third-down stops on a red-zone drill.

"We've got good players. They're coached well, so we want to be consistent. And I think they had that," Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz said. "Got several turnovers, several stops on third down, so I think they're right where we need them to be."

The one area where the defense needs tighten up most is the passing defense, according to Matukewicz. It's the one area that has lagged behind in his first two seasons.

The Redhawks were seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference in pass defense last season, allowing OVC opponents to throw for an average of 241.3 yards. They were fifth in run defense, allowing 195.4 yards per game.

They were seventh in pass defense in 2014, too, with conference opponents averaging 260.5 yards per game, and were sixth in run offense at 201.8 rushing yards per game.

Matukewicz thinks the current defense has the components needed to take the passing defense up a notch.

"We've got some veterans in the back end that know how to take the ball away," Matukewicz said. "Then we've got to stay healthy because it comes down to pass rush. If we stay healthy, we'll have as good a pass rush in the OVC."

Southeast Missouri State nose tackle Joshua Wilson takes a break near the end of practice Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016 at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex.Trent Singer ~ tsinger@semissourian.com

Junior nose tackle Joshua Wilson was one player that was unable to stay healthy last season. He re-tore his right ACL and later dislocated his left kneecap.

Defensive end John Popovich is currently sidelined due to illness, and defensive end Travis Sanders is still recovering from ACL surgery after tearing it a couple games into last season. But both are expected to return by the team's season opener.

"The little things, really," Wilson said of the defense's focus. "When a big play happens, how hard are we going to respond to it? Like are we just going to give up and let them score, or are we going to stop them and make them kick a field goal?"

Matukewicz, who usually observes several drills in practice, interjecting himself occasionally or correcting something, spent some time leading a drill on pursuing the ball carrier.

"When you go down to any drill, they know that it's certainly important," Matukewicz said, "and then I just think it's important that as a head coach you're involved on both sides."

Road scrimmage

When Southeast makes the approximately hour-long trip across the Mississippi River to Southern Illinois for its Sept. 10 game against the Salukis, it won't be its first experience with a road trip the day of a contest.

The Redhawks will travel Saturday to the St. Louis area -- a nearly two-hour trip -- for a scrimmage at Kirkwood High School.

It's Southeast's first scrimmage of the fall and starts at 2 p.m.

"As a coach, you're just trying to prepare your players for what they've got to be able to do," Matukewicz said, "and one unique thing about this job is we travel and play the same day for three road games this year. So we need to practice that so that the first time we do it isn't at SIU."

Five of Southeast's first seven games are on the road, including the SIU trip and another day-of trip to Murray State for a night game. The Redhawks will also travel the day-of to play UT Martin on Nov. 12.

"St. Louis, with the Rams leaving, there's an opportunity there -- maybe we can go grab some headlines," Matukewicz said, "and, from a recruiting standpoint, get a lot of those kids up there to come watch us play. But ultimately I wouldn't do it if I didn't think it was helping my players prepare."

Matukewicz also is excited that some recruits from the St. Louis area plan to be in attendance. "Unfortunately we can't have contact," Matukewicz said. "If I run into them, I can bro hug them, and that's about it and then keep stepping."

Tickets on sale

The Redhawks open the season at Memphis in a little over three weeks, and tickets are now available for purchase at the Southeast Ticket Office.

Tickets are $40 each and will be for section 115 of Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. They can be purchased by calling the ticket office at 573-651-2113 or at the athletics offices located at 1221 Broadway, next to Imo's Pizza.