SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Maybe Southeast Missouri State University wished Southwest Missouri State's top two tailbacks had played Saturday night.

The Indians could certainly do little to slow the Bears' third-stringer.

Zach Dechant, a little-used senior making his first career start only because the SMS backfield is decimated by injuries, rushed for 158 yards and four touchdowns as the Bears (3-1) held off the Indians (2-2) 28-21.

Dechant, despite standing only 5-feet-9 and weighing just 190 pounds, consistently broke Southeast tackles all night and scored on runs of 11, 4, 4 and 14 yards. He carried the ball 28 times.

"It felt great to get an opportunity to play that much," said Dechant, who entered the night with 54 yards on 12 carries after gaining 43 yards all of last season. "I kind of surprised myself on a couple of those plays. I don't know if people expected me to do that. But the offensive line was doing a great job."

Southeast coach Tim Billings pointed to those numerous missed tackles on Dechant -- along with three turnovers, including two interceptions deep in SMS territory -- for contributing the most to the Indians' second consecutive loss, even though they outgained their opponent for the second straight week.

The Indians finished with 412 yards to 380 for the Bears.

"Missed tackles and turnovers were the difference," Billings said. "We were in position a bunch of times to stop Dechant but we couldn't do it. And we had plenty of other opportunities to score."

Southeast quarterback Jack Tomco completed 27 of 45 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns, but he was intercepted twice. Willie Ponder caught nine passes for 137 yards.

"Ponder is such a dominant player," SMS coach Randy Ball said.

Corey Kinsey led Southeast's rushing attack with 108 yards on 22 carries. He also caught six passes for 47 yards.

In addition to the big game by Dechant, SMS quarterback Michael White -- who replaced starter Ryan Porter after he went out with a knee injury last week -- completed 11 of 21 passes for 198 yards.

Just like every Southeast game this season, Saturday's contest remained in the balance virtually the entire way, even though the Indians never led and three times trailed by 14 points.

After both teams missed early scoring chances with turnovers -- Southeast drove to the SMS 14-yard line before Tomco had a pass intercepted -- the Bears marched 77 yards and went ahead 7-0 on Dechant's 11-yard touchdown run with 8:39 left in the first quarter.

Early in the second period, at the 10:02 mark, Dechant's 4-yard TD run capped an 80-yard drive and made it 14-0.

Southeast finally got on the board through an 82-yard march that ended with Tomco's perfect 42-yard TD strike to Ponder. Derek Kutz booted the first of his three extra points to make it 14-7 with 5:59 left before halftime.

The Indians appeared headed for a possible tying touchdown a short time later as the Indians drove to the SMS 29. But after being pushed back to the 39, Tomco's third-and-17 pass was intercepted near the goal line, leaving the halftime score 14-7.

The Indians took the second-half kickoff and moved to the SMS 21 -- Tomco was knocked out of the game for a few plays and replaced by Jeff East -- but again the drive stalled and moved backward. Kutz then had a 45-yard field-goal attempt blocked, with SMS taking over at its 49.

SMS drove 51 yards, Dechant scoring on his second 4-yard run of the night for a 21-7 lead with 4:41 left in the third quarter.

Southeast answered with trickery. On fourth and goal from the SMS 3, Kutz lined up for what appeared to be a 20-yard field-goal attempt. But holder Chris NesSmith received a great block from Ray Goodson and cruised into the end zone with 12:05 left in the fourth quarter, completing a 79-yard drive and making it 21-14.

The Bears came back to make it 28-14 on Dechant's 14-yard run with 7:44 remaining that capped a 68-yard drive.

Southeast again answered, this time marching 77 yards and scoring as Tomco hit Tarik Simpson on a 22-yard strike with 4:32 left to pull within 28-21.

The Indians, desperately needing a defensive stop, appeared to come up with one as SMS faced a fourth down from its 42 with a little more than two minutes remaining. But the Indians were called for a pre-possession holding penalty on the SMS punt and had a personal foul tacked on, allowing the Bears to retain possession.

SMS then was able to run off all but 29 seconds, which is the time that remained when the Indians got the ball back on their 23 with no timeouts left. They got two first downs to the SMS 49 but Tomco's hail-mary pass toward the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.

"We had a critical penalty in a critical situation and that obviously didn't give us a chance to get the ball back," Billings said. "You can't have those penalties in that situation."

mmishow@semissourian.com

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