Streaking Redhawks seek 7th straight victory

~ Southeast enters Saturday's game against Eastern Kentucky ranked No. 13 in the nation

An Eastern Kentucky football team that never has lost in Cape Girardeau is having trouble winning on the road these days.

Southeast Missouri State will try to keep EKU reeling away from home as the surging Redhawks shoot for the program's longest winning streak since 1975.

The Redhawks and Colonels square off at 1 p.m. Saturday at Houck Stadium as Southeast begins a three-game homestand.

"We've been taking it one game at a time and we know we've got another tough game coming up," said senior tailback Henry Harris, the nation's leading rusher with 1,020 yards who also ranks first nationally in all-purpose yardage. "Everybody will be looking to knock us off."

That's because Southeast is the hunted and not the hunter for a change.

The Redhawks are ranked 13th nationally, their highest mark since the program joined the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly Division I-AA, in 1991.

Southeast is 6-1 overall and a first-place 5-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference, which both represent the program's best starts in the FCS.

The Redhawks' current six-game winning streak is the program's longest since joining the FCS and matches the 1989 squad that also won six straight. The last time Southeast won seven in a row was 1975.

And although there still are four games left in the regular season, Southeast has clinched the program's first winning record since 2002 and just the third since joining the FCS.

"From now on everybody will come out and give us their best shot. We have to prepare like it's a championship game," sophomore linebacker Blake Peiffer said.

Southeast is preparing for a tradition-rich EKU team that has lost seven straight road games dating back to last season.

"We haven't won on the road since Moby Dick was a minnow," EKU coach Dean Hood said.

But Southeast coach Tony Samuel knows the Redhawks face a major challenge against a squad that is 9-0 at Houck Stadium and 18-2 against Southeast overall. Southeast's only wins over EKU came in 2002 and 2003 in Richmond, Ky.

"They're a very good football team top to bottom," Samuel said. "They've always been a solid program."

More than solid. EKU won its record 20th OVC title in 2008 while making its record-tying 19th FCS playoff appearance.

The Colonels slipped to 5-6 last year, breaking a string of 32 consecutive winning seasons and marking their first losing campaign since 1972. They still tied for second in the OVC at 5-3.

EKU (2-4, 1-1) is led by a strong defense that leads the OVC and ranks 14th nationally in rushing defense. The Colonels have allowed just 0.9 yards per rushing attempt in their two conference games.

Southeast and EKU are tied for the OVC lead in scoring defense, allowing an average of 20 points per game. The Colonels have given up just 17 points in their two conference contests.

EKU's stingy rushing defense will go up against Southeast's potent rushing offense that leads the OVC and ranks third nationally with 280.1 yards per game.

"Something's gotta give," Hood said of that matchup. "They do an unbelievable job. ... It's different than what we've seen in the past. It's an option attack, well designed.

"They're much improved on defense. They're very deserving of their [national] ranking."

EKU is led offensively by sophomore quarterback T.J. Pryor, the 2009 OVC freshman of the year who is a dual threat similar to Southeast junior Matt Scheible.

While Scheible ranks second in the OVC in total offense with 182.7 yards per game, Pryor is third with 161.3 yards per contest.

Pryor has thrown for 807 yards while rushing for 161 yards and five touchdowns, the TD total ranking first among OVC quarterbacks.

"He's a very mobile, athletic quarterback," Samuel said.

Barring collapses by Southeast or third-ranked Jacksonville State -- which is 4-0 in OVC play -- EKU is the only other league squad with a realistic shot at the title because every other conference team has at least two league losses.

"They realize they're right in the thick of it," Samuel said. "It's a big game for them and for us."