Unofficially, Redhawks football schedule set

Southeast Missouri State has not released its 2007 football schedule yet -- I believe one contract still has to be finalized -- but I've had a lot of people ask me what the schedule looks like.

I've been able to piece it together -- minus the times, which will come out later -- so here it is, barring any late, unforeseen changes:

• Aug. 30, at Cincinnati
• Sept. 8, Southwest Baptist
• Sept. 15, Indiana State
• Sept. 22, at Samford
• Sept. 29, Eastern Illinois
• Oct. 6: open date
• Oct. 13, at Eastern Kentucky
• Oct. 20, Murray State
• Oct. 27, at Tennessee-Martin
• Nov. 3, Austin Peay
• Nov. 10, at Missouri State
• Nov. 17, Jacksonville State

That's six home games and five road games, with seven Ohio Valley Conference games and four non-league contests.

Cincinnati, of course, is the "money" Division I-A opponent -- guaranteeing an almost certain loss -- while Division II Southwest Baptist should balance that out with an almost certain victory.

The other two nonconference opponents both struggled last year -- Missouri State went 2-9 and Indiana State 1-10, with each finishing 1-6 in the Gateway Conference -- so the Redhawks could be competitive in those matchups.

Although most of the times are still to be announced, I do know that the Cincinnati game -- a Thursday night affair -- is at 6 p.m.

As for why the Redhawks are playing only seven OVC contests, read on.

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The recent news that Samford is leaving the OVC following the 2007-08 school year really shouldn't be a blow to the conference, at least not for the marquee sports of football and basketball.

In fact, from a football standpoint, it actually makes scheduling a lot more manageable.

With Austin Peay rejoining the league for football this year, that gave the OVC 10 football-playing universities.

But schools were still only going to play an eight-game league schedule, meaning every team would miss facing at least one other squad each year.

I say at least, because since the OVC still allows Tennessee State to have just a seven-game conference schedule -- due to its commitment to "classic" dates against other historically black colleges -- that means one other league team will skip playing two other conference squads starting this year.

And, as the rotating schedule has it, Southeast only plays seven OVC games in 2007, skipping Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State.

But after Samford leaves, starting with the 2008 football season, every conference member except for Tennessee State and one other team will again play the entire eight-game OVC schedule each year.

As for basketball, Samford's exit leaves 10 OVC teams, meaning squads will play 18 conference contests instead of 20, which will free up more flexibility for nonconference schedules that were affected by the expanded 20-game slate.

The main negative for Samford leaving from a basketball perspective -- along with other sports besides football -- is that now teams will have to make that long trek to Alabama for just one contest, that being against Jacksonville State.

Normally, teams would compete against both Jacksonville State and Samford on the same road swing.

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Things should be plenty interesting when Southeast football begins its spring practice session Wednesday, with the workouts culminating in the annual spring intrasquad game on April 21.

Coach Tony Samuel enters his second spring session with plenty of openings for starting positions, since last year's 4-7 team featured 25 seniors -- many of whom filled starting spots and were some of the squad's top players.

Of the 29 players Samuel and his staff signed last month, 10 -- nine junior college transfers and one high school senior who graduated early -- already are enrolled in school and eligible to participate in spring workouts.

One of the more interesting spring battles -- and one that will carry over into the fall -- should be at quarterback, since Southeast returns zero experience at that position.

Last season's starter, Kevin Ballatore, was a senior, and backup Markus Mosley saw limited playing time in his sophomore season and left the program.

That leaves the Redhawks with four scholarship quarterbacks for 2007, including Houston Lillard, who missed all of last season with a knee injury after transferring from junior college.

Lillard and walk-on redshirt freshman Steve Callanan will be joined for spring practice by Victor Anderson, one of the junior college players Southeast signed last month.

Two freshmen will enter the mix in the fall, but you've got to think that -- barring a late addition, say a Division I-A transfer -- either Lillard or Anderson will be the starter when the Redhawks kick off the 2007 season at Cincinnati.

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It wasn't always pretty from Southeast's standpoint, but Redhawks baseball fans could not have asked for a more exciting start to the OVC season.

Southeast overcame four errors and deficits just about the entire way to sweep Saturday's doubleheader from Tennessee-Martin, 7-6 and 7-5 at Capaha Field.

We'll see how things develop the rest of the way, but the Redhawks displayed plenty of toughness and determination as they battled from behind all day and staged a pair of impressive late comebacks.

If nothing else, the Redhawks were able to avoid the kind of rough beginning to their OVC schedule that put them in an early hole last year, when host UT-Martin swept Southeast with three one-run wins.

The Redhawks will go for the series sweep at 1 p.m. today as coach Mark Hogan continues to close in on becoming the program's all-time winningest coach.

Hogan has a 369-305 record in his 13th season at his alma mater. The late Joe Uhls won 373 games during his legendary Southeast coaching career.

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Speaking of Southeast baseball, Hogan said that only a few team spots are still available for the fourth annual Joe Uhls Memorial Golf Tournament and Banquet, a major fundraiser for the Redhawks' program that will be April 9.

The golf tournament will begin at noon at Bent Creek Golf Club in Jackson, while the banquet is set for 6 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Cape Girardeau.

Former Cardinals and Cubs standout reliever Lee Smith is scheduled to be the featured speaker at the banquet, which includes a silent auction and dinner event.

Other former Cardinals expected to attend include Whitey Herzog, Tom Pagnozzi, Todd Worrell and Danny Cox.

The four-man scramble golf event is limited to 32 teams. Registration at the Home Run level is $600, while Grand Slam level registration is $1,000.

All golfers will receive tournament gifts and various apparel, an official Southeast baseball team hat and banquet tickets. Grand Slam participants will also receive additional gifts as well as preferred seating at the banquet.

Hogan said anybody still wishing to place a team in the tournament should call his office at 651-2645 as soon as possible.

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It's great that Southeast center Lachelle Lyles has been invited to the WNBA's annual pre-draft camp, set for Friday and Saturday at Cleveland State University.

Lyles, the nation's leading rebounder this season, will be among approximately 50 top prospects from American colleges and overseas who will work out in front of WNBA coaches and general managers.

While there is no guarantee Lyles will be selected when the WNBA draft takes place April 4 in Cleveland -- only 39 players will be taken in the three-round draft -- the exposure she receives at the camp should at worst help her land a solid opportunity overseas.

By the way, the WNBA will fly Lyles to Cleveland and back, and the league will also pick up her expenses while she is in Cleveland.

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The guard from Three Rivers Community College who recently gave the Southeast women's basketball program a verbal commitment called me the other day to tell me how excited she is about joining the Redhawks' program.

Tierra Johnson said she chose the Redhawks for several reasons, among them that the program is going so well right now, she'll be playing close to home -- she is from Poplar Bluff -- and she'll get another chance to play with Missy Whitney.

Johnson and Whitney, Southeast's No. 2 scorer and rebounder this season, were teammates at TRCC two years ago.

Johnson, who can play both guard positions, averaged about 18 points per game and shot about 39 percent from 3-point range as a TRCC sophomore this year.

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The Southern Illinois University basketball team fell short of the program's first-ever berth in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

But what a show the Salukis put on in pushing No. 1 seed Kansas to the wire and barely falling short during Thursday's 61-58 loss.

SIU more than justified its No. 4 seed -- the program's highest ever -- and, even in defeat, probably gained immeasurable respect around the nation with its gritty performance.

Facing a team that probably had five or six future NBA players on the court, the Salukis never gave an inch and, with a break here or there, could have prevailed.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.