SOUTHEAST SIGNS THREE AREA STARS

Eight high school athletes from Southeast Missouri have agreed to play football at Southeast Missouri State University.

In all, the names of 20 players -- 13 high school athletes and seven junior college transfers -- were released by Southeast on Wednesday, the first day of the national letter-of-intent signing period.

"I think things worked out very well," said Southeast head coach John Mumford. "(The players we signed) address a lot of the needs we have. We still have some needs -- immediate help on the defensive line and in the secondary -- but other than that I think we made a very good showing for ourselves locally. We felt that we needed to sign the best in this area, and I feel we did.

"It's the first year that we've had 10 to 12 (players) in the Bootheel area ... that we felt were viable I-AA football players. We need to understand that we're Southeast Missouri State and we're going to try to get the best players that can help us win in Southeast Missouri."

The list is dominated by 13 linemen. Also signed were two quarterbacks, two running backs, a wide receiver and a defensive back.

Tatum Kitchen is the lone Cape Girardeau Central High signee. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound two-time all-district linebacker recorded more than 100 tackles during his senior season.

"I'm really pleased (Tatum) decided to go to Southeast," said Central coach Jerry Dement. "That gives us eight or nine Central kids at Southeast now. He had a lot of Division I schools that showed a lot of interest early."

From Jackson, which went 11-1 this season, running back Devree Flint (6-0, 205) and defensive end Kent Langston (6-3, 215) signed with the Indians.

This season, Flint rushed for 1,936 yards, scored 30 touchdowns and was a second-team all-state selection, as was Langston. Flint scored 188 points, the second most in a season in Southeast Missouri high school football history.

"Everybody's seen Devree," said Jackson coach Carl Gross. "Everybody knows in college football you have to play a lot of running backs. A lot of guys will get snaps. He will come in ready and if he gets an opportunity, Devree could be very successful as a freshman."

Also signed was Sikeston running back Mark Blissett (5-11, 185), who rushed for 1,570 yards as a junior and 957 this season.

"I think that Devree Flint and Mark Blissett both have a great deal of talent and will both add a lot of competition at the running back position," Mumford said. "When you have two outstanding local players like that you're going to go ahead and get them."

About Langston, Gross added: "Kent's a phenom. He's got the great speed and quickness. He may be a pass rush guy early."

Other area signees were Poplar Bluff quarterback Andy Cisne (6-2, 218) and offensive lineman Eric Carlson (6-4, 320) and New Madrid County Central offensive lineman Jonathan Brown (6-2, 275) and linebacker Sylvester Tate (6-1, 215).

Also, three St. Louis area players and one from Jefferson City accepted offers from Southeast.

Six junior college transfers are currently enrolled at Southeast and one will be in Cape Girardeau after the current semester.

Kevin Seto (6-4, 210), a quarterback from Mount San Antonio (Calif.) College, was highly touted by Mumford.

"Kevin is a very smart young man," Mumford said. "He's a good student of the game. He has a very, very quick release, and he can drill it when he needs to and he can put touch on it when he needs to. We felt we needed a junior college player to come in at the quarterback position, and he'll give us a little maturity at the position."

Mumford said that defensive linemen Darren Keely (6-4, 290) from Kemper Military Junior College and Jason Moorehead (6-2, 275) from Pasadena (Calif.) Community College are expected to contribute immediately.

SE football signees

Tatum Kitchen LB Cape Girardeau

Devree Flint RB Jackson

Kent Langston DE Jackson

Andy Cisne QB Poplar Bluff

Eric Carlson OL Poplar Bluff

Jonathan Brown OL New Madrid

Silvester Tate LB New Madrid

Jerl Huling WR Florrisant (Hazelwood Central)

Steve Nance DB Florissant (Hazelwood Central)

P.J. Brennan OL St. Louis (Christian Brothers)

Daniel Joiner OL/DL Garden City, Mo. (Sherwood)

Shawn Walker P/K Morton, Miss. (East Central CC)

Ryan Lock LB Jefferson City (Helias)

Mark Blissett RB Sikeston

Kevin Seto QB Monterey Park, Calif. (Mount San Antonio CC)

Perry Save OL Rialto, Calif. (Rio Hondo CC)

Chris Evertsen OL State Center, Iowa (Waldorf CC)

Jason Moorehead DL Temple Cities, Calif. (Pasadena CC)

Jeremy Atwell LB Tonkawa, Okla. (NE Oklahoma CC)

Darren Keely DL St. Louis (Kemper CC)