COACH'S CORNER: INDIANS FIND RIGHT FORMULA FOR FIRST WIN

Finally, we understand that consistent execution, ball security and time of possession equates, most of the time, to wins.

Of course there are many other factors, but all of the above led to 28 points and a fresh defense in our 28-23 win over Southwest Missouri State.

The game was rewarding in a number of ways but primarily because it was competitive with a number of momentum shifts and adjustments by both squads.

Our players have never quit despite our record and prepared well mentally for this game. Even though Southwest is a long-time rival of ours from the MIAA days, it simply boiled down to needing a win for ourselves. Being against Southwest makes it sweeter especially for the alums.

There are several stories in this game. I won't go through each one but will touch on a few big ones.

First, our offensive line has played extremely well in the past two games. Both Bobby Brune and Rashad West had huge amounts of time to throw. They used it, and found the open receivers. Rashad used his athletic ability, avoiding the rush and turned in several big runs along with his throws.

Senior fullback Brodrick Benson leveled several Bears with his blocking, which has become a weapon for our offense. Tight end John Borne led our receivers with five receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown. Leslie Weaver's blocking was excellent from his receiver position.

We did control the ball 13 minutes longer than Southwest and only had to punt twice. The last punt was necessary to pin Southwest deep with four second on the last play of the game. That snap and punt was pressure packed and executed well.

Our defense made the best of playing 30 snaps less than Southwest's defense with 13 more minutes of rest. Had I punted on one rather than going on fourth down, we would have given up one less touchdown.

Our first seven did a good job against the run and we picked off four passes. One was negated as we were called for pass interference. Brian Hinton had two interceptions, one was almost returned for a touchdown, and Andre Clarke ran an interception back to the 12-yard line of Southwest.

Last week we did not practice with pads, a move I was apprehensive about but proved to freshen our players physically and mentally. We will continue to do this as long as we stay crisp in our footwork and mentally.

We travel to a struggling Tennessee-Martin which lost 55-7 to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday. We must maintain our momentum from the Southwest win this week in practice and keep looking forward to defeating the Skyhawks.

John Mumford is the head football coach at Southeast Missouri State University.