Racers Fall in Road Contest at SEMO

Saturday, November 14

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1 p.m.

Murray State

Southeast Missouri

11/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Southeast Missouri State scored 22 unanswered points in the second half to break open a close contest and hand Murray State a 49-13 defeat Saturday afternoon at Houck Stadium.

“We beat ourselves on offense,” said head coach Matt Griffin. “We were able to put together drives, but penalties and sacks put an end to our momentum. We have 14 seniors that are going to play their last game next Saturday and we are going to go out and do our best to send them out with a win.”

The Racers (3-7, 2-5 OVC) got on the board on their opening possession as Casey Brockman hit Derrick Townsel on a quick pass for eight yards and Charlie Jordan went up the middle for six yards on the next play. Brockman then found Prince Nwagbara in the left flat on a bootleg for a 33-yard gain. A sack forced the Racers out of field-goal range before Jordan went 12 yards up the middle on a draw on third-and-long. Kienan Cullen stepped on the field and connected on a 40-yard field goal.

The Redhawks (2-8, 1-7 OVC) had a quick answer as they put together a nine-play drive that covered 68 yards, all on the ground. Henry Harris led the drive with 36 yards, including the final two for the touchdown. The extra-point attempt bounced off the right upright and was no good.

MSU's offense was just as impressive on its second drive as Jordan rushed a pair of times for 14 yards and Marcus Harris went 16 yards on a screen pass. The Racers were able to get into the red-zone before a personal foul penalty forced the Racers into a 2-and-21 situation. On the next play, Brockman threw a screen pass to Rashad Daniels and the junior did the rest as he went 33 yards for his first career touchdown.

SEMO regained the lead just under five minutes into the second quarter as Matt Scheible fooled the Racer defense with a play fake and found Chantae Ahamefule on a 44-yard touchdown down the left sideline.

The Redhawks extended the lead with just 16 seconds remaining in the first half as Scheible broke free for a 19 yard run and a pass interference call gave the Redhawks the ball on the 16-yard line. On the next play, Scheible took the ball on a draw and went untouched for the 16-yard touchdown.

After both teams punted on their first possession of the second half, the Redhawks used the long bomb to stretch the lead as Sheible found Ahamefule on a 75-yard touchdown down the left sideline.

MSU was able to cut into the lead as they put together a 12-play drive that culminated with a Cullen career-long 48-yard field goal.

SEMO put the game away early in the fourth quarter as they used a 15-play drive that was done all on the ground and ended with a Harris two-yard TD run.

The Redhawks would add two late touchdowns for the final margin of victory.

Jordan led the Racer ground attack with 89 yards on 18 carries. Brockman had his second strong outing as he went 20-for-36 for 205 yards and a touchdown. Harris was his favorite target with seven receptions for 72 yards.

The Racers close out the 2009 season next Saturday as they travel to take on Tennessee Tech. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at Tucker Stadium.