Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Southeast Missouri*
Blocked Extra Point Leads To 35-34 Win At Southeast Missouri
11/19/2011 1:59:00 PM | Football
Casey Brockman ran, caught and threw for touchdowns, Mike Harris surpassed 1,000 rushing yards on the season, and a failed extra point near the end of the fourth quarter for the second time in three weeks helped Murray State close out the regular season with a 35-34 win at Southeast Missouri on a cloudy and windy day at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Tyler Evans blocked what would have been the game-tying extra point attempt with 1:03 remaining in the fourth quarter after Southeast Missouri scored on a two yard run from quarterback Matt Scheible, his third rushing score of the day.
Darrian Skinner recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the Racers gave back possession two plays later on a Harris fumble at the Southeast Missouri 44 yard line.
Scheible rushed for 16 yards into Murray State territory on the Redhawks first play with possession, carrying it to the MSU 40. Two plays later, Julian Whitehead broke up a pass to Chantae Ahamefule that would have given SEMO possession inside the Murray State 10. The MSU defense held on the last two plays of the game, forcing a turnover on downs before running out the clock to seal the one point victory.
Harris scored the Racers fifth touchdown of the game to break a 28-28 tie with 3:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. His five yard run on third-and-goal was his 13th rushing TD of the season. He eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season earlier in the possession for the first time in his career and the 10th time in school history on an 11 yard gain. He ended the game with 130 yards rushing and now has 1,018 yards on the season.
The Racers (7-4, 5-3 OVC) scored the first points of the day on the game's opening drive as Brockman scampered between the hash marks from six yards out for his fourth rushing touchdown of the season to cap a seven play, 70 yard series.
Southeast Missouri (3-8, 2-6 OVC) took advantage of a Brockman fumble later in the first quarter in Murray State territory near mid-field, eventually scoring on a seven yard toss from Scheible to Tyler French in the right side of the end zone to tie the contest at 7-7.
The Redhawks took a 14-7 lead early in the second as Scheible punched it in from a yard out.
The Racers responded quickly on their next possession, driving down the field in 10 plays and tying the game on a 23 yard screen pass to Patrick Robertson along the MSU sideline. The score was Robertson's fifth touchdown reception of the season, tying him with Walter Powell for the team lead.
Late in the first half, Dontrell Johnson got his hands on a Scheible pass, catching the deflected ball for his first interception of the season and returned it for 45 yards to the SEMO 12 yard line.
Two plays later, Brockman pitched the ball to Ricky Mitchell, who threw it back to Brockman along the Racers sideline where he plowed his way in from 10 yards out to give the Racers the lead just before halftime.
The Racers doubled their lead halfway through the third quarter on their second possession of the second half. Brockman found Dexter Barnett cutting through the middle of the field for a 29 yard touchdown pass, the second of the day through the air for Brockman and first of the season for Barnett to take a 28-14 lead with 7:12 remaining in the quarter.
Scheible helped Southeast Missouri cut the lead back to a single possession, leading the Redhawks down the field on a 13 play drive that included a pair of fourth down conversions before he picked up his second rushing touchdown of a yard on the first play of the fourth quarter to leave the Racers leading 28-21.
The Redhawks would come back to tie the game early in the fourth quarter, picking up 66 yards on a Spencer Davis end around down the far sideline to the Murray State six yard line. Southeast Missouri would pick up its fourth fourth-down conversion of the game as Scheible tossed his second touchdown of the game from a yard out to Marq Goodlitt to even the game at 28-28.
Brockman ended the game 31-of-44 passing, throwing for two touchdowns and 222 yards. He added 77 yards on 11 carries and another touchdown, averaging seven yards per carry.
Barnett led all receivers with eight catches and 62 yards. Robertson hauled in six catches for 56 yards and Ja-Vonta Trotter tallied five receptions.
Sam Small led the MSU defense with 13 tackles, with 2.5 for loss. Brandon Wicks recorded 12 tackles with Qua Huzzie the third defender to record double digit tackles with 11. Kevin Robinson topped MSU with three tackles for loss for a total of 11 yards, two of those tackles coming on sacks.
The Racers ended the season winning five of their last six games, and will find out Sunday morning if it is enough to be awarded an at-large berth into the 2011 FCS Playoffs.
