Sept. 16, 2002

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Football Game Information

Southeast Missouri State at Southwest Missouri State

Date: Sept. 21, 2002

Time: 7 p.m. (CDT)

Location: Plaster Field, Springfield, Mo. (16,300)

Playing Surface: FieldTurf

Affiliations: Southeast Missouri, NCAA I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference SMS, NCAA I-AA, Gateway Football Conference

Series: SMS leads 41-28

Last Meeting: SMS won 31-28 last season at Houck Stadium

2002 Records: Southeast Missouri 2-1, SMS 2-1

2001 Records: Southeast Missouri 4-7, SMS 6-5

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 9-16 in his third season at Southeast Randy Ball is 18-18 in his 3rd year at SMS, 82-59-1 as collegiate coach Radio: Southeast Radio Network anchored by K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include KSIM in Sikeston and KWOC in Poplar Bluff. Erik Sean will do play-by-play with Ron Hines as color analyst. Internet: The Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at

Southeast Schedule/Results

Aug. 29 - SE 42, UAM 41 2OT
Sept. 7 - SE 21, SIU 14
Sept. 14 -- E. Mich 35, SE 32
Sept. 21 -- @ SMS
Sept. 28 -- @ Middle Tenn.
Oct. 5 - Tennessee State
Oct. 12 -- @Tenn.-Martin
Oct. 19 - Eastern Illinois
Oct. 26 -- @Murray State
Nov. 2 - Tennessee Tech
Nov. 9 -- @ Eastern Ky.
Nov. 16 -- Samford

THE TEAMS: Both teams are 2-1 after losses to I-A teams last Saturday. Southeast lost at Eastern Michigan while SMS lost at Kansas. The Indians have wins over Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Illinois while SMS has wins over East Central (Oklahoma) and Hampton.

THE COACHES: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 9-16 in his third season at Southeast Missouri He is 0-2 vs. SMS. Randy Ball is 18-18 in his fourth year at SMS and is 82-59-1 in his 13th season as a collegiate head coach. He is 2-1 vs. Southeast.

THE SERIES: SMS leads the series 41-28 and has won the last two games and nine of the last ten. The Indians have not won at Springfield since 1979.

MISIPEKA IS OVC NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK: Keiki Misipeka has been selected as the OVC Newcomer of the Week after rushing for 126 yards and two touchdowns against Eastern Michigan. He averaged nine yards per carry. Misipeka is a senior transfer from Hawaii who is originally from Pago Pago, Samoa.

PONDER TOPS OVC RECEIVERS: Senior wide receiver Willie Ponder leads the OVC in receiving yards per game (112.7) and total receiving yards (338). He is second in receptions per game (7.67). Nationally, Ponder ranks fifth in receptions per game and receiving yards per game. Last season against SMS, Ponder had eight catches for 170 yards and tied the school record with three touchdown catches. He was the OVC Offensive Player of the Week after catching nine passes for 101 yards and two TD's in the Indians 21-14 win over SIU. Ponder had three catches in Southeast's 80-yard game winning drive that concluded with a 38-yard touchdown catch with 0:49 remaining in the game. Ponder has compiled over 100 receiving yards in every game this season. Lindy's football magazine and Don Hansen's Football Gazette have both named Ponder to their second team Division I-AA All-America team. Last season, Ponder led the OVC in receptions per game with 6.36, receiving yards per game with 99.09 and receiving

TOMCO LEADS OVC PASSERS: Junior quarterback Jack Tomco, named the OVC Newcomer of the Week after completing 15-23 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns in the 21-14 win over SIU, leads the OVC in passing efficency with a rating of 146.9. Eastern Illinois' All-American Tony Romo is second with a rating of 114.2. Tomco's pass efficiency ranks 15th nationally. After three games, Tomco is 45-66 for 509 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. He was 24-33 for 298 yards and two TD's at Eastern Michigan. Tomco threw for 2,100 yards and 16 touchdowns last season at Scottsdale Community College.

KINSEY LEADS OVC RUSHING: Diminutive sophomore running back Corey Kinsey (5-9, 180), who was held to just 29 yards rushing at EMU, still leads the OVC in rushing with an average of 113.67 yards per game. He rushed for 180 yards and one TD in the season opener and came back with 133 yards rushing against SIU. Kinsey ranks 14th nationally in rushing and is on course to establish a new school record for rushing in a season. He ranks second in the OVC in all-purpose running with 130.3 yards per game.

INDIANS LEAD OVC IN OFFENSE: Southeast leads the OVC in scoring offense (31.67 ppg), total offense (400 ypg) and pass efficiency (143.65 rating).

McDOWELL IS OUT: Sophomore quarterback Jeromy McDowell injured his left knee in practice on Sept. 2 and underwent surgery in St. Louis on Monday, Sept. 9. He came off the bench in the season opener to complete 13-23 passes for 147 yards and three touchdowns. McDowell tore the ACL in his knee executing a drill in practice and will be lost for the remainder of this season. McDowell is just the third player in Southeast history to pass for over 2,000 yards in a season with 2,051 yards last season.

AUSSIE PUNTER HONORED: Andrew Winters, freshman punter from Melbourne, Australia was named the OVC Specialist of the Week after averaging 40 yards per punt in his first football game against Arkansas-Monticello. He played high school rugby but caught the eye of scouts at a kicking camp in Texas that was also attended by former Southeast All-American kicker and punter Jason Witczak. After three games, Winters averages 35.2 yards per punt.

BIG O-LINE: The Southeast offensive line that started against SIU averaged 306 pounds per man. The tackles were Justen Meyer (6-5, 295) and Dan Connolly (6-4, 295), the guards were Taurean Robinson (6-4, 320) and Dan Bieg (6-4, 305) and the center was Eugene Amano (6-3, 315).

INJURIES: Defensive backs Demetrius Patterson who missed the Eastern Michigan game with a sore hamstring and Marco Tipton who received a bruised knee in the EMU game are both probable for the SMS game. Adam Jones, who missed the EMU game with a knee injury is doubtful.

PRESEASON HONORS: Southeast had six players named to the preseason All-OVC football team with three more earning honorable mention. It is the highest number of preseason honors since Southeast joined the OVC in 1991. Four defensive players were on the first team including senior tackle James Jennette, junior linebacker Ricky Farmer, and senior defensive backs, Prince Anderson and Demar Winston. On offense, Ponder and sophomore tackle Dan Connolly were named to the first team. Sophomore quarterback Jeromy McDowell, junior offensive guard Eugene Amano and sophomore defensive back Dimitri Patterson were honorable mention selections.

OVC WEEKLY HONORS: 9-2 - Andrew Winters, Specialist of Week 9-9 - Willie Ponder, Off. Player of Week Jack Tomco, Newcomer of Week 9-16 - Keiki Misipeka, Newcomer of Week

FIVE ELECTED CAPTAINS: Five players have been elected as captains for the 2002 season. Defensive captains will be Ricky Farmer, James Jennette and Ryan Roth while offensive captains will be Jeromy McDowell and Willie Ponder.

ONLY 11 SENIORS: There are only 11 seniors on this year's Southeast team with 19 juniors, 22 sophomores, five redshirt freshmen and 28 freshmen.

SQUAD BY STATE: There are players from 14 states, American Samoa, Canada, Australia and Bulgaria. Missouri leads the way with 40, followed by Florida 14, California 5, Illinois 5, Oklahoma 3, Texas 3, New York 2, Tennessee 2, Samoa 2, Michigan 2 and one each from Alaska, Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi, Canada, Australia and Bulgaria.

HITTING THE BOOKS: The football team had a record 25 players honored last spring as Southeast Scholar Athletes for having a 3.0 or higher cumulative grade point average. Eleven Southeast players have been named to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll for having a 3.2 or higher GPA. Junior tight end Chuck McElroy leads the football scholars with a 3.8 grade point average. He attended an NCAA Leadership Conference during the summer.

SOUTHEAST PICKED SIXTH IN OVC RACE: Southeast was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll of league head coaches and sports information directors. The five teams ahead of the Indians are all ranked in the top 25 nationally by at least one publication. Eastern Illinois was picked to repeat as league champion with Eastern Kentucky second, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State tied for third, Murray State fifth, Southeast sixth and Tennessee-Martin seventh.

NEW LOOK FOR HOUCK STADIUM: The exterior of Houck Stadium is undergoing a complete renovation with a new almond colored textured surface and a newly painted black iron fence. The press box is also being completely remodeled with new walls both inside and outside as well as new carpeting and new work surfaces.

SOUTHEAST ON RADIO: Southeast football games are broadcast throughout Southeast Missouri and into four additional states on the Southeast Football Network originated by the Zimmer Broadcast Group of Cape Girardeau. Erik Sean will be in his third season as the "Voice" of Southeast football. Former Indian quarterback Rick Wieser handles commentary on home games while Ron Hines does color on the road. The Southeast Football Network flagship station is 100,000 watt K-103 FM that covers a portion of five states. Other network stations include KWOC, Poplar Bluff and KSIM, Sikeston. All games can be heard live over the internet at www.GoSoutheast.com or www. k103fm.com

TIM BILLINGS RADIO SHOW: Tim Billings has a radio show each Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The show, on KGIR, 1220 AM, originates from Show-Me's Restaurant in Cape Girardeau.

TELEVISION FOR MURRAY STATE GAME: The Indian game at Murray State on Oct. 26 will be televised live on Fox Sports Net South that goes into over nine-million homes in the southern United States. The kickoff has been moved to 2:30 p.m.

NEXT GAME: Southeast will play at I-A Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro on Saturday, Sept. 28, 6 p.m.