Redhawks Football Heads To Murray State This Weekend :: Southeast hopes to end the month of October on a winning note

Oct. 25, 2006

Murray State Football Notes
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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.-

Southeast Missouri State @ Murray State

Date: Oct. 28, 2006 Kickoff: 1:00 p.m. Location: Stewart Stadium, Murray, Ky. (16,800) Affiliations: Murray State, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference Southeast Missouri, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference 2005 Records: Murray State, 2-9, 0-7 OVC SE Missouri, 2-9, 2-6 OVC 2006 Records: MSU 1-6, 0-5 OVC, SE Missouri 3-4, 1-3 OVC The Coaches: Matt Griffin is 1-6 in his first year at MSU, he is 11-30 in his fourth year as a collegiate head coach. Tony Samuel is 3-4 at Southeast, 37-61 in 9 years overall Radio: Southeast Radio Network anchored by K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include 1380 ESPN in St. Louis, KSIM in Sikeston, KWOC in Poplar Bluff and KMAL in Malden. Internet: Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at www.k103fm.com.

THE TEAMS: Southeast Missouri is 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the OVC after a 38-13 win over Austin Peay, a 44-23 win over Missouri-Rolla, a 38-7 loss at Jacksonville State, a 19-14 win over Samford , a 21-0 loss to Eastern Illinois, ranked 20th in I-AA, a 63-7 loss to Arkansas, ranked 15th nationally in I-A and a 27-21 loss to Eastern Kentucky.

Murray State is 1-6 overall and 0-5 in the OVC.

THE COACHES: Tony Samuel, an assistant at Purdue last season after serving as eight years as head coach at New Mexico State, is 3-4 in his first season at Southeast. He is 37-61 in his ninth year as a collegiate head coach.

Matt Griffin is 1-6 in his first year at Murray and is 11-30 in his fourth season overall.

THE SERIES: Murray State leads the series 34-5-1. The Racers had won 12 straight until the Redhawks won 52-21 last season. The Racers are 18-1 in games played at Murray. The only Southeast win was 24-12 in 1978.

LAST SEASON: Southeast beat Murray State 52-21 at Houck Stadium. Tim Holloman rushed the ball 31 times for 181 yards and two touchdowns. The Redhawks led 52-7 before two Murray fourth quarter TD's.

Edgar Jones LEADS I-AA IN SACKS: Senior defensive end Edgar Jones leads I-AA nationally in sacks and ranks third in tackles for losses. He averages 1.43 sacks per game and 1.79 tackles for losses per game. Jones has had at least one sack in six of seven games this season.

SIMONHOFF SECOND NATIONALLY IN PUNTING: David Simonhoff, this week's OVC Specialist of the Week, is second nationally with 45.88 yards per punt. Simonhoff averaged 50.2 yards per punt against Eastern Kentucky with a long of 69 yards. Buck Ackley of Southern leads the nation at 46.00 yards per punt. At Arkansas, Simonhoff averaged 45.1 yards per punt with a long punt of 75 yards. After averaging 51.2 yards per punt against Jacksonville State, Simonhoff was voted the National Special Teams Player of the Week. At Jacksonville State, Simonhoff had five punts go over 50 yards, including two over 60, with a long of 66 yards. Simonhoff was named a first team preseason All-American by The Sports Network and I-AA.org. Simonhoff was a first team All-America pick by the American Football Coaches Association after last season when he again led the OVC in punting. In the opening win at Austin Peay, Simonhoff had four punts for an average of 45.5 yards per punt with three inside the 20. Simonhoff averaged 43.6 yards per punt during his previous three seasons at Southeast. In 2004 he established a new Southeast and OVC individual season record when he averaged 46 yards per punt. He has three punts of 80 yards or more and nine punts of 70 yards or more.

CASPER 28th NATIONALLY IN TACKLES: Junior linebacker Adam Casper ranks 28th nationally in I-AA tackles with 9.57 per game. He was in on 20 tackles at Eastern Illinois and added a blocked field goal and a fumble recovery.

REDHAWKS FOURTH NATIONALLY IN TO MARGIN: Southeast played four games without a turnover but suffered three in the 21-0 loss at Eastern Illinois. The Redhawks are ranked fourth nationally in I-AA a turnover margin at 1.29. Southeast has a plus 9. Southeast ranks sixth nationally in net punting with 36.76 yards per game. The Redhawks rank 35th nationally in sacks with 2.00 per game.

TWO QUARTERBACKS: The Redhawks have used two quarterbacks in each of the last four games. Senior Kevin Ballatore started the first five games, sophomore Markus Mosley started at Arkansas and Ballatore was back in the starting roll against EKU. Ballatore is 67-139 with four interceptions for 660 yards and four touchdowns. Mosley, who also played briefly in the opener, is 7-16 for 80 yards with one interception and one TD.

HOLLOMAN TAKES OVER RUSHING LEAD: Sophomore Tim Holloman has taken over the team rushing lead. Holloman has 74 carries for 370 yards and three touchdowns. Senior John Radney is second in rushing with 69 carries for 306 yards and five TD's. He has a team-high 30 points. Redshirt freshman Tony Anderson, who had two TD's against Eastern Kentucky, has 46 carries for 179 yards and four TD's.

INDIVIDUAL OVC STATS: Edgar Jones leads the OVC in sacks with 1.43 per game and tackles for losses with 1.79 per game David Simonhoff, the OVC leader in punting the last two seasons, is again on top with 45.88 yards per punt. Adam Casper is second in league tackles with 9.57 per game.

Todshon Jones OUT: Freshman Todshon Jones will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury suffered in the Arkansas game.

CAPTAINS ELECTED: The Redhawks have elected two offensive and two defensive captains. Serving the offense will be quarterback Kevin Ballatore and wide receiver Oge Oge. The defensive captains are linebacker Seth Harrell and defensive end Edgar Jones who is serving his second season as a captain.

LIVE VIDEO STREAMING: For the first time ever, Southeast fans will be able to watch Redhawks football on the internet throught the Ohio Valley Conference's new premium web site, OVCSports.TV.

OVCSports.TV can be accessed by logging on the OVC Web site, www.ovcsports.com, and is made possible through a partnership with XOS Technologies, a leading provider of sports technology. Subscriptions are available on an annual, seasonal and per-events basis. In addition to the game video, the weekly television show, Redhawks Football with Tony Samuel, will also be available on line.

REDHAWKS FOOTBALL WITH Tony Samuel: Coach Samuel has a weekly 30-minute television show on Heartland's CW, WQWQ-TV. The show airs at 11 p.m. on Fridays and is hosted by KFVS-TV and The CW sports director Todd Richards. The show is also shown on Charter Cable Channel 11 in Cape Girardeau on Saturday mornings at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

NEXT WEEK: Southeast will host UT-Martin on Nov. 4 at 6 p.m.