Nov. 21, 2008

THE TEAMS: Southeast lost to UT Martin 31-21 on Saturday to drop to 3-8 overall and 1-6 in the OVC. The Redhawks have wins over Southwest Baptist, Indiana State and Tennessee State and losses to Missouri, Tennessee Tech, Missouri State, Jacksonville State, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky and Murray State. Austin Peay beat Eastern Illinois 15-13 on Saturday to improve the Governors record of 2-8 overall and 2-5 in the OVC.

THE COACHES: Tony Samuel is 10-23 in his third season at Southeast. He is 44-79 in 11 years as a head coach including eight seasons at New Mexico State. He is 1-1 vs. Austin Peay. Rick Christophel is 9-12 in his second season at Austin Peay. He is 1-0 vs. Southeast.

THE SERIES: Southeast leads the series 7-5

LAST SEASON: Austin Peay won 34-31 in double overtime at Houck Stadium.

SENIOR FINALE: Saturday will be the final game for Southeast seniors who were recognized prior to last week's home finale. Redhawks seniors include Vincent and Victor Anderson, Andrew Bravo, Daryl Gist, Ben Gugler, Timmy Holloman, Adam Schwent, Nick Ketelsleger, Houston Lillard, Kendall Magana, Brandon McCrary, Paul McGuire, Matt Stahlberg, Nick Stauffer, Ryan Taloa, Hannibal Vaivao and Michael Williamson.

STAUFFER SECOND NATIONALLY IN TACKLES: Senior linebacker Nick Stauffer had 20 tackles at Murray State to move up to second in the nation in tackles per game 13.18. Murray Williams of Murray State is the national leader with 15.18 tackles per game. Williams had nine tackles vs. Southeast. Stauffer had a career high 21 tackles in the Tennessee State game and had 13 tackles in the Tennessee Tech, Missouri State and Eastern Illinois games. Ben Gugler is tied for 31st nationally in sacks with 0.65 per game.

THIRD NATIONALLY IN PUNTING: After leading the nation for three straight weeks, junior punter Doug Spada was third for two weeks, second for one week and back to third in punting with an average of 44.93 yards per punt. Robbie Dehaze of Northern Arizona is this week's national leader with an average of 45.23 yards per punt. Spada was a pre-season all-OVC pick and was an honorable mention All-American and first team all-OVC selection last season when he averaged 42.5 yards per punt while converting 14-23 field goals and 21-23 PAT's. As a prep player in Shelby, North Carolina, he was MVP of the soccer team and trained for soccer in England with the prestigious Chelsea Football Club.

HOLLOMAN RETURNS: Senior running back Timmy Holloman was reinstated prior to the Jacksonville State game and has played vs. JSU, Eastern Illinois, Tennessee State and Eastern Kentucky. He had over 100 yards rushing against the Colonels with 22 carries for 107 yards. Holloman, a preseason all-OVC choice, was suspended on Oct. 9, 2007. He had 44 yards rushing in 16 carries against the Gamecocks. Holloman had 23 carries for 84 yards vs. Eastern Illinois and 18 carries for 53 yards vs. Tennessee State. Murray State held Holloman to 11 carries for 23 yards. He had 52 yards rushing and one TD vs. UT Martin.

HOLLOMAN CAREER RUSHING: Timmy Holloman currently has 2,359 career rushing yards to rank fourth in Southeast history. He has nine games with over 100 yards rushing and two games with over 200 yards rushing.

ALL-TIME RUSHING LEADERS:

1. 3,392, Kelvin Anderson (1992-94)

2. 3,006, Walter Smallwood (1965-68)

3. 2,617, Ernest Edwards (1979-82)

4. 2,359, Timmy Holloman (2005-)

FIRST QUARTER WOES: The Redhawks finally scored in the first quarter with two field goals in the first stanza against Eastern Kentucky but have still been outscored 86-6 in the first quarter this season. IN THE NATIONAL STATS: Southeast ranks 36th in the nation in net punting with 34.02 yards per punt 40th in the nation (FCS) in kickoff returns with 21.09 yards per return.

PEOPLES TOPS OVC RECEIVERS: Junior receiver Walter Peoples leads the OVC and ranks 33rd nationally in receptions per game with 5.64. He also leads the OVC and ranks 39th nationally in receiving yards per game with 74.73.

OVC WEEKLY HONORS: Linebacker Nick Stauffer and kicker/punter Doug Spada were voted Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player and Specialist of the Week on Oct. 27. Stauffer paced the Southeast defense with a career-high 21 tackles in the 27-20 comeback victory over No. 19 Tennessee State. He also notched his first career interception and returned it 21 yards late in the third quarter to set up the Redhawks first touchdown drive. His career day included 14 solo tackles and two tackles for loss.

Spada drilled a 37-yard field to force overtime on the last play of regulation against TSU. He also converted a 26-yard field goal earlier in the game. Spada averaged 40 yards per punt on the afternoon and had one downed at the Tennessee State 1-yard line. He also had a 72-yard punt nullified by a Tennessee State penalty. He currently ranks third in the nation and leads the OVC with an average of 44.42 yards per punt.

Senior quarterback Houston Lillard and junior cornerback Eddie Calvin (were awarded the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week Awards after the season opener against Southwest Baptist. Lillard was 27-39 passing for a career-high 387 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Southeast comeback. Calvin had three pass interceptions in the first half to keep the Redhawks in the game. Sophomore running back Henry Harris, a transfer from the University of Memphis, has been chosen the OVC Newcomer of the Week twice and Nick Stauffer and Doug Spada were honored after the Tennessee State game.

NUMBER CHANGE: Junior college transfer Jason Brown who had been playing at offensive tackle has moved to tight end and will wear number 45. He is 6-2, 240, and will back up Brad Crader at tight end. Bradley Brown, who had been the starter at tight end, is suffering from a shoulder injury.

CAPTAINS: The football team has elected five captains for the 2008 season. Quarterback Houston Lillard and wide receiver Mike Williamson will captain the offensive unit while the defensive captains will be linebacker Nick Stauffer, tackle Nick Ketelsleger and cornerback Kendall Magana.

REDHAWKS IN THE NFL: Four former Redhawks players are on NFL rosters. Eugene Amano is an offensive lineman with the Tennessee Titans , Dan Connolly is an offensive lineman on the New England Patriots practice squad and Dimitri Patterson is a defensive back for Kansas City while Edgar Jones is a tight end at Baltimore.

NEBRASKA CONNECTION: Eight Southeast coaches have ties to Nebraska. Head coach Tony Samuel played and coached at Nebraska. New outside linebackers coach Troy Dumas was an All-American linebacker for the Huskers, wide receivers coach Lorenzo Brinkley, defensive backs coach Kenny Wilhite, defensive coordinator Tim McGuire and offensive line coach Brian Boerboom all played for the Huskers. Running backs coach Chris Norris played under Tom Osborne when Samuel was an assistant in Lincoln and the father of offensive tackles/tight ends coach Justin Kramer had Samuel as a position coach.

FBS TRANSFERS: The Redhawks have two new FBS transfers. Running back Henry Harris is a transfer from the University of Memphis and Ashton Farmer is a transfer from Arkansas State. Both will be eligible this season.

Harris, 5-8, 185, played in four games at Memphis last season. As a prep star at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, he rushed for 1,579 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior.

Farmer, 6-7, 240, played basketball at Arkansas State the past two seasons. He played in 62 basketball games at ASU. Farmer was a prep football and basketball player at Charleston High School. He caught 39 passes for 658 yards as a high school senior.

REDHAWKS AGAIN HAVE ST. LOUIS RADIO STATION: The Southeast Missouri Football Radio Network will again include 1380 ESPN Radio in St. Louis. The network, operated by Mississippi River Radio will be anchored by 100,000-watt K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include KSIM, Sikeston; KWOC, Poplar Bluff and KMAL, Malden. Erik Sean will be the play-by-play voice of Redhawks football with former quarterback Rick Wieser adding commentary for home games and Ron Hines, Sports Information Director, handling commentary on road games. Todd Bonacki will be a sideline reporter for home games.

REDHAWKS FOOTBALL WITH Tony Samuel: Samuel will have a weekly 30-minute television show on The Heartland's CW, WQWQ-TV. The show will air at 11:05 p.m. on Mondays and will be hosted by KFVS-TV sports director Todd Richards. The show will also be shown on Charter Cable Channel 11 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday's at 8 p.m. It will also be run on the KFVS-TV/Southeast Weather Channel (Charter Channel 113) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at 6:30 p.m.

OVC SPORTS.TV: All remaining Southeast games will be video streamed on the Ohio Valley Conference's premium website, OVCSports.tv which can be accessed by logging on to the league's official website, OVCSports.com.