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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri rushed for 411 yards as the Redhawks ground out a 37-30 win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday night at Houck Field.  SEMO improved to 1-3, 1-1 in the OVC while EIU dropped to 1-4, 0-3 in the OVC.

The first half ended with fireworks on both sides of the ball as SEMO running back Renard Celestin broke free for 67 yards on 3rd and 14 as the Redhawks seemed content to run the clock out with less than a minute to play.  SEMO went up 14-10 on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Matt Scheible to Marq Goodlitt.

EIU responded on the ensuing kickoff as Tavares Crawford returned it 83-yards to put EIU back on top 17-14 heading into the half.  It was the first kick returned for a touchdown for the Panthers since Lorence Ricks took one the distance at Jacksonville State in 2009.  Crawford ended the day with 190 yards on five returns and two tackles on defense.

SEMO held EIU to a 3-and-out on the first possession of the second half to halt the EIU momentum.  Scheible then broke free for a 71-yard run on the option to put SEMO up 21-17.  Scheible finished with 161 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns.  His second score came with 7:55 left to play on an 18-yard scramble that put the Redhawks up 37-23 at the time.

EIU closed the gap to 37-30 as Adam Drake caught a 22-yard pass from Jimmy Garoppolo with 1:04 left.  SEMO would recover the onside kick to hang on for the one score victory.

Darrick Borum had two big defensive plays for SEMO as he intercepted a Garoppolo pass deep in EIU territory and later blocked a Cameron Berra extra point.  EIU's defense was able to hold SEMO to a field goal attempt on the Borum interception.  SEMO would miss an extra point later in the game giving EIU the chance to tie.  D.J. Bland blocked a field goal attempt on special teams for EIU.

Both teams went 3-and-out on their opening possessions before SEMO took the first lead of the game.  Scheible hit D.J. Foster for a 19-yard score as the Redhawks covered most of the drive on the ground on the legs of Levi Terrell.  Terrell finished with 16 rushes for 106 yards.  On the play EIU appeared to have gained possession on a fumble by Scheible but the play was re-run based on an inadvertent whistle call.

EIU responded with a scoring drive of its own as Jake Walker covered 47 yards of the drive with 23 yards on the ground and 24 yards on a screen pass.  Walker would rush the final nine yards to tie the score at 7-7 with 3:31 left.  Walker had 43 yards rushing.

Cameron Berra tacked on the Panthers other first half points with a 23-yard field goal.

Chris Wright hauled in a four-yard pass from Garoppolo for a touchdown in the third that made it 24-23 after Borum's blocked extra point.  It was the 15th career touchdown grab for Wright.  Garoppolo's two touchdown passes gave him 25 for his career.  He finished the day 16-of-26 for 192 yards.

Eastern Illinois returns to action next Saturday when the Panthers host Eastern Kentucky at 1:30 p.m. for Family Weekend at O'Brien Field.