Southeast Missouri scored on both sides of the halftime break as the Redhawks beat Eastern Illinois, 20-10, on Saturday afternoon during the Panthers homecoming game at O'Brien Field.
Both teams traded field goals in the first quarter with Justin Keller putting SEMO on the board first with a 44 yard field goal with 5:09 to play in the opening quarter.
Drew Schiller answered for EIU with a 29 yard kick with two seconds left in the quarter.
EIU made it eleven straight games with a turnover gained in the second quarter as
Jerry Addo-Boateng had his second interception of the year.
Cole LaCrue connected with
Samuel Gonzalez on the following drive for an 18-yard touchdown to put the Panthers up 10-3 with 12:22 to play in the half.
Keller cut into the Panthers deficit with a 29-yard field goal with 3:37 left and SEMO closed the half with a 4-yard touchdown reception by Jobe Bryant as time expired to put the Redhawks up 13-10 at the break.
Khylen Harris-Norman set the Redhawks offense up to open the second half as he took the opening kickoff 64-yards with
Alex Stoyanovich making a touchdown saving tackle. Khyair Spain scored on a 16-yard run two plays later to stake SEMO to the 20-10 lead.
EIU threated with good special teams play in the fourth quarter as
Kaleb Lyons had a blocked punt that set the Panthers up in SEMO territory. EIU attempted a big play to get back in the game on the next offensive possession only to see David Jones pick off a pass at the goal line to stop a Panthers drive.
LaCrue passed for 210 yards in the game with
Eli Evans his favorite target with six catches for 83 yards.
Alex Koulovatos led the EIU defense with eight tackles.
EIU drops to 2-6 overall, 1-2 in the OVC. SEMO improved to 5-3 overall, 3-0 in the OVC.
