Sept. 11, 2010

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

By Jeff Honza
Southeast Missouri State Sports Information

MURRAY, Ky. - Matt Scheible ran for a career-high 134 yards and threw for 140 yards and a touchdown to lead Southeast Missouri (1-1, 1-0) to a 30-17 win over Murray State (0-2, 0-1) Saturday night at Stewart Stadium.

Scheible, who averaged 8.4 yards per carry on 16 attempts, became the first Southeast quarterback to rush for over 100 yards in a game since Victor Anderson finished with 118 at Cincinnati in 2007.

"Matt's perfect for the things we do and he handled himself well," said Southeast head coach Tony Samuel. "It was a big win for us and there was disciplined football by both teams tonight."

Southeast scored 20 points in the second half en route to its first win in an Ohio Valley Conference opener since 2004.

Murray State and Southeast were tied 10-10 at halftime, before the Redhawks soared in the game's final two periods.

Drew Geldbach's 47-yard field goal gave Southeast a 13-10 edge on the Redhawks opening drive of the second half, but Murray State quickly regained the lead.

Duane Brady's 1-yard plunge put the finishing touches on an 8-play, 56-yard drive, and gave the Racers a 17-13 advantage with 9:11 left to play in the third quarter.

After that, Murray State would not lead again.

Scheible completed two big third-down passes on the Redhawks ensuing drive. One of those was a 26-yard toss to Edwards on a 3rd-and-8 and the other was a 2-yard touchdown pass to Bradley Brown on a 3rd-and-Goal. Brown's second career touchdown gave the Redhawks a 20-17 lead at the 4:43 mark.

Following a Murray State punt, Scheible broke free for a 60-yard run on the first play of Southeast's next possession. Seven plays later, Geldbach connected from 37 yards out to push the Redhawks lead to 23-17 early in the fourth quarter.

Scheible then avoided a sack and threw a 27-yard pass to Edwards on a 3rd-and-8 to set up the Redhawks final score. Harris' 33-yard touchdown run capped Southeast's longest drive of the night which covered 86 yards in seven plays.

Murray State marched 74 yards in 12 plays on the third possession of the game to grab the early lead.

Senior quarterback Jeff Ehrhardt, who did not play against Southeast a year ago, completed a flawless 9-of-9 passes for 59 yards to key the drive which ended on a 13-yard pass from Ehrhardt to Arthur Brackett with 6:25 left in the first quarter.

While the Racers were sharp with the pass, Southeast was equally effective with the run.

The Redhawks, after taking over on downs at their own 31-yardline, marched 69 yards on 14 plays to bring the game to a 7-7 deadlock.

Southeast ran the ball 13 times, with Paducah, Ky., native Mike Jones picking up 17 yards on six carries and Scheible gaining 34 yards on four attempts. Scheible also ran for a first down on a 3rd-and-7 to keep the drive alive. Jones then scored on a 1-yard run with nine seconds on the clock.

Both teams traded field goals in the second quarter before going into the locker room knotted at 10-10.

After a 57-yard punt by Kienan Cullen pinned Southeast at its own 1-yardline, Scheible completed a 39-yard pass to a wide open Miles Edwards down the middle of the field on a 3rd-and-15 to get the Redhawks into Murray State territory.

Six plays later, Geldbach made a 40-yard field goal to give Southeast a 10-7 edge (6:27), its first lead of the season.

Cullen's 42-yard field goal with 44 seconds left ended the first half scoring.

Scheible completed 12-of-17 passes and went his fifth-consecutive game without throwing an interception.

In fact, Southeast didn't turn the ball over all night. The Redhawks also piled up 431 yards of total offense (291 rushing) and committed just three penalties.

"It was definitely a team effort tonight," said Scheible. "I had a lot of opportunities to run the ball and I took advantage of them. I was proud of how we played."

Harris posted the second 100-yard rushing performance of his career when he ran for 113 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

Meanwhile, Edwards caught five passes for 100 yards. It marked the third 100-yard receiving game of his career.

Southeast finished a game with two 100-yard rushers and a 100-yard receiver for the first time since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1991.

Additionally, the Redhawks had two ball carriers with 100 or more yards in a game for the first time in four years.

Defensively, three Redhawks had 10 or more tackles for the second-straight game. Aaron Grimes paved the way with a career-high 14 and had an interception, while Aris Bowen and Justin Love each followed with 10.

"It was a great win for us tonight," said Grimes. "Overall, I feel like we had a pretty good game defensively. We just have to keep getting better."

Josh Gipson added a big sack on a 4th-and-8 when Murray State was inside Southeast's 20-yardline late in the fourth quarter. For Gipson, it was the third sack of his career. All of which came against the Racers.

Ehrhardt completed 38-of-54 passes for 245 yards and one touchdown to lead Murray State. He also threw an interception and was sacked once.

Southeast heads to #2/4 Southern Illinois on Sept. 18. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., CT, at the brand new state-of-the-art Saluki Stadium.