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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Jalen Whitlow threw for 213 yards and had a hand in five touchdowns, Adam Drake caught seven passes for 110 yards and two scores and Shepard Little ran for 103 yards to lead Eastern Illinois (2-5, 2-1) to a commanding 52-13 win over Southeast Missouri (4-4, 2-2) Saturday afternoon at Missouri National Guard Field/Houck Stadium.

Southeast, which suffered its second-straight loss, was shutout in the second half for the first time this year. The Redhawks went the final 36:26 of the game without a point.

"We couldn't run the ball on offense which made third down situations very hard," said Southeast head coach Tom Matukewicz. "Defensively, we couldn't stop them and they had their way with us."

The Panthers put up 548 yards of total offense and forced five turnovers in a strong effort on both sides of the ball.
 
EIU struck first on its second drive of the game when Whitlow hooked up with Drake for a 50-yard touchdown pass. Drake got behind the defense and sprinted down the far sideline to the end zone. The big play gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead with 10:37 left to play in the first quarter.
 
Kyle Snyder completed a 22-yard pass to Peter Lloyd as Southeast moved into EIU territory. Three plays later, Ryan McCrum kicked a 51-yard field goal to cut the Panthers lead to 7-3 with 9:37 remaining. McCrum made his fourth field goal over 50 yards in five games.
 
EIU elected to go for it on fourth down during its next two possessions, but the Redhawk defense made two huge stops.
 
Matt Starks tackled Whitlow short of the first down marker on a 4^th-and-9 at the Southeast-34 and Roper Garrett and Hunter Bledsoe stopped Taylor Duncan on a 4^th-and-2 at the Redhawk-11.
 
A 38-yard field goal by McCrum then capped a 13-play, 68-yard drive as Southeast diced EIU's lead to 7-6 with 36 seconds.
 
EIU scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives and made a field goal to tack on 17 more points in the second quarter.
 
Whitlow scored rushing touchdowns from three and 13 yards out, respectively, to push the Panthers lead to 21-13 with 2:14 on the clock.
 
In between those scores was a 6-yard touchdown pass from Snyder to Spencer Davis that completed a 10-play, 72-yard drive at the 6:26 mark.
 
Nick Bruno's 45-yard field goal sent EIU into the locker room with a 24-13 halftime advantage.
 
Southeast started the second half with a turnover. Jourdan Wickliffe intercepted Snyder's pass on a 3^rd-and-9, giving the Panthers good field position at the Redhawks 48-yardline.
 
Nothing, however, came from the mishap as a dropped pass by Drake on 3^rd-and-long stalled EIU.
 
Southeast faked a punt and did not get a first down after Alex Knight completed a pass to DeMichael Jackson for two yards on a 4^th-and-5. The unsuccessful play set EIU up at the Redhawks 25-yardline. 
 
This time, the Panthers, with the help of a Southeast personal foul, scored on a 1-yard run by Duncan to widen their lead to 31-13 with 10:09 left to play in the third quarter.
 
After Snyder threw his third interception of the game, EIU was in field goal formation when an encroachment penalty by Southeast made it 4^th-and-1 at the Redhawks 5-yardline.
 
The Panthers brought their offense back on the field and Whitlow completed a touchdown pass to Drake, extending EIU's lead to 38-13 with just under five minutes (4:57).
 
Southeast gained no more than eight yards on each of its first four drives in the second half before Peter Lloyd returned a kickoff 37 yards. Snyder completed an 18-yard pass to Adrian Davis and 5-yard pass to Mike Cyliax to get the Redhawks to the EIU-38.
 
Three plays later, McCrum's 52-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left for his third miss of the season.
 
EIU still wasn't finished, scoring twice more.
 
Whitlow hit paydirt  on a 2-yard run, his third rushing touchdown of the game.
 
On the first play after Southeast downed a punt at the Panthers 4-yardline, Jimmy Lera took the handoff and dashed 96 yards for a touchdown on his second carry to put EIU ahead, 52-13, with 6:55 left.

Snyder completed 19-of-32 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown. He also threw three interceptions. Lloyd added eight receptions for 97 yards and tallied a game-high 263 all-purpose yards.

Roper Garrett paved the way for Southeast's defense with a career-high 19 tackles.

Whitlow completed 17-of-30 passes and scored three rushing touchowns, while Little had a game-high 22 carries. EIU piled up 335 yards on the ground. Wickliffe chipped in two interceptions, as well.

The Panthers are the first opponent to score over 50 points at Houck Stadium since Southern Illinois put up 58 against the Redhawks on Sept. 1, 2005.

Southeast hits the road to face No. 12/13 Eastern Kentucky on Oct. 25.