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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri (4-2, 2-0) piled up 360 yards of total offense against the Football Championship Subdivision's top defense in a 28-21 victory over No. 20 Tennessee State (4-2, 2-1) Saturday afternoon at Houck Stadium.
 
Lennies McFerren ran for 115 yards and a touchdown, and Ryan McCrum accounted for eight points in the kicking game to polish off Southeast's second win over a ranked opponent in three weeks.
 
McFerren's first career 100-yard rushing performance ended with a 7-yard touchdown run that gave the Redhawks a 28-14 lead with 4:41 left to play in the fourth quarter. His big TD came on a 3^rd-and-4.
 
TSU answered with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Michael German to Weldon Garlington, a play that capped a 71-yard drive. Garlington's touchdown narrowed the score to 28-21 with 2:11 on the clock.
 
Cameron Carter attempted an onside kick and Tyler Manne recovered at the TSU-46.
 
The Tigers, however, had one last chance after Alex Knight's 33-yard punt went out of bounds at their own 6-yardline.
 
Seven plays into the drive, Eriq Moore intercepted German's pass at the Southeast 5-yardline to nail down the Redhawks third-straight win.
 
"I am so proud of our players and coaches," said an elated Southeast head coach Tom Matukewicz. "We really executed our game plan well. The margin between winning and losing is very thin."
 
Southeast did not turn the ball over and played extremely well on special teams. Its defense also did its part, particularly in the secondary, where the Redhawks broke up 12 passes.
 
The Redhawks took a quick 3-0 lead on a career-long 55-yard field goal by McCrum with 12:17 left in the first quarter. The field goal was McCrum's second over 50 yards this season.
 
Following a TSU punt, Southeast started its next possession at its 41-yardline. Kyle Snyder threw an 18-yard completion to freshman Adrian Davis and completed a 13-yard pass to Peter Lloyd, moving the Redhawks to the TSU-15. Snyder then ran the ball three-straight times and scored on a 6-yard rush to extend the Redhawks lead to 10-0 with 8:56 left.
 
Lewis Washington's 1-yard run finished off a 9-play, 80-yard drive to give Southeast a 17-0 lead with 9:04 remaining in the second quarter. Washington scored a rushing TD for the second year in a row against the Tigers.
 
TSU got on the board with a 2-yard run by Stephen Hopkins with 14 seconds left and went into the locker room down, 17-7, at the half.
 
Although the Tigers outscored Southeast in the second half, the Redhawks again won the fourth quarter, this time putting up 11 points in the final 15 minutes.
 
McCrum split the uprights with a 26-yard field goal at the 12:00 mark before McFerren's touchdown. Snyder's pass to Ron Coleman completed Southeast's first 2-point conversion this season.
 
McFerren averaged 5.5 yards per carry on 21 attempts to lead Southeast's offense. Snyder also completed 11-of-18 passes for 134 yards, while Lloyd added four catches for 58 yards.
 
The Redhawks gained 226 rushing yards against TSU's defense that entered the game allowing just 78 per contest. Southeast also scored the most points against the Tigers this season, a team giving up only 10.8 per contest. Not to mention, the Redhawk offensive line did not allow a sack against TSU, who leads the nation in that category.
 
Ron Davis led the Redhawks with 10 tackles, the second double-digit tackle performance of his career. Davis had six solo stops. Tim Hamm-Bey added six tackles, five pass breakups and a blocked field goal.
 
German threw for 362 yards and two touchdowns to lead TSU. German completed 34-of-59 passes on the day. Chris Sanders-McCollum followed with a game-high nine catches for 104 yards and a touchdown.
 
TSU kicker Lane Clark missed two field goals and had one blocked on his three attempts.
 
Southeast beat two ranked opponents in a season for the first time in school history. The Redhawks also evened its record to 12-12 in Homecoming games since moving to the NCAA Division I level. Today's crowd of 8,089 marked Southeast's largest home attendance this season, as well.
 
The Redhawks visit Murray State on Oct. 11.