2015 Recruiting Class | Biographical Sketches

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri's 2015 recruiting class came together at a rapid pace during National Signing Day Wednesday. The Redhawks added a total of 26 players from five different states as all commitments were in before Noon.

Southeast's second signing class under head coach Tom Matukewicz includes 11 players from Missouri, five from Florida, five from Tennessee, four from Mississippi and one from Nebraska. Ten of the in-state signees are within a two-hour radius of Cape Girardeau.

Six signees are already enrolled at Southeast, including quarterback Tavarius "Tay" Bender, running backs Donterio Fowler and Tremaine McCullough, defensive backs Taron Divens and Jamarl Holloway, and defensive lineman Kendall Carr.

Bender, who is from Lincoln, Neb., was a two-time All-Midwest Football Conference selection at national powerhouse Iowa Western Community College. He completed 166-of-282 passes for 1,912 yards and 25 touchdowns as a redshirt-sophomore in 2014. He also ran for 184 yards and another four TDs on 82 carries in 2014.

Bender graduated early from Southwest High School and enrolled at Kansas State for the spring 2012 semester prior to joining Iowa Western a year later. He was rated the No. 1 high school player in Nebraska, No. 20 dual-threat quarterback in the country and a three-star recruit by Rivals.com from Southwest H.S.

A native of St. Petersburg, Fla., Fowler rushed for 1,288 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior at Lakewood High School. He caught 11 passes for 211 yards and two TDs that year, as well. He is the brother of Dante Fowler, Jr., who was a First-Team All-SEC selection as a defensive end at Florida and is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

McCullough, who hails from Royal Palm Beach, Fla., ran for 501 yards and four touchdowns on 75 carries in two seasons at Arizona Western Community College. He also caught 15 passes for 127 yards for an average of 8.5 yards per reception over that span.

Divens, a native of McComb, Miss., registered 44 tackles, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and three passes defended in two years at Pearl River Community College.

Holloway, who is from St. Martin, Miss., was teammates with Divens at Pearl River CC. He turned in 30 tackles, two interceptions and nine pass breakups in two seasons.

A native of Batesville, Miss., Carr was rated as the 22^nd-best junior college defensive tackle in the nation according to JCGridiron.com. He played in 22 games over three seasons at Northwest Mississippi Community College. Carr capped his junior college career by recording 71 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, a forced fumble and four quarterback hurries as a redshirt-sophomore in 2014.

Bender, Fowler, McCullough, Divens, Holloway and Carr will participate in spring drills.

Locally, the Redhawks locked in the southeast Missouri Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year.

Quarterback Dante Vandeven won the Carr Award after throwing for 2,210 yards and 24 touchdowns, and rushing for 954 yards and another 19 TDs at nearby Jackson High School last season. Vandeven capped an outstanding prep career by leading the Indians to the state quarterfinals in consecutive seasons.

A native of Kennett, Mo., linebacker Bud Hilburn was named the Southeast Missouri Football Coaches Association Defensive Player of the Year after recording 141 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, seven sacks and five forced fumbles at Kennett High School in 2014.

Wide receivers Trevon Billington and Eric Williams, linebacker Arsante Conners and offensive linemen Drew Swihart and Mitch Yant join the Redhawks from the St. Louis area.

Billington, Williams and Conners are from St. Louis, while Swihart is out of Manchester and Yant comes to Southeast from Kirkwood.

Billington made 41 catches for 792 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior at Soldan High School, the same prep school as Southeast All-Ohio Valley Conference wide receiver Paul McRoberts.

Williams earned First-Team Public High League All-Conference accolades at Carnahan High School.

Conners was the Suburban West National Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a linebacker at Oakville High School. He registered 114 tackles, two sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception as a senior while playing for his father, Arlee Conners.

Swihart (6-5, 319) was an All-Conference and All-District left tackle at Parkway West High School.

Meanwhile, Yant (6-6, 265) was a starting offensive tackle at St. John Vianney High School.

Wide receiver Austin Cooley, offensive linemen Drew Forbes and Ryan Ochoa, and defensive lineman Ryan Truvillion round out the in-state contingent.

A native of Potosi, Mo., Cooley was a three-year starter at Potosi High School, where he was the all-time career leader in receiving yards (1,984). Cooley earned First-Team All-Conference honors as both a junior and senior.

Forbes (6-6, 311) was a First-Team All-Conference offensive and defensive lineman at North County High School in Bonne Terre, Mo.

Ochoa (6-1, 260) was also a First-Team All-Conference offensive and defensive lineman. He was a two-year starter for Southeast alum Lee Freeman at Hillsboro High School in Hillsboro, Mo.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., Truvillion recorded 85 tackles, five sacks and 25 quarterback hurries en route to securing First-Team All-Conference and All-District honors as a defensive end at Park Hill High School a year ago.

Defensive backs Brandon Mack, Omar Pierre-Louis, Cameron Sanders, Steve Durosier and Rudie Frye, tight end Marquette Murdock, wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson and linebackers Stephon Williams and Byron Wilson complete the 2015 class.

Mack, who hails from Oxford, Miss., collected 73 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, 20 passes defended and a blocked kick in two seasons at Northwest Mississippi CC.

A native of Loxahatchee, Fla., Pierre-Louis posted 64 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, an interception and two fumble recoveries as a redshirt-freshman at Independence (Kan.) CC.
Sanders garnered All-State honors at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, Tenn. He recorded 33 tackles, five interceptions, two forced fumbles and scored three defensive touchdowns in his prep career.

Durosier, who is from Miami, Fla., tallied 36 tackles, one interception, a forced fumble and fumble recovery as a senior at American High School, while Frye was an honorable mention All-Region cornerback at White Station High School in Memphis, Tenn.

Murdock was rated a two-star recruit by Rivals.com at Ridgeway High School in Memphis. He was a three-time First-Team All-District honoree as a prep. Murdock had 17 touchown receptions during his high school career, including five as a senior.

Wilkerson caught 155 passes for 2,403 yards and 36 touchdowns in his prep career at Memphis' Craigmont High School. He made 60 catches for 917 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior.

Wilson, another native of Memphis, had 45 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss and four pass breakups as a sophomore at Highland (Kan.) CC.

Williams, who hails from Clearwater, Fla., attended Calvary Christian Academy where he ran for 1,138 yards and 15 touchdowns. He is the first player in Calvary Christian Academy's history to pay NCAA Division I football.

"It was nice to have 12 months to actually work on a class," said Matukewicz. "The first thing we did was target some local prospects. From there, we went to the I-55 corridor, starting with St. Louis. We were able to get some kids out of there that we had in camp and know a lot about. Then, we ended up getting five down in Memphis and some others in between there. That is our recruiting model. We take care of that first and go from there to find some difference-makers."

Matukewicz also talked about the importance of depth as his program moves forward.

"We're looking at not only building depth and we were able to get some impact-players in this year's signing class," said Matukewicz. "Offensive line wise, we were trying to get a bigger body that we can build, so most of those guys we added are 6-5 or bigger. Secondary wise, we signed a lot because there were a lot of empty classes. We had to sign some junior college players to try to build the depth at those areas on our roster."

Lastly, Matukewicz commended his staff on a job well done.

"I think more than anything, people don't realize how hard it is and how much work  it takes to recruit at a really high level," he said. "Our staff is second-to-none and they have done an amazing job. I think we are going to see the fruits of this labor eventually. It's an exciting time to be a Redhawk!"