CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. –
Will Young rushed for a career-high 154 yards and a touchdown, and
Jesse Hosket threw for 230 yards and a touchdown to lead Southeast Missouri (3-5, 3-2) to a 41-21 victory over Austin Peay (0-8, 0-6) Saturday.
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SEMO established new season-highs in points, total yards and rushing yards, and had no turnovers en route to pushing its record to 2-1 at Houck Stadium.
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The Redhawks dressed in their special pink up jerseys to support cancer awareness. Each player's jersey honored the names of cancer survivors and those who have lost their battles with cancer.
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"It was a great win and what an impact this day has," said SEMO head coach
Tom Matukewicz. "It's an awesome event and is what this community should be all about."
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SEMO's offensive line paved the way for a season-best 276 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
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The Redhawks scored the first 17 points of the game when
Ryan McCrum kicked a 23-yard field goal,
Chase Abbington caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Hosket and
Tremane McCullough hit paydirt on a 22-yard run.
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SEMO, after shutting out APSU in the first half, added 21 third-quarter points in a wild period that saw both teams combine for a total of 35.
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Javaughn Criag ripped off a 70-yard run when he ran to his left on a read option and coasted to the end zone with 12:37 remaining.
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After SEMO answered with a 16-yard touchdown run by McCullough, Kente Williams ran for a 68-yard score to narrow the Redhawks lead to 24-14 at the 4:54 mark.
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On the ensuing kickoff,
Cameron Sanders dashed 93 yards for a touchdown to extend SEMO's lead to 31-14 and the Redhawks never turned back. Sanders returned a kickoff for a touchdown for the second time in his career and holds the school's longest and fourth-longest kick returns for TDs.
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A 7-yard run by Young and 30-yard field goal by McCrum rounded out SEMO's scoring in the win.
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Hosket completed 20-of-24 passes and threw for over 200 yards for the sixth time in seven starts. Young averaged 9.6 yards per carry on 16 attempts and picked up his fourth 100-yard game of the season.
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"Our offensive line did their job," said Young. "The holes were wide as can be and they set the tone for us."
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McCullough added 92 rushing yards, a pair of touchdowns and caught six passes for 37 yards. He was one of nine different SEMO receivers with a reception.
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The Redhawks piled up 515 yards of total offense. It was the first time SEMO finished a game with over 500 total yards since Nov. 15, 2014 (531, vs. Austin Peay).
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Defensively,
Chad Meredith and
Roper Garrett led the SEMO with nine and eight tackles, respectively.
Omar Pierre-Louis recovered a fumble, while
Zach Hall and
John Popovich each recorded a sack, as well. In addition,
Ryan Moore went over 100 tackles in his career.
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Criag rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown and Gunner Scholato turned in a game-high 18 tackles to lead APSU.
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SEMO handed APSU its 24
th-consecutive loss. The Governors currently have the longest losing streak in NCAA Division I football.
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The Redhawks host Ohio Valley Conference leader and #2 Jacksonville State during their Homecoming weekend on Nov. 5.
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