Redhawks Crush Tennessee Tech on Homecoming

Saturday, October 14

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1:00 PM

Southeast Missouri State University

2-4 , 2-1

Tennessee Tech (Homecoming)

0-7 , 0-4

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Tennessee Tech	0	3	0	0	3
Southeast Missouri	17	0	0	14	31

Cameron Sanders ran for a career-high 102 yards and had a 70-yard TD run vs. Tennessee Tech

Photo by: Marc Mahnke

10/14/2017 5:08:00 PM | Football

Box Score Final Statistics PDF Photos

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Cameron Sanders ran for 102 yards and Jesse Hosket threw for three touchdowns to lead Southeast Missouri (2-4, 2-1) to a dominating 31-3 victory over Tennessee Tech (0-7, 0-4) on homecoming at Houck Field Saturday.

A refreshed SEMO team, which entered the game off its bye week, picked up its second-straight win and first on homecoming since 2014.

"I was happy with how we started and finished the game, and that we won the turnover margin," said Redhawks head coach Tom Matukewicz. "I'm proud of our effort today and it was great to get a win in front of a nice crowd during homecoming weekend."

SEMO set the tone early, holding TTU to -5 yards on its opening drive. On the first play following the Golden Eagles punt, Hosket threw a 41-yard completion downfield to Kristian Wilkerson to give the Redhawks a first-and-Goal at the TTU 8 yard line.

Three plays later, Hosket threw a 9-yard third down touchdown to Eric Williams to put SEMO ahead, 7-0, with 9:27 left to play in the first quarter. For Williams, it was the first touchdown of his career.

On the next TTU drive, Zach Hall sacked Adam Browner for a loss of 15 yards and forced a fumble on the play. Bryson Donnell recovered at the Golden Eagles 6-yard line.

SEMO faced third-and-Goal again, this time with Hosket completing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Billington with 8:17 on the clock.

A 22-yard field goal by Nicholas Litang completed a 17-point first quarter for the Redhawks.

TTU's only points of the game came via a 37-yard field goal with 2:07 in the second quarter as the Golden Eagles trailed, 17-3, at the half.

SEMO tacked on 14 more points in the fourth quarter on two big plays.

Hosket hooked up with Wilkerson for a 47-yard strike at the 14:15 mark and Sanders ripped off a 70-yard touchdown run with 7:04 remaining to put the exclamation point on the 31-3 win.

Sanders ran for over 100 yards for the first time in his career. He averaged 14.6 yards on seven carries. His rushing touchdown was his second of 70 or more yards this season.

Hosket, after not throwing a touchdown pass in his previous two starts, completed 13-of-27 passes for 161 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Wilkerson finished with seven catches for 109 yards, going over 100 receiving yards for the second time in three games.

Defensively, Omar Pierre-Louis had both of SEMO's interceptions, including one where he narrowly stayed in-bounds along the near sideline. Rico McWilliams tallied seven tackles, while Hall, Mike Ford and Chad Meredith followed with six apiece. Kendall Donnerson recorded the Redhawks other sack.

Browner, TTU's backup quarterback, threw for 95 yards and Yeede Thaenrat ran for 55 to lead a Golden Eagle offense that had 195 total yards. Starting quarterback Andrew Sale did not make the trip with his team.

SEMO gained 334 yards for the day, including 173 on the ground. The Redhawks also established a single-season high in points scored and gave up their fewest points in a game this year.

Redhawk punter Jake Reynolds averaged 45.9 yards per punt with a long of 78. Reynolds' 78-yard punt was the fourth-longest in school history.

Additionally, Kelvin "Earthquake" Anderson, Canadian Football League Hall of Fame member and SEMO Hall of Famer, was at midfield for the honorary coin toss for today's game. Anderson is the Redhawks all-time leading rusher with 3,392 yards from 1992-94.

The Redhawks visit Austin Peay on Oct. 21.