CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Daniel Santacaterina threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns, Marquis Terry ran for a career-high 202 yards and a touchdown, and Southeast Missouri (1-1) scored 20 fourth-quarter points to grab a 40-21 win over Dayton (1-1) in its home-opener at Houck Field Saturday.
 
Santacaterina, who was cleared to play after being in concussion protocol from a hard hit he took in the second quarter against Arkansas State the previous week, completed 20-of-30 passes. Two of his touchdown passes came in the game's final period.
 
"I want to give Dayton credit. They are a good football team," said SEMO head coach Tom Matukewicz. "I also want to give Athletic Trainer Ben Fox and our sports medicine staff credit for all the work they did to get Daniel healthy for today. I appreciate how we ended the game and it was fun."
 
SEMO trailed, 14-13, when Santacaterina ran for 11 yards to pick up a big first down on a fourth-and-7 in the third quarter. Two plays later, he threw a 4-yard touchdown to Kristian Wilkerson to put the Redhawks ahead, 20-14, at the 5:40 mark.
 
UD regained a 21-20 edge after Tucker Yinger broke free for a 34-yard touchdown to cap a 6-play, 73-yard drive less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
 
The Redhawks then scored 20 unanswered points to bury the Flyers.
 
Wilkerson caught his second touchdown pass from Santacaterina from 18-yards out to polish off a 5-play, 72-yard march. Zack Smith sprinted 73 yards after going in motion to receive a short toss from Santacaterina. Terry ran 95 yards for SEMO's final TD of the game.
 
Santacaterina had a hand in four touchdowns during his first career home start at SEMO. His 9-yard rushing TD gave the Redhawks a 13-7 halftime lead.
 
Offensively, SEMO finished with 481 total yards as its 40 points were the most the Redhawks scored in a game since it put up 41 at home against Austin Peay on Oct. 29, 2016.
 
Terry averaged 12.6 yards per carry on 16 attempts. His 95-yard run matched the third-longest rushing play in school history.
 
Smith, meanwhile, recorded the first 100-yard receiving game of his career. He had five catches for a game-high 122 yards. Smith's 73-yard reception tied for the eighth longest in school history.
 
Additionally, the Redhawks did not turn the ball over for the second game in a row.
 
Justin Swift and Zach Hall led SEMO's defense with 11 and nine tackles, respectively. Swift's 11 tackles were a career-high. He remained in the game after a tackle he made -- initially ruled a targeting -- was overturned early on.
 
"That was huge," said Matukewicz. "It would have been a big loss for our defense if that targeting call would have stood."
 
Newcomer Marcus Lucas notched his team-high second interception of the season, while Hall added a fumble recovery giving SEMO a +2 turnover margin. The Redhawks tallied two sacks, six tackles for loss and had a big blocked punt that swung the momentum their direction.
 
Yinger ran for 115 yards and a touchdown, and Jack Cook threw for 281 yards and a touchdown on 22-of-45 passes to lead Dayton.
 
SEMO closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule when it crosses the Mississippi River to face Southern Illinois in the first edition of the "War for the Wheel" on Sept. 15. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., CT, at Saluki Stadium.