CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.– Daniel Santacaterina threw for 248 yards and a touchdown, and ran for two other scores to lead #17 Southeast Missouri (1-0) to a 44-26 season-opening win over longtime rival Southern Illinois (0-1) Thursday night in front of a raucous crowd of 8,312 at Houck Field.
 
SEMO started slow and trailed 14-7 before scoring 30-straight points on its way to burying the Salukis for the second-straight season. The Redhawks and Salukis met for the 87^thtime in the longest rivalry for both schools.
 
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Nick Hill and SIU," said SEMO head coach Tom Matukewicz. "It was great to win this game again. The atmosphere was outstanding and our student section was awesome!"
 
Down seven with 5:44 remaining in the second quarter, Zion Custis ignited SEMO's scoring surge with a 4-yard touchdown run that ended a four-play, 65-yard drive. Santacaterina completed an 18-yard pass to Aaron Alston and followed that up with a 34-yard completion to Kristian Wilkerson to set up Custis' touchdown.
 
SEMO managed to get in the end zone once more just before the half when Mark Robinson hit paydirt on a 1-yard plunge with 37 seconds left to put the Redhawks up, 20-14, at the intermission.
 
After scoring 20 second-quarter points, SEMO tacked on 17 more in the third.
 
Kendrick Tiller kicked a 22-yard field goal and Santacaterina scored his second rushing touchdown on a 7-yard run. Wilkerson then made a highlight-reel one-handed catch on a 47-yard pass from Santacaterina and made an 18-yard touchdown reception on the next play to widen SEMO's lead to 37-14 with just under two minutes (1:57) in the third quarter.
 
Geno Hess completed SEMO's scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run at the 10:41 mark in the fourth quarter.
 
Six different Redhawks scored points as SEMO racked up 529 yards of total offense.
 
Santacaterina completed 14-of-24 passes and ran for 54 yards to lead the way. Custis (78), Hess (77) and Robinson (72) each added over 70 yards rushing. As a team, SEMO finished with 281 yards on the ground.
 
Wilkerson caught six passes for 146 yards, going over 100 receiving yards for the fifth time in his career.
 
Defensively, the reigning FCS National Defensive Player of the Year Zach Hall notched a game-high 19 tackles, including 15 in the first half. Hall went over 300 tackles in his career. He also had two tackles for loss and a sack.
 
SEMO forced one turnover when Marcus Lucas intercepted a tipped pass by Justin Swift deep in the Redhawks territory during the first quarter.
 
The Redhawks won the War for the Wheel again and, as a result, the ship's wheel trophy remains in Cape Girardeau.
 
SEMO improved to 10-19 all-time in season-openers since moving to NCAA Division I in 1991. The Redhawks also won their eighth-straight home game and beat the Salukis in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2001 (24-5) and 2002 (21-14).
 
The Redhawks travel to #14 Montana State on Sept. 7.