COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech (1-4, 1-1) scored 28 second-half points to come-from-behind and beat Southeast Missouri (1-4, 1-1), 28-17, Saturday afternoon at Tucker Stadium.
 
TTU snapped a five-game losing streak with its first victory of the season. The Golden Eagles also ended a four-game skid in their series against the Redhawks.
 
Down 10-0 at halftime, TTU scored 14 points in each of the last two quarters to get by the Redhawks.
 
Jason Baker intercepted C.J. Ogbonna's pass and ran to SEMO's 25-yard line. On the next play, Willie Miller threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Quinton Cross and just like that, TTU was within three (10-7) with 10:12 remaining in the third quarter.
 
TTU put together 80-plus yard scoring drives twice to open a double-digit lead.
 
Miller tossed his second touchdown pass, this time a 28-yarder to Ashton Maples. Maples' go-ahead touchdown came with 2:55 left in the third quarter and finished off an 8-play, 89-yard march.
 
After a 52-yard punt by Zach Haynes was downed at TTU's 4-yard line, the Golden Eagles covered 96 yards in 14 plays. David Gist's 3-yard touchdown run stretched TTU's lead to 21-10 at the 8:45 mark in the fourth quarter.
 
A 35-yard run by Miller helped set up the game's final score, a 2-yard run by Gist that made it 28-10 in favor of the Golden Eagles with 3:44 to play.
 
It was a tale of two halves for SEMO, which outgained TTU, 149-27, in the first 30 minutes. After that, the Redhawks struggled to get anything going offensively the rest of the way. 
 
SEMO was strong again defensively from the start and had a pair of takeaways on sacks with Omardrick Douglas and Jackson native Bryce Norman each forcing a fumble. Norman's first career sack came during his first career start at linebacker.
 
After a scoreless first quarter, SEMO scored the game's first touchdown when Geno Hess leaped over the goal line on a fourth-and-1. Hess' score capped a 13-play, 78-yard march that chewed up 5:48 giving the Redhawks a 7-0 advantage a minute into the second quarter.
 
Quarterback Jalyn Williams led SEMO downfield completing 4-of-4 passes for 43 yards and rushing for 20 more along the way.
 
Norman dropped Drew Martin for a loss of eight yards and Izeal Terrell recovered the loose ball at TTU's 23-yard line. Four plays later, Kenny Doak made a 22-yard field goal to push SEMO's lead to 10-0 at the half.
 
Williams threw his first career touchdown pass for seven yards to Johnny King with 47 seconds on the clock.
 
TTU registered 298 yards of total offense and 192 on the ground in its decisive second half. The Golden Eagles' 187-yard surge came after they had just -5 rushing yards in the first two quarters.
 
Williams threw for 119 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-26 passes, and ran for 37 yards on 14 carries. Hess finished with 69 yards and scored the 24^th rushing touchdown of his career. He moved to 10th on SEMO's all-time career rushing list with 1,775 yards.
 
Mincey and Norman paced SEMO's defense with seven tackles apiece. Norman added a sack, two tackles for loss, forced fumble and one quarterback hurry, as well.
 
Additionally, the Redhawks recorded a takeaway in their 19^th-straight game dating back to the 2019 campaign.
 
Gist ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns on 25 attempts to lead TTU.
 
SEMO travels to Austin Peay on Oct. 9. Both the Redhawks and Governors were voted second in this year's Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll.