CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – #16 Southeast Missouri (1-2, 1-1) had just 185 yards of total offense in a close 24-21 loss to Murray State (2-0, 2-0) Sunday afternoon at Houck Field.
SEMO struggled against a MSU defense that limited the Redhawks to only 73 yards on the ground and 112 through the air.
The Redhawks trailed 17-7 at halftime, but scored the first two touchdowns of the fourth quarter to take a four-point advantage.
Zion Custis scored on a 1-yard run to give SEMO its first lead with 12:42 left to play. Custis' 1-yard touchdown came after the Redhawks began that drive at the MSU 30-yard line following a shanked Aaron Baum punt that went for -1 yards.
On MSU's next possession,
Shabari Davis picked off Preston Rice and ran 33 yards to the end zone stretching the Redhawks lead to 21-17 with 11:47 remaining.
After two unsportsmanlike penalties moved SEMO back to its 10-yard line for the ensuing kickoff, the Racers began their drive with good field position at their own 49.
MSU converted on fourth-and-6 when Rice completed a 12-yard pass to Dequan Dallas getting the Racers to the Redhawks 3-yard line. On the next play, Rice scored what ended up being the game-winning touchdown.
The Racers defense got SEMO off the field in three plays and MSU took over on downs at its 36-yard line after
Zach Haynes' punt.
MSU picked up two first downs and later faced a fourth-and-4 when a SEMO personal foul penalty kept the Racers drive alive. The Racers then managed to run the clock down to 22 seconds and the Redhawks began their final possession at their own 31-yard line.
After throwing a pair of incompletions,
Andrew Bunch was intercepted by Marcis Floyd to end the game.
Geno Hess ran for 70 yards on 13 carries, while Bunch completed 15-of-27 passes for 112 yards and threw three interceptions. Custis scored two rushing touchdowns for the second-straight game.
Defensively, Davis and
Al Young each had one interception, and
Bryson Donnell turned in a career-high 10 tackles.
SEMO is back in action when it hosts Austin Peay on Mar. 14.
