Football 11/22/2022 4:58:00 PM

#12 Redhawks Face #17 Montana in First Round of FCS Playoffs Saturday

#12 Southeast Missouri (9-2) at #17 Montana (7-4)

Game Information
Date: November 26, 2022
Kickoff: 9:15 p.m., CT
Location: Missoula, Mont.
Facility: Washington-Grizzly Stadium
Surface: Field Turf
Series: First Meeting
Head Coaches: Tom Matukewicz (51-51 overall; 50-51 at SEMO; 38-27 OVC). Bobby Hauck (130-82 overall; 115-33 at Montana; 67-18 Big Sky).

Follow the Redhawks
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
TV: ESPN2 (Connor Onion, Jay Walker)
Live Stats: GoGriz.com
Twitter: @SEMOfootball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)

Redhawks Open Postseason at #17 Montana
#12 Southeast Missouri (9-2) faces #17 Montana (7-4) in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Saturday. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m., CT at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Montana.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen live on the radio at Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean will be on the call. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. Live stats are available at GoGriz.com and Twitter updates will be provided @SEMOFootball.

Series History
Southeast Missouri and Big Sky Conference member Montana meet for the first time. SEMO faces a Montana school for only the second time after playing at Montana State on Sept. 7, 2019 (L, 17-38).

Playoff History
The Redhawks are in the FCS Playoffs for the fourth time in program history. Southeast Missouri made the postseason in 2010, 2018, 2019 and 2022. SEMO has made the playoffs three times in the last five years.

Playoff Experience
The 2022 squad is the third Southeast Missouri team Head Coach Tom Matukewicz leads to the FCS Playoffs. Matukewicz also guided the 2018 and 2019 teams to postseason play. This year marks the second time Matukewicz will coach a playoff game at Montana. He did just that when he was an assistant coach at Southern Illinois on Dec. 2, 2006 (L, 3-20). Matukewicz has been to the FCS Playoffs a total of eight times in his career, five of those appearances was when he was an assistant coach.

Playoff Games
Southeast Missouri is 1-3 in playoff games with two (1-1) of those matchups in the first round. The Redhawks played second round games in 2010 and 2018 going 0-2 in those contests. SEMO's only playoff win was vs. Stony Brook (28-14) on Nov. 24, 2018. That game was played in Cape Girardeau.
12/4/20 at #1 Eastern Washington      L, 7-37
11/24/18 vs. #15 Stony Brook          W, 28-14
12/1/18 at #3 Weber State              L, 23-48
11/30/19 vs. #13 Illinois State              6-24

OVC Champions
With its 52-22 win over Murray State (Nov. 19), Southeast Missouri claimed a share of this year's Ohio Valley Conference title. SEMO won its third OVC crown in program history. The Redhawks also won the OVC title in 2010 and 2019. SEMO shared this year's championship with UT Martin. A coin flip was administered to determine who received the automatic berth to this year's playoffs. SEMO won the coin flip following the games on the final day of the regular season.

Hess Breaks Single-Game Rushing Record
Geno Hess broke the Southeast Missouri and Ohio Valley Conference single-game rushing records when he ran for 317 yards and four touchdowns vs. Murray State (Nov. 19). Hess ran the ball 26 times and averaged 12.2 yards per carry. He scored on runs of 73, 43, 31 and 21 yards. Hess went over 200 rushing yards for the third time this season and fourth in his career. He surpassed Marquis Terry (311 yards, at Southern Illinois, Sept. 15, 2018) for the new mark. Hess' 317 yards are the most in a game in the Football Championship Subdivision this year.

Hess Cracks Top-10 OVC Career Leaders
Rushing Leaders With his stellar performance vs. Murray State (Nov. 19), Geno Hess moved into the top 10 Ohio Valley Conference leaders in career rushing touchdowns and single- season rushing touchdowns. Hess is fourth in OVC history with 51 career rushing touchdowns and tied for fourth with 19 touchdowns ths 2022 season.

Hess Approaching 4,000 Yards
With his 3,990 rushing yards, Geno Hess needs only 10 more to become the first player in Southeast Missouri history to rush for 4,000 yards. Hess is the program's all-time leading rusher.

Nine-Win Seasons
At 9-2, Southeast Missouri has nine wins in a season for only the fourth time in its NCAA Division I tenure. SEMO posted nine-win seasons in 2010 (9-3), 2018 (9-4), 2019 (9-4) and 2022 (9-2). This year is the Redhawks third nine-win season under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.

Hess Named FedEx Ground FCS
National Offensive Player of the Week Southeast Missouri running back Geno Hess was among recipients for the FedEx Ground FCS National Players of the Week on Nov. 21. Hess set the SEMO and Ohio Valley Conference single-game rushing records with 317 yards and scored four touchdowns in the Redhawks 52-22 win over Murray State. He averaged 12.2 yards on 26 carries, scoring from 73, 43, 31 and 21 yards out, as SEMO clinched a share of the conference title. He also caught one pass for 10 yards. Hess' 317 yards are the most in single-game by any FCS player this season. Lafayette's Billy Shaeffer (Defensive Player of the Week), Abraham Williams (Special Teams Player of the Week), Eric O'Neill (Long Island) and Gardner-Webb (Team of the Week) rounded out the week's honorees. Hess is SEMO's first National Offensive Player of the Week since 2018

FCS Leader
Geno Hess leads the Football Championship Subdivision in three categories. Hess is first in rushing touchdowns (19), scoring (11.5 ppg) and total touchdowns (21).

Norman Clears 100 Tackles
Linebacker Bryce Norman cleared 100 tackles this season when he finished with 12 vs. Murray State (Nov. 19). Norman ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference in tackles behind UT Martin's Rob Hicks (114). He turned in double-digit tackles six times this season alone. Norman had 10 or more tackles in each of his last four starts. He has a total of 108 for the year.

Road Winning Streak
The Redhawks go for their sixth-straight road win when they head to Montana for the first round of the FCS Playoffs. Southeast Missouri's five-game road winning streak is the longest in its NCAA Division I Footblal Championship Subdivision era. SEMO's current road winning streak is tied for fourth-longest in the Football Championship Subdivision this season. The Redhawks have never won a playoff game on the road during their postseason history.

Matukewicz Gets 50th Career Win
Tom Matukewicz celebrated his 50th career win as a head coach when Southeast Missouri beat Eastern Illinois, 31-7, on Nov. 12. Matukewicz is now 51-51 overall and 50-51 at SEMO.

Redhawks in the Top-25
Southeast Missouri is ranked in both the Stats Perform and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches Top-25 Polls. The Redhawks are #12 in the Coaches Poll and #14 in the Stats Perform Media Poll as of Nov. 21. SEMO is ranked in both Top-25 polls for the first time since 2019.

AFCA Coaches
9/26         RV
10/3         #25
10/10       #21
10/17   #18
10/24   #14
10/31   #20
11/7   #19
11/14   #15
11/21   #12

Stats Perform
9/26   #24
10/3         #21
10/10       #18
10/17   #16
10/24   #15
10/31   #22
11/7   #20
11/14   #17
11/21   #14

Weeks in Top-25
Southeast Missouri has been ranked in either the Stats Perform or AFCA Coaches Top-25 Polls a total of 27 weeks during Tom Matukewicz's tenure as the Redhawks head coach. SEMO matched its highest ranking with Matukewicz at the helm when it was ranked 12th in the Nov. 21 AFCA Coaches Poll. The Redhawks also ranked 12th (Stats Perform Poll) in 2019.

Heitert Makes First Career Start
True freshman Patrick Heitert made his first career start at quarterback for the injured Paxton DeLaurent who missed his second-straight game vs. Murray State (Nov. 19). Heitert completed 10-of-19 passes for 81 yards and ran for 11 yards on six carries. He played in his second-straight game after DeLaurent was sidelined with a foot injury.

Pick Six for McCall
William McCall returned his team-high second interception for a touchdown vs. Murray State (Nov. 19). McCall scored the first touchdown of the game just 1:25 in when he picked off Jayden Stinson and ran 49 yards to the end zone.

Senior Salute
The Redhawks recognized their 16 seniors before the Murray State game on Nov. 19. Matt Bigley, Jacob Buie, Will Christopher, Jordan Cole, Terry Cook, Pervis Frazier, Zach Haynes, Geno Hess, Trai Hodges, Lawrence Johnson, Johnny King, Nate Korte, Adam Krause, Christian Perez, Shyron Rodgers and Will Weidemann are Southeast Missouri's seniors.

100-Yard Games
Geno Hess ran for 317 yards and four touchdowns in his latest effort vs. Murray State (Nov. 19). Hess broke Southeast Missouri's all-time career record in 100-yard games this season. He has hit the century mark a total of 16 times in his career. Hess ran for over 100 yards in six of his last eight starts.

All-Time Leading Rusher
Geno Hess broke Southeast Missouri's all-time career rushing record at Tennessee State (Nov. 5). Hess ran for 136 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers. He officially broke the record on his third carry of the game, a 9-yard rush during SEMO's second drive. Hess now has 3,990 yards surpassing Kelvin "Earthquake" Anderson (3,392, 1992-94) for the new mark.

Talking Streaks
The Redhawks have scored in 40 consecutive games, third-longest streak of that kind in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southeast Missouri has scored over 20 points in 10-straight contests.

Mr. Record-Breaker
Geno Hess has broken five of Southeast Missouri's career records this season alone. Hess broke SEMO's all-time records in rushing touchdowns (51), total touchdowns (53), rushing yards (3,990), points scored (318) and 100-yard games (16).

Ball Security
Southeast Missouri has not turned the ball over during five of its last seven games and won the turnover battle by a +6 margin in that span. SEMO committed only nine turnovers in its first 11 games and ranks fifth in the nation in turnovers lost. The nine turnovers lost are fewest in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Sack Streak
Southeast Missouri recorded multiple sacks in nine of its last 10 contests. SEMO finished with a season-best five at Lindenwood (Oct. 1). The Redhawks are second in the Ohio Valley Conference with 28 sacks. SEMO had only 16 sacks in 11 games a year ago.

49 in a Row
Kicker DC Pippin has not missed an extra point in his Southeast Missouri career. Pippin is a perfect 49-of-49 in PATs dating back to last season. He made 47-of-47 through 10 games in 2022 and is tied for first in the Ohio Valley Conference in PAT kicking percentage.

Matukewicz Fourth All-Time in Wins
Southeast Missouri Head Coach Tom Matukewics ranks fourth all-time in program history with 50 wins. Matukewicz is the 13th head coach in SEMO's football tenure.
Kenneth Knox (1952-67)            88
Abe Stuber (1932-46)                72
Jim Lohr (1974-83)                    52
Tom Matukewicz (2014-present)        50

Atop the OVC
Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring defense (21.5 ppg allowed), total defense (358.5 ypg allowed), rushing offense (233.2 ypg), rushing defense (108.9 ypg allowed), kickoff returns (23.4 ypr), PAT kicking (50-of-50, 1.00), sacks allowed (75) and fourth-down conversions (66.7 pct.). Individually, Geno Hess is first in the OVC in rushing (142.6 ypg), scoring (11.5 ppg) and all-purpose yards (153 ypg), DC Pippin is first in field goals (15-of-22, 1.36 per game) and PAT kicking percentage (47-of-47, 1.00) and Dalyn McDonald is first in punt return average (8.1 ypr) and kick return average (25.9 ypr).

Top-10 in the FCS
As a team, Southeast Missouri ranks among the top-10 in the Football Championship Subdivision in fourth-down conversion percentage (8th, .667), punt return defense (4th, 1.62), fumbles lost (7th, 3), sacks allowed (6th, 0.91), turnovers lost (5th, 9), rushing offense (9th, 233.2 ypg), total offense (7th, 472.6) and winning percentage (9th, .818). Individually, Dalyn McDonald ranks among the top-10 kick return TDs (8th, 1); Paxton DeLaurent is sixth in total offense (299.1 ypg); Geno Hess is third in rushing yards (1,569), second in rushing yards per carry (7.62), first in rushing touchdowns (19), first in scoring (11.5 ppg) third in rushing yards per game (142.6) and first in total touchdowns (21); and Garrett Todd is fifth in punt return TDs (1).

Matukewicz Momentum
Tom Matukewicz is in his ninth year as Southeast Missouri's head coach in 2022. With a total of 50 wins and 38 in Ohio Valley Conference play, Matukewicz has more victories than any head head coach in SEMO's NCAA Division I era. He also guided the Redhawks to one OVC title (2019) and two FCS Playoff appearances (2018, 2019). Matukewicz is 50-51 and 38-27 in the OVC as SEMO's head coach.