THIBODAUX, La. – Geno Hess ran for 128 yards and a touchdown and Southeast Missouri (4-4) got a turnover with less than a minute left in the game to seal a 35-31 win over Nicholls (3-4) Saturday afternoon at Guidry Stadium.
 
In a back-and-forth game that featured two ties and six lead changes, it was only fitting there would be a wild finish.
 
Nicholls tried to catch SEMO off guard with a trick play on a third-and-10 at the Redhawks 14-yard line. Running back Collin Guggenheim threw a pass back to quarterback Pat McQuaide, but defensive lineman Steven Lewis intercepted the ball and ran 36 yards to the Colonels' 44-yard line.
 
SEMO ran the final 45 seconds off the clock following the turnover to pick up its third-straight victory. The Redhawks forced two turnovers in the contest, both which were interceptions.
 
The Redhawks forced Nicholls to punt on the game's opening drive. SEMO marched to the Colonels 43-yard line when Patrick Heitert moved the chains on a 14-yard run. On the next play, Geno Hess got loose for a 28-yard run to Nicholls' 1-yard line. 
 
That drive, however, resulted in a 24-yard field goal by DC Pippin as SEMO took an early 3-0 lead with 6:08 remaining in the first quarter.
 
A roughing the punter penalty by SEMO gave Nicholls an automatic first down at the SEMO 32-yard line. Another penalty, this time a pass interference, put the ball at the Redhawks 17-yard line before McQuaide threw a 17-yard touchown pass to Quincy Brown giving the Colonels their first lead at 7-3 with 1:17 to go.
 
Eric Ivory, Jr. intercepted a pass that went off the hands of a David Robinson and ran to the SEMO 32-yard line. Four plays later, Ryan Flournoy crossed the goal line on a 3-yard run to regain a 10-7 edge for the Redhawks with 12:20 to play in the second quarter. The interception was a team-high third of the season for Ivory, Jr.
 
Jaylon Spears scored the next two touchdowns for Nicholls to make it a two-possession ballgame. Spears hit paydirt on a 17-yard run and then dashed 88 yards on a swing pass from McQuaide to give the Colonels a 21-10 advantage with 1:29 on the clock.
 
SEMO closed out the first half with a 43-yard field goal by Pippin to narrow the Colonels' margin to 21-13.
 
The Redhawks scored 15 of their 22 third-quarter points in a six-minute span to start the second half and quickly get back ahead of the Colonels.
 
SEMO covered 67 yards in nine plays and Flournoy scored his second touchdown of the contest on a 26-yard pass from Heitert. Flournoy broke several tackles and carried multiple Colonel defenders with him on his way to the end zone. Heitert ran in the 2-point conversion to make it a 21-21 contest with 10:24 left in the third quarter.  
 
Nicholls punted on its first possession of the third quarter and Dalyn McDonald went 65 yards for a touchdown to regain a 28-21 lead for SEMO at the 9:08 mark. The punt return for touchdown was the first of McDonald's career.
 
After the Colonels answered to tie the game, Hess raced 65 yards for his longest touchdown run of the season putting the Redhawks back on top, 35-28, with 2:31 remaining.
 
Nicholls used a 24-yard field goal by Gavin Lasseigne to get within four points (35-31) with 7:47 to go in the fourth quarter, the Colonels stopped SEMO on fourth-and-6 and took over on downs at their own 32-yard line.
 
A bad snap by the Colonels on fourth down went for a big loss and SEMO began its next possession at the Nicholls 13-yard line. Pippin's 31-yard field goal missed wide right and the Colonels went back on offense at their own 20-yard line with 2:31 to go.
 
Hess averaged over seven yards per carry (7.1) on 18 attempts en route to his fourth 100-yard game of the season. SEMO finished with a 210 rushing yards.
 
Heitert, in just his second career start under center, completed 12-of-23 passes for 139 yards and one touchdown, and ran for 18 yards on 14 carries.
 
Flournoy added four catches for 62 yards and scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown along the way.
 
Bryce Norman led SEMO's defense with 12 tackles, his fourth double-digit tackle game of the year. Lawrence Johnson followed with eight stops as SEMO won the turnover battle by a +2 margin.
 
The Redhawks, now in sole possession of first in the Big 12-OVC Association standings after UT Martin lost to Gardner-Webb, return to conference play when they host Robert Morris in their home finale on Nov. 4.