CHARLESTON, S.C. – DC Pippin scored a career-high 14 points on four field goals and two extra points to lead #8 Southeast Missouri (7-1, 4-0) to a 26-13 win over Charleston Southern (1-6, 0-4) Saturday at Buccaneer Field.
 
SEMO recorded its sixth win in a row and claimed its fourth winning season under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz. The Redhawks now have seven winning seasons in their NCAA Division I era.
 
The third-straight road victory gave the Redhawks their first win on a flight trip. SEMO snapped a six-game losing streak in flight trip games with Matukewicz at the helm.
 
SEMO recovered a fumble on the third play from scrimmage when Sam Keeper covered up the football on a miscue by Rob McCoy.
 
The Redhawks got to CSU's 18-yard line and settled for an 18-yard field goal by Pippin to take an early 3-0 lead with 11:35 remaining in the first quarter.
 
SEMO, which leads the Big South-OVC in opponent fourth-down conversions, stopped the Buccaneers on a fourth-and-1 at its own 37-yard line. DJ Delmore and McCoy Casey dropped Tyson Greenwade for no gain, the Redhawks 12th fourth-down stop this season.
 
The Redhawks coverted the turnover on downs into a 24-yard field goal by Pippin which capped a 10-play, 57-yard drive and stretched SEMO's lead to 6-0 with 4:04 in the first quarter.
 
On CSU's ensuing possession, the Buccaneers marched 75 yards in seven plays and took the lead on a 26-yard pass from Kaleb Jackson to Chris Rhone. Rhone's reception put the Buccaneers ahead, 7-6, just eight seconds into the second period.
 
Aided by 45 penalty yards by CSU on targeting, pass interference and roughing the passer fouls, managed to get to the Buccaneers' 16-yard line, but again had to settle for another Pippin field goal. Pippin's 34-yard field goal regained a 9-7 edge for SEMO at the 12:16 mark.
 
Another pass interference penalty by CSU gave SEMO an automatic first down at the Buccaneers 1-yard line. After the Buccaneers kept the Redhawks out of the end zone on three-straight plays, Tristan Smith took a reverse handoff and ran to his left into the end zone giving SEMO a 16-7 halftime advantage. For Smith, it was the first rushing touchdown of his career.
 
CSU committed seven penalties for 70 yards in the first half alone.
 
The Redhawks tacked on 10 more points in the final two quarters of play, including seven in the third and three in the fourth.
 
Kyron Downing caught a 20-yard pass from Paxton DeLaurent and fell into the end zone for a touchdown ending a 7-play, 79-yard march that pushed SEMO's lead to 23-7 with 10:38 to play in the third quarter.
 
Freshman Jacorey Love, in his SEMO debut, ran the ball three times for 32 yards to help get the Redhawks into CSU territory once again. Pippin came on to kick his fourth field goal, a 27-yarder, increasing SEMO's margin to 26-13 at the 11:12 mark in the fourth quarter.
 
SEMO had a strong effort in all three phases. 
 
Offensively, the Redhawks, who lead the Big South-OVC in passing offense, finished with 335 passing yards on 32-of-55 attempts. SEMO put those numbers up against the Buccaneers, who came into the game with the league's top pass defense.
 
DeLaurent threw his Big South-OVC high 21^st touchdown pass of the season and completed passes to nine different receivers.
 
Love was the Redhawks leading rusher with 65 yards on 12 carries with an average of 5.4 yards per touch.
 
Smith paved the way for SEMO's receiving corps with seven catches for 90 yards.
 
On the defensive side, the Redhawks had one takeaway, stopped the Buccaneers twice on fourth down and allowed 255 total yards. Ty Leonard led the team with eight tackles.
 
Pippin scored double-digit points in a game for the fourth time this year. His four field goals tied a career-high, as well.
 
SEMO had 415 total yards and was a perfect 6-of-6 inside the red zone. The Redhawks have gone a combined 15-of-15 in the red zone over their last three games.
 
Additionally, SEMO had a season-low 35 penalty yards, while CSU finished with 10 penalties for 114 yards giving up 11.4 yards per penalty.
 
The Redhawks host Gardner-Webb during their Homecoming weekend on Oct. 26.