Southeast Missouri State University
Eastern Illinois
Redhawks Welcome Eastern Illinois on Homecoming Saturday
10/13/2025 9:29:00 AM | Football
Game Information
Date:Â Saturday, October 18, 2025
Kickoff:Â 2Â p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Houck Field (8,000)
Surface:Â Field Turf
Series:Â EIU leads, 18-14
Last Meeting:Â SEMO 38, EIU 27 | 10/5/24 | Charleston, Ill.
Last Meeting in Cape Girardeau:Â SEMO 35, EIU 28 | 10/14/23
Head Coaches
Eastern Illinois: Chris Wilkerson (67-51 overall; 16-24 at EIU; 9-13 OVC-Big South)
Southeast Missouri: Tom Matukewicz (66-67 overall; 65-67 at SEMO; 48-33 OVC-Big South)
Follow the Redhawks
Video:Â ESPN+Â Â (Erik Sean, Rick Wieser)
Live Stats:Â SEMORedhawks.com
Radio:Â Real Rock 99.3 FMÂ (Erik Sean, Rick Wieser)
X:Â @SEMOfootball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)Â
Homecoming at SEMO
•   Southeast Missouri (2-4, 1-1) closes out its two-game home stand when it hosts Eastern Illinois (3-3, 2-1) during its Homecoming Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m., CT at Houck Field.
•   SEMO is at home for the fourth time this season when EIU comes to Cape Girardeau.
•   This year marks the fifth time the Redhawks welcome the Panthers as their Homecoming opponent.
•   SEMO is 3-1 all-time against EIU on its Homecoming weekend.
•   The Redhawks are 6-1 in their last seven Homecoming matchups.Â
Series History
•   Saturday marks the 33rd meeting between Southeast Missouri and Eastern Illinois.
•   EIU leads the all-time series, 18-14.
•   SEMO won the last seven games of the series, including a 38-27 victory in Charleston a year ago.
•   Tom Matukewicz is 8-3 all-time agianst EIU as SEMO's head coach.
•   Matukewicz has the most wins against the Panthers and fellow OVC-Big South member Tennessee Tech (8-3) in his 12 years at the helm.
•   Eight of SEMO's 14 wins against the Panthers came at Houck Field.
•   The Redhawks averaged 36.1 points per game in their last seven meetings with EIU.
Homecoming Games
•   Southeast Missouri is 18-15 all-time in Homecoming games since moving to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision in 1991.
•   SEMO won six of its last seven Homecoming matchups.
•   Here is a list of the Redhawks Homecoming results in that span.
10/12/91   Tennessee Tech   W, 34-31
10/31/92   UT Martin   W, 37-13
11/6/93   Eastern Kentucky   L, 21-35
10/29/94   Austin Peay   W, 31-10
10/7/95   Tennessee Tech   W, 33-12
10/26/96   Middle Tennessee   W, 16-13
10/11/97   Tennessee Tech   L, 14-17
10/31/98   Middle Tennessee   L, 19-21
10/9/99   Tennessee Tech   L, 7-21
10/21/00   Murray State   L, 28-38
10/20/01   Murray State   L, 35-45
10/19/02   Eastern Illinois   L, 27-44
10/4/03   Eastern Illinois   W, 30-17
10/30/04   UT Martin   W, 35-7
10/29/05   Murray State   W, 52-21
10/30/04   UT Martin   W, 35-7
10/29/05   Murray State   W, 52-21
10/21/06   Eastern Kentucky   L, 21-27
10/20/07   Murray State   L, 17-31
10/25/08   Tennessee State   W, 27-20 OT
10/10/09   Austin Peay   L, 14-24
10/30/10   UT Martin   W, 24-17
10/22/11   Austin Peay   W, 17-13
10/20/12   UT Martin   L, 17-27
10/26/13   Eastern Kentucky   L, 7-31
10/4/14   Tennessee State   W, 28-21
10/17/15   Eastern Kentucky   L, 10-27
11/5/16   #2 Jacksonville State   L, 10-17
10/14/17   Tennessee Tech   W, 31-3
10/13/18   Austin Peay   W, 31-27
10/26/19   UT Martin   W, 17-10
2020Â Â Â No Homecoming Game
10/30/21   Eastern Illinois   W, 38-15
10/29/22   Eastern Kentucky   L, 23-28
10/14/23   Eastern Illinois   W, 35-28
10/26/24   Gardner-Webb   W, 30-24
Redhawks Grab First OVC-Big South Win
•   Southeast Missouri picked up its first Ohio Valley Conference-Big South Association win of the season when it beat Tennessee State, 28-12, on Oct. 11.
•   With its win over the Tigers, SEMO improved to 15-19 all-time in OVC-Big South home-openers.
•   The Redhawks won 10 of 12 conference home-openers under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.
Weber Named OVC-Big South Co-Freshman of the Week
•   Johnny Weber was named Ohio Valley Conference-Big South Association Co-Freshman of the Week on Oct. 13.
•   In his first career start at quarterback, Weber completed 24-of-39 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns.
•   He threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Donnie Cheers with 5:57 left to play in the first quarter and 10-yard pass to Kalvin Gilbert with 10:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.
•   Weber completed passes to eight different receivers.
•   He took over as SEMO's quarterback after starter Jax Leatherwood and backup Patrick Heitert suffered knee injuries at UT Martin (Sept. 27).
•   Weber is the third different SEMO player to earn one of the OVC-Big South's weekly accolades joining Jax Leatherwood (Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 8) and Justin Keller (Specialist of the Week, Sept. 8).
Epton, Jr. Springs for Two Touchdowns
•   Brandon Epton, Jr. scored a career-high two rushing touchdowns against Tennessee State (Oct. 11).Â
•   Epton, Jr. hit paydirt on 36-yard run with 1:15 left in the first quarter and scored on a 2-yard plunge with 8:30 to go in the second period.
•   He finished with 69 yards on 16 carries, as Southeast Missouri ran for a season-high 176 yards as a team.
•   Epton, Jr. is tied for second in the OVC-Big South with four rushing touchdowns through six games this year.
Longest Scoring Drive
•   Southeast Missouri put together its longest scoring drive of the season against Tennessee State (Oct. 11).
•   SEMO covered 99 yards on 10 plays and capped that drive with a 2-yard run by Brandon Epton, Jr. with 8:30 left in the second quarter.
•   The last time the Redhawks had a 99-yard scoring drive was against Murray State on Oct. 3, 2015.
•   Paul McRoberts caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Dante Vandeven to polish off a 12-play, 99-yard drive with 5:01 left to play in the second quarter of that contest.
•   SEMO had two 90-plus yard scoring drives against the Tigers.
Ruble Rumbles
•   Cole Ruble gained a season-high 93 rushing yards vs. Tennessee State (Oct. 11).
•   Ruble averaged 7.8 yards on 12 carries.
•   He also had a 35-yard run for a first down on a fake punt against the Tigers.
•   Ruble ranks second on the team with 195 rushing yards on 26 attempts.
Season-High Takeaways
•   Southeast Missouri's defense came away with a season-high three takeaways vs. Tennessee State (Oct. 11).
•   Slade Dollar and Adrian Patterson each had one interception and Jeremy Walton recovered a fumble.
•   It was SEMO's first game with multiple takeaways this year.
•   Dollar leads the Redhawks with two interceptions in six starts at inside linebacker.
Program Milestone Ahead
•   Southeast Missouri is just one win away from reaching 500 in its football program history.
•   SEMO's football program began in 1904 and moved to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision in 1991.
•   The school's all-time program record stands at 499-565-36.
Halfway Point
•   The Redhawks are halfway through their 12-game schedule in 2025.
•   Southeast Missouri's remaining six games include home matchups with Eastern Illinois (Oct. 18), Charleston Southern (Nov. 1) and Lindenwood (Nov. 22), and road trips to Tennessee Tech (Oct. 25), Gardner-Webb (Nov. 8) and Western Illinois (Nov. 15).
Conference Success
•   Since 2018, Southeast Missouri has put together a record of 36-14 in conference games.
•   During that span, SEMO won three league titles (2019, 2022, 2024) and made the FCS Playoffs four times (2018, 2019, 2022, 2024).
•   The Redhawks finished with winning conference records six times and a .500 league record once in the last seven seasons.
Red Zone Offense
•   Southeast Missouri leads the Football Championship in red zone offense four games into its 2025 campaign.
•   SEMO has scored on all 14 of its opportunities in the red zone thus far.
•   The Redhawks scored 82 of their 137 points inside the 20-yard line.
•   Additionally, SEMO has not turned the ball over in the red zone in 16 of its last 18 games dating back to last season.
Kicking Strong
•   Kicker Justin Keller is Southeast Missouri's top scorer with 35 points.
•   Keller, a transfer from Coastal Carolina, is in his first season as the Redhawks starting kicker.
•   He scored a season-best 12 points on 3-of-3 field goals and 3-of-3 extra points vs.North Alabama (Sept. 6).
•   For the season, he is 6-of-9 on field goals and a perfect 17-of-17 on PATs.
•   Keller is third in the OVC-Big South in field goals made (6), fifth in field goal percentage (66.7), fourth in scoring (kick) (5.8 ppg) and tied for first in PAT kicking percentage (1.00).
Net Worth
•   Southeast Missouri ranks fifth in the FCS in net punting with a 42.6 average.
•   First-year starting punter Ryan Kingston is third in the OVC-Big South and 16th in the nation in punting with an average of 43.8 yards per punt.
•   Kingston dropped 10 of his punts inside the 20-yard line. Five of his punts traveled 50 or more yards, including a season-long 56-yard punt at #1 North Dakota State (Sept. 13).
Leading Tackler
•   Safety Landon Sylvie leads the Redhawks with 56 tackles this season.
•   Sylvie became the first Redhawk to reach double-digit tackles when he posted a career-high 12 at Arkansas State (Aug. 30).
•   He followed that up with eight tackles the following week vs. North Alabama (Sept. 6), nine at #1 North Dakota State (Sept. 13), nine vs. #11 Southern Illinois (Sept. 20), 11 at UT Martin (Sept. 27) and seven vs. Tennessee State (Oct. 11).
•   Sylvie was SEMO's leading tackler in all six games this season.
•   He ranks 19th in the Football Championship Subdivision and first in the OVC-Big South with 9.3 tackle per game.
About Eastern Illinois
•   Eastern Illinois is coming off its first OVC-Big South loss of the season, a 21-10 setback vs. Gardner-Webb on Oct. 11.
•   EIU is second in the OVC-Big South in rushing touchdowns (12) and has the league's second-best rushing defense allowing 138.8 yards per contest.
•   Cole LaCrue leads the conference in scoring (TDs). LaCrue has a OVC-Big South best six rushing touchdowns and is averaging 7.2 points per game this season.
•   Defensively, Tylan Foster and Ja'Wuan Nickson are among the OVC-Big South's top 10 tacklers. Foster is sixth with 7.5 tackles per game and Nickson is eighth with 7.3 stops per contest.
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