Southeast Missouri (3-7, 2-4 OVC-Big South) at Western Illinois (3-7, 2-4 OVC-Big South)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, November 15, 2025
Kickoff: 1 p.m., CT
Location: Macomb, Ill.
Facility: Hanson Field (16,368)
Surface: Matrix Turf
Series: SEMO leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: SEMO 54, GWU 45 | 11/15/24 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Head Coaches
Southeast Missouri: Tom Matukewicz (67-70 overall; 66-70 at SEMO; 49-36 OVC-Big South)
Western Illinois: Joe Davis (7-15 overall; 5-9 at WIU; 5-9 OVC-Big South)

Follow the Redhawks
Video: ESPN+  
Live Stats: GoLeathernecks.com
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
X: @SEMOfootball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF) 

Final Road Game
•    Southeast Missouri (3-7, 2-4) travels to Western Illinois (3-7, 2-4) for its final road game of the season Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m., CT at Hanson Field.
•    SEMO makes its first trip to Macomb, Illinois for a football game in program history.
•    WIU officially joined the Ohio Valley Conference on June 30, 2023 and is in its third year as a member of the league.
•    The Leathernecks are the third directional school in Illinois the Redhawks face this year.
•    SEMO also played Eastern Illinois (Oct. 18) and Southern Illinois (Sept. 20).

Series History
•    Southeast Missouri and Western Illinois meet for the third time in 2025.
•    SEMO holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series.
•    The Redhawks won the first two games of the series in Cape Girardeau -- 46-0 in 1944; 54-45 on Nov. 15, 2024.
•    SEMO plays the Leathernecks at Hanson Field for the first time.

2025 Winding Down
•    The Redhawks have two games remaining on their 2025 schedule.
•    After this weekend's matchup at Western Illinois, Southeast Missouri closes out the season at home against Lindenwood (Nov. 22).
•    SEMO last finished a season at home in 2022 when it beat Murray State, 52-22 on Nov. 19 that year.

On the Road
•    The Redhawks are looking for their first road win of the season.
•    Southeast Missouri is 0-5 in such games with losses at Arkansas State (Aug. 30), #1 North Dakota State (Sept. 13), UT Martin (Sept. 27), #8 Tennessee Tech (Oct. 25) and Gardner-Webb (Nov. 8).
•    SEMO has dropped seven-straight road games dating back to 2024.
•    Its last road win was at Charleston Southern (26-13) on Oct. 19, 2024.

Leatherwood Returns
•    Starting quarterback Jax Leatherwood returned after missing three weeks with a knee injury at Tennessee Tech (Oct. 25).
•    Leatherwood made his first start since his injury vs. Charleston Southern (Nov. 1).
•    He completed 27-of-49 passes for 274 yards and one touchdown in that game.
•    A week later, Leatherwood threw for 304 yards and a career-high three touchdowns at Gardner-Webb (Nov. 8). 
•    He threw two of his touchdowns in the final 6:04 of the fourth quarter.
•    It was Leatherwood's fifth start with over 250 passing yards and second with over 300 yards.

Back-to-Back Double-Digit Tackles for Patterson
•    Cornerback Adrian Patterson registered a career-best 10 tackles in each of his last two starts to lead Southeast Missouri's defense.
•    Patterson had eight solo tackles and assisted on two others against Charleston Southern (Nov. 1).
•    He then added six solo tackles and four assisted stops at Gardner-Webb (Nov. 8).
•    Patterson is third on the team with 49 total tackles through 10 games this season.

One-Score Games
•    Southeast Missouri came up on the short end of one-score games in each of its last two contests.
•    SEMO dropped a 23-17 decision at home against Charleston Southern (Nov. 1) and fell to Gardner-Webb (Nov. 8), 27-24, on the road.
•    Combined, the Redhawks scored 28 points in the second half, including 21 in the fourth quarter of those games.
•    Since 2023, SEMO has been involved in 12 one-score games.
•    The Redhawks are 3-9 in those contests.

First in Passing Offense
•    Southeast Missouri leads the OVC-Big South in passing offense with 280.6 yards per game.
•    SEMO has 2,806 yards and 18 passing touchdowns through 10 contests.
•    Jax Leatherwood tops the conference with 246.1 passing yards per game.
•    He is 11th in the Football Championship Subdivision in passing yards per game, as well.
•    The Redhawks are 10th in the FCS in passing offense.

Balanced Defensive Performance
•    Jeremy Walton put together another big performance to lead Southeast Missouri's defense at Gardner-Webb (Nov. 8).
•    Walton finished with seven tackles, including four solo stops. 
•    He also added a pair of sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, two pass breakups and four quarterback hurries.
•    Walton was responsible for SEMO's only takeaway of the game when he forced a fumble and Sam Keeper recovered in the third quarter. 
•    It was his second-straight start with multiple sacks.
•    Walton leads the Redhawks with 5.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss. 
•    He is seventh in the OVC-Big South in sacks and tied for second with three forced fumbles.

Pedro Hits 100 Receiving Yards Again
•    Cam Pedro went over 100 receiving yards for the second time this season when he caught six passes for 141 yards at Gardner-Webb (Nov. 8).
•    Pedro averaged 23.5 yards per catch and had a career-long 59-yard reception against the Runnin' Bulldogs.
•    He ranks second in the OVC-Big South in receiving yards (707), receptions per game (5.2) and receiving yards per game (70.7). Pedro is also 26th in the FCS in receiving yards.
•    Pedro has caught a pass in every game of his career for a streak of 23-consecutive contests.

Casey is Back
•    Outside linebacker McCoy Casey returned after missing seven weeks with a foot injury.
•    Casey had two tackles, one tackle for loss and two quarterback hurries at Gardner-Webb (Nov. 8).
•    He entered the 2025 campaign as Southeast Missouri's only preseason All-American.

Keeper Approaching 100 Career Tackles
•    Veteran defensive lineman Sam Keeper is closing in on 100 tackles in his Southeast Missouri career.
•    Keeper presently has 98 tackles in 48 games and 21 starts.
•    He is in his fifth season with the Redhawks.

Red Zone Offense
•    Southeast Missouri leads the Football Championship Subdivision in red zone offense.
•    SEMO has scored on 25 of its 26 opportunities in the red zone.
•    The Redhawks scored 144 of their 243 points inside the 20-yard line.
•    Additionally, SEMO has not turned the ball over in the red zone in 19 of its last 22 games dating back to last season.

Leading Tackler
•    Safety Landon Sylvie leads the Redhawks with 78 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), seven vs. Tennessee State (Oct. 11), five vs. Eastern Illinois (Oct. 18), nine at  Tennessee Tech (Oct. 25), six vs. Charleston Southern (Nov. 1) and two at Gardner-Webb (Nov. 8).

Kicking Strong
•    Kicker Justin Keller is Southeast Missouri's top scorer with 63 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 11-of-14 on field goals and a perfect 30-of-30 on PATs.
•    Keller is fourth in the OVC-Big South in field goals made (11), second in field goal percentage (78.5), third in scoring (kick) (6.3 ppg) and tied for first in PAT kicking percentage (1.00).

Net Worth
•    Southeast Missouri ranks 19th in the FCS in net punting with a 39.2 average.
•    First-year starting punter Ryan Kingston is fourth in the OVC-Big South in punting with an average of 42 yards per punt.
•    Kingston dropped 17 of his punts inside the 20-yard line. Eight of his punts traveled 50 or more yards, including a season-long 56-yard punt at #1 North Dakota State (Sept. 13).

About Western Illinois
•    Western Illinois enters the weekend on a two-game winning streak after picking up victories at Tennessee State (Oct. 25) and vs. Lindenwood (Nov. 8).
•    WIU is last the OVC-Big South in total defense (436 ypg allowed) and scoring defense (37.1 ppg allowed). 
•    The Leathernecks have the league's top rusher in Markell Holman. Holman is averaging 80.8 yards per game and ranks second in the conference with six rushing touchdowns.
•    Christian Anaya is at the top of the OVC-Big South with 5.5. receptions per game.