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2025 NORTH ALABAMA FOOTBALL GAME PREVIEW

Football

Redhawks Host North Alabama in Home-Opener Saturday

North Alabama (0-1) vs. Southeast Missouri (0-1)

Game Information

Date: Saturday, September 6, 2025
Kickoff: 6 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Houck Field (8,000)
Surface: Field Turf
Series: Tied, 1-1
Last Meeting: SEMO 37, UNA 15 | 8/24/24 | Montgomery, Ala.

Head Coaches
North Alabama: Brent Dearmon (16-18 overall; 6-18 at UNA; 4-10 UAC)
Southeast Missouri: Tom Matukewicz (64-64 overall; 63-64 at SEMO; 47-32 OVC-Big South)

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

Redhawks Host North Alabama
•    Southeast Missouri (0-1) plays host to North Alabama (0-1) in its home-opener Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., CT at Houck Field.
•    Saturday's game is a "Black Out." Fans are encouraged to wear black to support the Redhawks.
•    North Alabama is the first of six opponents to visit Cape Girardeau this season.
•    Southern Illinois (Sept. 20), Tennessee State (Oct. 11), Eastern Illinois (Oct. 18), Charleston Southern (Nov. 1) and Lindenwood (Nov. 22) complete SEMO's home slate.
•    SEMO is 27-9 at Houck Field since 2018. 
•    The Redhawks posted six home victories in back-to-back seasons (2018, 2019) during that stretch.
•    Houck Field has been home to SEMO football since 1930.

Series Tidbits
•    Southeast Missouri and United Athletic Conference member North Alabama meet for just the third time in 2025.
•    SEMO and UNA last met at the FCS Kickoff in Montgomery, Alabama during week zero of the 2024 campaign.
•    The Redhawks beat the Lions by a score of 37-15 in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
•    The all-time series is tied at 1-1 with the other game between the teams played in 1956.
•    UNA won that contest, 61-13.

Home-Openers
•    The Redhawks are 7-4 in home-openers under Head Coach Tom Matukewicz.
•    Southeast Missouri goes after its fourth-straight home-opening win after beating Nicholls, 42-16, on Sept. 17, 2022, Lindenwood, 45-7, on Sept. 9, 2023 and UT Martin, 45-42, on Sept. 7, 2024. 
•    SEMO is 21-13 all-time in home-openers in its NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision era.
•    The Redhawks averaged 44 points in their last three home-opening victories. 

Sweet Home Alabama
•    Southeast Missouri has three players on its 2025 roster from Alabama.
•    Safety JaQori Williams (Montgomery, Ala.), tight end Jamauri Chislom (Jackson Gap, Ala.) and inside linebacker Jayden Davis (Alabaster, Ala.) form that group.

Respectable Showing
•    Southeast Missouri started and finished strong in its matchup with Arkansas State (Aug. 30).
•    SEMO scored on its first two drives with Brandon Epton, Jr. running eight yards for a game-tying touchdown with 9:18 remaining in the first quarter.
•    Justin Keller's first career field goal split the uprights from 40 yards out on the Redhawks next possession giving SEMO a 10-7 edge with 14:03 left in the second quarter.
•    Late in the game, Jax Leatherwood threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 60-yard strike to Donnie Cheers and  31-yard pass to Cam Pedro.
•    Those two scores came in the final eight minutes of the contest.

SEMO Debuts
•    Twenty-four players saw their first action at Southeast Missouri against Arkansas State (Aug. 30).
•    Ryan Kingston, Trel Riley, Kam Robinson, Angel Munoz, David Jones, Jax Leatherwood, Bryson Burns, Kalvin Gilbert, Cole Dutkovich, Cyler Christmas, Jamauri Chislom, Justin Keller, Ian Williams, Wesley Dabbs, Brock Bruner, Robert Dover, Zane Coon, Demoni Taylor, Sam Reynolds, Chris Farrell, Kobe Williams, Wilbert Phillips, Ashton Jones and Timothy Maxson were among that group.
•    Leatherwood, Farrell, Chislom, Phillips and Christmas made their first career starts.

Strong Start for Leatherwood
•    Jax Leatherwood completed 26-of-36 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start as the Redhawks quarterback at Arkansas State (Aug. 30).
•    Leatherwood completed passes to eight different receivers.
•    He threw both of his touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.

Sylvie Hits Double-Digits
•    Safety Landon Sylvie became the first player this season to reach double-digit tackles.
•    Sylvie posted a career-high 12 tackles at Arkansas State (Aug. 30).
•    He tallied five solo stops and assisted on seven others en route to his game-high.
•    Sylvie also had one pass breakup and assisted on a tackle for loss.

Pedro Closing in on 1,000 Career Receiving Yards
•    Cam Pedro is approaching 1,000 receiving yards in his Southeast Missouri career.
•    Pedro is 49 yards away from reaching that mark.
•    He has caught 90 passes for 951 yards and five touchdowns as a Redhawk.

First Takeaway
•    Southeast Missouri's defense got its first takeaway of the season when Jeremy Walton forced a fumble and Nasim Cairo recovered in the third quarter at Arkansas State (Aug. 30).
•    SEMO has forced a turnover in 10 of its last 14 games dating back to last season.

Redhawks Drop 2025 Opener
•    The Redhawks dropped its 2025 season-opener by a score of 42-24 at Sun Belt Conference and Football Bowl Subdivision member Arkansas State (Aug. 30).
•    SEMO is now 11-24 all-time in season-opening games during their NCAA Division I era.

Cheers for Donnie
•    Donnie Cheers led Southeast Missouri with four catches for 96 yards and a touchdown in his first start of the 2025 season at Arkansas State (Aug. 30).
•    Cheers caught a 60-yard touchdown pass with 7:51 remaining in the fourth quarter for his first score of the year.
•    It was the longest reception of his career.

Championship Culture
•    Southeast Missouri won its second OVC-Big South title in three years during the 2024 campaign.
•    It marked SEMO's fourth conference title in program history.
•    SEMO also secured the league's automatic berth and advanced to the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs for the fifth time.
•    The Redhawks won three OVC-Big South championships (2019, 2022, 2024) and made the FCS Playoffs on four occasions (2018, 2019, 2022, 2024) under Head Coach Tom
Matukewicz.
•    Overall, SEMO's Department of Athletics has won an unprecedented 37 conference championships since the start of the start of the 2019-20 season.
•    Every sport won at least one OVC title in that stretch.
•    In 2024-25 alone, SEMO won a combined seven OVC championships. That total was more than the number of conference titles won by any two schools in the league combined.
•    Additionally, SEMO claimed the OVC Commissioner's Cup for the third time in five years.


 


 

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Players Mentioned

Nasim Cairo

#55 Nasim Cairo

DL
6' 2"
Freshman
JaQori Williams

#24 JaQori Williams

DB
6' 0"
Sophomore
Robert Dover

#51 Robert Dover

OLB
6' 3"
Redshirt Freshman
Brandon Epton, Jr.

#3 Brandon Epton, Jr.

RB
6' 0"
Senior
Ashton Jones

#93 Ashton Jones

DL
6' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
Cam Pedro

#0 Cam Pedro

WR
6' 0"
Junior
Landon Sylvie

#34 Landon Sylvie

S
5' 10"
Sophomore
Donnie Cheers

#81 Donnie Cheers

WR
6' 1"
Junior
Zane Coon

#56 Zane Coon

OL
6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
Wesley Dabbs

#47 Wesley Dabbs

TE
6' 6"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Nasim Cairo

#55 Nasim Cairo

6' 2"
Freshman
DL
JaQori Williams

#24 JaQori Williams

6' 0"
Sophomore
DB
Robert Dover

#51 Robert Dover

6' 3"
Redshirt Freshman
OLB
Brandon Epton, Jr.

#3 Brandon Epton, Jr.

6' 0"
Senior
RB
Ashton Jones

#93 Ashton Jones

6' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
DL
Cam Pedro

#0 Cam Pedro

6' 0"
Junior
WR
Landon Sylvie

#34 Landon Sylvie

5' 10"
Sophomore
S
Donnie Cheers

#81 Donnie Cheers

6' 1"
Junior
WR
Zane Coon

#56 Zane Coon

6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
OL
Wesley Dabbs

#47 Wesley Dabbs

6' 6"
Sophomore
TE