Southeast Missouri State Grinds Out a 20-10 Win at Eastern Illinois
The last points of this game came 56 seconds into the second half. After Khyair Spain ran 16 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-10, nobody scored again, and Southeast Missouri State sat on that lead for the rest of the afternoon. It leaves Southeast Missouri State 5-2 and Eastern Illinois 2-5.
Eastern Illinois had the early lead. Southeast Missouri State's Justin Keller kicked a 44-yard field goal, Drew Schiller answered with a 29-yarder with two seconds left in the first quarter, and Cole LaCrue threw an 18-yard touchdown to Samuel Gonzalez early in the second for a 10-3 edge. That was the biggest hole the winners had to climb out of, and it was only seven points.
Keller's 29-yard field goal made it 10-6. Then Braylen Ragland found Jobe Bryant from 4 yards with no time left in the second quarter, and Southeast Missouri State went into the break leading 13-10. Spain's run opened the third and closed the scoring.
The ground game explains it. Southeast Missouri State ran for 219 yards. Eastern Illinois ran for 31. Eastern Illinois did throw for 210 yards but needed 34 attempts to complete 14 of them, and each team threw one interception. Southeast Missouri State's total was 358 yards to 241. Southeast Missouri State's 5-2 record is now three games better than Eastern Illinois's 2-5, which is a big enough gap that the score felt about right.
For fantasy, the two Southeast Missouri State backs went one-two. Tyrell Reed Jr. had 18 carries for 109 yards and no touchdown for 16.5 points, and Spain had 15.9 with the score. LaCrue was third at 15.3 on the losing side.