Football Loses at Southeast Missouri

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Levi Terrell rushed for 128 yards and Renard Celestin ran for 93 yards and two touchdowns to lead Southeast Missouri (1-1) to a 30-18 victory over Mars Hill College (0-2) Saturday night at Missouri National Guard Field/Houck Stadium.

Southeast's home-opener saw the teams combine for 10 turnovers, including five fumbles and five interceptions.

The Redhawks moved to the MHC 3-yardline before taking a 3-0 lead on a 22-yard field goal by Drew Geldbach with 10:09 left in the first quarter.

A sequence of three-straight turnovers followed.

Spencer Davis fumbled on a punt return and MHC gave the ball right back when Jon Richt threw an interception on the first play of the Lions drive. Tylor Brock returned his first pick of the season 64 yards to the MHC-16.

However, three plays later, Sammy Siasia sacked Scott Lathrop for a loss of seven yards. Lathrop fumbled on the play and Siasia recovered.

MHC cashed in on the miscue when Shaikel Davis scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to give the Lions a 6-3 edge at the 3:47 mark.

Celestin's 5-yard touchdown run regained a 10-6 advantage for Southeast with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter.

MHC pulled to within a point (13-12) when Richt completed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Dimitri Holmes, but Geldbach's 22-yard field goal sent the Redhawks into the locker room with a 16-12 halftime lead.

Geldbach connected on all three of his field goal attempts, while Celestin chipped in the third rushing touchdown of his career during the game's opening stanza.

Both teams went scoreless for the first 10:49 of the third quarter before Celestin took a Lathrop pitch off the right side and dashed 39 yards for his second touchdown of the night. Celestin hurdled a would-be tackler and sprinted down the near sideline to extend the Redhawks lead to 23-12 at the 4:11 mark.

One final touchdown, a 19-yard pass from Lathrop to D.J. Foster, put the finishing touches on Southeast's first win of the season with 3:09 left in the fourth quarter.

Terrell carried the ball 22 times, averaging 5.8 yards per rush. He finished with over 100 yards in a game for the third time in his career.

Celestin followed with 93 yards on nine attempts, averaging over 10 yards (10.3) per carry.

Lathrop completed 12-of-21 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 37 yards on 16 carries. The redshirt-freshman has gone the first two starts at quarterback without throwing an interception.

Defensively, Southeast had six takeways. Brock returned two interceptions for 61 yards, had a forced fumble and turned in six tackls to lead the way. Darrick Borum and Blake Peiffer added a team-high seven tackles each. Borum also had an interception, two pass breakups and one quarterback hurry.

Meanwhile, Reggie Jennings and Josh Freeman each had an interception, the first of their careers.

Richt, completed 20-of-37 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns.

Special teams wise, Geldbach's three field goals tied a career-high, while Davis surpassed 1,500 all-purpose yards in his career. Davis finished with 106 all-purpose yards and now stands with 1,605 in his young Southeast career.

Southeast outgained MHC, 288-93, on the ground. In addition, the Redhawks piled up 402 yards of total offense and averaged over five yards (5.3) per play.