Football Hosts Samford in OVC Action This Saturday :: Redhawks look to capitalize from two weeks of practice against Bulldogs

Sept. 26, 2006

Samford Game Notes
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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -

Samford @ Southeast Missouri State

Date: Sept. 30, 2006 Kickoff: 6:00 p.m. Location: Houck Stadium, Cape Girardeau, Mo. (10,000) Affiliations: Samford, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference Southeast Missouri, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference 2005 Records: Samford 4-7. 4-4 OVC SE Missouri, 2-9, 2-6 OVC 2006 Records: Samford 2-2, 0-1 OVC, SE Missouri 2-1, 0-1 OVC The Coaches: Bill Gray is 21-21 in his fifth season at Samford Tony Samuel is 2-1 at Southeast, 36-58 in 9 years overall Radio: Southeast Radio Network anchored by K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include 1380 ESPN in St. Louis, KSIM in Sikeston, KWOC in Poplar Bluff and KMAL in Malden. Internet: Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at www.k103fm.com. Internet Video: Live video streaming provided on a subscription basis by OVCSports.TV.

THE TEAMS: Southeast Missouri is 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the OVC after a 38-13 win over Austin Peay, a 44-23 win over Missouri-Rolla and a 38-7 loss at Jacksonville State. Samford is 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the OVC after losing to Eastern Illinois on Saturday.

THE COACHES: Tony Samuel, an assistant at Purdue last season after serving as eight years as head coach at New Mexico State, is 2-1 in his first season at Southeast. He is 36-58 in his ninth year as a collegiate head coach. Bill Gray is 21-21 in his fifth season at Samford.

THE SERIES: Samford leads the series 4-2, but Southeast is 2-1 in games played at Houck Stadium.

LAST SEASON: Southeast lost at Samford 33-17. Southeast trailed only 20-15 going into the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs scored two fourth quarter TD's to claim the win. Colin Schermann had three field goals for the Redhawks while Romae Rucker returned a blocked extra point for a two-point conversion.

SIMONHOFF LEADS THE NATION IN PUNTING: After averaging 51.2 yards per punt against Jacksonville State, David Simonhoff has been voted the OVC Special Teams Player of the Week and now leads the nation in punting with a seasonal average of 48.29 yards per punt. At Jacksonville State, Simonhoff had five punts go over 50 yards, including two over 60, with a long of 66 yards.

Simonhoff was named a first team preseason All-American by The Sports Network and I-AA.org. Simonhoff was a first team All-America pick by the American Football Coaches Association after last season when he again led the OVC in punting. Simonhoff averaged 43.6 yards per punt during his previous three seasons at Southeast. In 2004 he established a new Southeast and OVC individual season record when he averaged 46 yards per punt. He has three punts of 80 yards or more and eight punts of 70 yards or more.

Edgar Jones SECOND NATIONALLY IN SACKS: Senior defensive end Edgar Jones is second nationally in sacks with two per game and also ranks second nationally in tackles for losses with 2.67 per game.

REDHAWKS LEAD NATION IN PUNTING AND TURNOVER MARGIN: Southeast ranks first nationally in net punting with 41.65 and also ranks first nationally in turnover margin with an average plus 3.0.

POSITION CHANGES: During the off week, there were some position changes. Defensive linemen Nick Ferguson and Jaunell Pugh moved to the offensive line. Ferguson will be a backup at one guard with Pugh a backup at the other guard. Fullback Corey Andrade moved to the defensive line .

BALANCED ATTACK: In the season opening win over Austin Peay, Southeast had 178 yards rushing and 180 yards passing.

SOUTHEAST IN THE OVC STATS: The Redhawks lead the league in scoring with 29.67 ppg and rank third in scoring defense, allowing 18 ppg. The Redhawks also lead the league in punting (41.65 yards per punt), turnover margin (3.0), sacks (3.0 pg) and sacks allowed (.67 pg).

INDIVIDUAL OVC STATS: David Simonhoff, the OVC leader in punting the last two seasons, is again on top with 48.3 yards per punt. Edgar Jones leads the league in sacks with 2.0 per game and tackles for losses with 2.67 per game.

NEXT WEEK: Southeast goes on the road to play at Eastern Illinois. The kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

REDHAWKS IN THE NFL: Three former Redhawks players are on NFL rosters. Eugene Amano is an offensive lineman with the Tennessee Titans, Willie Ponder is a wide receiver and return specialist for the Seattle Seahawks and Dan Connolly is a lineman, currently on injured reserve, for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ponder had three kickoff returns for 88 yards in Sunday's Seattle win over Detroit, 9-6. He had a long return of 41 yards.

REDHAWKS ADD ST. LOUIS RADIO STATION: The Southeast Football Network has added 1380 ESPN Radio in St. Louis. The network operated by Mississippi River Radio, will be anchored by 100,000-watt K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include KSIM, Sikeston; KWOC, Poplar Bluff and KMAL, Malden. Erik Sean will be the play-by-play voice of Redhawks football with former quarterback Rick Wieser adding commentary for home games and Ron Hines adding color during the road games. Todd Bonacki will be a sideline reporter for home games.

LIVE VIDEO STREAMING: For the first time ever, Southeast fans will be able to watch Redhawks football on the internet throught the Ohio Valley Conference's new premium web site, OVCSports.TV. OVCSports.TV can be accessed by logging on the OVC Web site, www.ovcsports.com, and is made possible through a partnership with XOS Technologies, a leading provider of sports technology. Subscriptions are available on an annual, seasonal and per-events basis. In addition to the game video, the weekly television show, Redhawks Football with Tony Samuel, will also be available on line.