Football fans of Southeast Missouri State and Missouri Baptist were anxious to get their seasons started. Redhawks fans are excited about their new coach. Spartans fans are excited about their new team. The needed to wait a little longer. The game was delayed a half-hour due to lightning. Once it started, SEMO brought the thunder.
Southeast Missouri State began the Tom Matukewicz era with a 77-0 rout of Missouri Baptist Thursday night in front of a crowd of 7,143 at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau.
The 77 points were the most Southeast scored in a game during its NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision tenure. The last time the Redhawks scored over 70 points was in a 72-3 victory over Quincy in their 2009 season-opener.
“I was proud of our team and I thought we played well,” said Matukewicz. “It was a great atmosphere tonight and awesome energy. Overall, I liked our execution.”
“Even though the game was out of hand, we never quit fighting,” said Head Coach Jason Burianek. “We gave them as much as we could and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Southeast had 17 returning starters, 19 seniors and four Football Bowl Subdivision transfers on the 2014 squad. Missouri Baptist, on the other hand, had 61 freshman on the roster.
