Jakob Milani
Staff Writer
jmilani@murraystate.edu
An outstanding defensive performance helped give the Murray State football team a 24-21 victory over the SEMO Redhawks on Sunday, March 7.
Coming into the game, the Redhawks were ranked 11th in the country with a 1-1 record, while the Racers were riding high after their first win under a new coaching staff led by Head Coach Dean Hood.
SEMO received the ball to start the game and started their drive on the 20 yard line. The Redhawks drove down the field, alternating pass and run plays. Junior running back Zion Curtis made his impact known early, rushing for six yards and receiving for 28 yards on the drive, including a five-yard rush for a touchdown, giving the Redhawks a 7-0 lead with 11:44 left in the quarter.
On the Racers’ next drive, freshman running back Demonta Witherspoon took a 35-yard rush up to SEMO’s 29-yard line, setting up a 26-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Preston Rice to senior running back Rodney Castille to tie the game at seven.
The Racers struck again on the next drive when senior quarterback Andrew Bunch threw an interception to sophomore cornerback Marcis Floyd, who returned it for a touchdown, giving the Racers a 14-7 lead. Senior kicker Aaron Baum made a field goal on the Racers’ next trip to give the Racers a 17-7 lead over the Redhawks after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Bunch threw another interception on the Redhawks’ second drive, this time to junior safety Cortez Roberts. The Redhawks answered when senior cornerback Al Young intercepted a pass from Rice on the next play, taking the ball up to SEMO’s 20-yard line. In the next drive, the Redhawks made their way down field with some help from a Racers’ pass interference call. The Racers’ defense managed to hold the Redhawks to a field goal attempt, but junior kicker Kenny Doak missed the 27-yard attempt, hitting the left upright of the goal post. Neither team managed to score in the quarter, leaving the score going into halftime at 17-7 in favor of the Racers.
The Racers started the second half with the ball and drove all the way down to the Redhawks’ seven-yard line. After three unsuccessful plays, the Racers decided to go for it on the fourth down. Rice dropped back to pass and missed the receiver in the back of the end zone, giving the Redhawks the ball on their own seven-yard line.
The Racers’ defense came up big again, forcing another punt for the Redhawks. Senior wide receiver Malik Honeycutt called for a fair catch on the punt, but the Redhawks hit Honeycutt before he could receive the ball, giving the Redhawks a 15-yard penalty. The boost from the penalty didn’t amount to anything as the Racers ended up punting on the drive. Baum was back to punt but botched the punt, hitting the ball off the side of his foot. The Redhawks returned the ball to the Racers’ 30-yard line, marking the end of the third quarter. Neither team scored in the third quarter and the Racers maintained their 17-7 lead heading into the fourth.
After the botched punt, the Redhawks started with the ball in the fourth quarter and capitalized quickly. Curtis took a three-yard handoff into the endzone, bringing the score to 17-14. The Redhawks weren’t done, as graduate defensive back Shabari Davis intercepted Rice and took it all the way to the endzone, giving the Redhawks a 21-17 lead.
The Racers’ next drive was their most important in the game as they attempted to answer the back-to-back touchdowns by the Redhawks. The Racers made their way down the field, with a 30-yard run from junior wide receiver LaMartez Brooks putting the Racers at the Redhawks’ 19-yard line. Later in the drive on a fourth down and six, Rice hit senior wide receiver Dequan Dallas for 12 yards to put the Racers at the Redhawks’ three-yard line. The next play, Rice took it himself for three yards to score the touchdown, giving the Racers a 24-21 lead.
The Redhawks had one more drive to comeback with just 22 second left, but on the last play of the game, Bunch threw another interception to Floyd, sealing the win for the Racers. Murray State defeated the No. 11 SEMO by a score of 24-21.
Bunch threw 15-27 in the game for the Redhawks with 112 passing yards and three interceptions. Curtis rushed 14 times for 41 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore running back Geno Hess rushed 13 times for 70 yards.
Rice threw 8-20 for the Racers with 79 passing yards, one passing touchdown, two interceptions, 33 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Witherspoon rushed 22 times for 108 yards, his first career game with 100 yards.
Castille finished the game with 26 receiving yards, 15 rushing yards and a receiving touchdown. He said the backfield duo of him and Witherspoon has played well so far.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Castille said. “There are teams where one running back excels more than the other one and with me and Witherspoon, it brings a whole new dynamic to our team. With Witherspoon, you’re either gonna make the tackle or get run through. He just brings a different aspect to our backfield.”
Floyd finished the game with six total tackles and two interceptions, including the one he returned for a touchdown in the first quarter. He said how well the defense played against SEMO was all part of the coaches’ game plan for the week.
“We just came in and did what we do everyday in practice,” Floyd said. “Coach says everyday that there’s going to be ups and downs in a game. We just kept our head and played hard the whole game knowing it was going to be a dog fight.”
Hood said the team pulling off the win late in the game is all about the team’s will to win.
“That’s it, that’s the game,” Hood said. “When you’re playing somebody of this caliber and you are having the swings of the game going back and forth, you know that they will respond and throw a haymaker at you. You’ve gotta be able to handle that if you want to win the game. Our kids were unbelievable with their resilience after SEMO’s last score.”
Hood said the defense in the game was successful and gave a lot of credit to his coaching staff and how well their scheme works for the team.
“Coach Sanders’ defensive staff does a great job of teaching the fundamentals and teaching the game and keeping it simple,” Hood said. “Our kids believe in it. They believe what the coaches are telling them. When you believe and buy in, you give 100 percent of yourself and you play really fast. I think that’s a really big part is that everyone is on the same page.”
The Racers improved their record to 2-0 on the season with their impressive win over the Redhawks. The Racers will play at Tennessee Tech University on Sunday, March 14, at 1 p.m. in Cookeville, Tennessee.