Rodney Woodall 80-yard fumble return for a touchdown with 8:29 remaining in the fourth quarter proved to be the winning margin as Southeast Missouri State held off No. 12 Illinois State 28-25, Saturday at Cape Girardeau.
ISU jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on its opening possession when Kevin Glenn connected with wideout Garry Davis on a four-yard strike in the end zone.
The Birds seemed to be in business on their next possession before SEMO cornerback Isaac Huddleston intercepted a tipped pass from Glenn and scampered 46 yards for a touchdown to even the score at 7-7.
The Indians added another score on a five-yard run by Bobby Brune shortly before the end of the first quarter and went into halftime holding a 14-7 advantage.
A 55-yard run by Curtis Cooper early in the third quarter pushed the SEMO advantage to 21-7.
The Birds, led by a stubborn defense which allowed the Indians offense only 167 yards from scrimmage, held the ship together and gained some momentum with a safety at the 8:39 mark of the third quarter to close the SEMO lead to 21-9.
Willie Watts closed the gap even further on ISUs ensuing possession when he galloped 34 yards for another score to pull the Redbirds within 21-16 with 4:46 remaining in the third quarter.
With a defense dictating the flow of the game in the second half, the Birds appeared to have things in hand when the offense pulled up to the Indians 20-yard line. With the lead in site, momentum changed in a hurry when Glenn was hit as he dropped back to pass and lost control of the ball. Woodall scooped up the ball and ran 80 yards to paydirt to push the SEMO advantage to 28-16.
Never giving up, the Birds struck back quickly when Glenn found Steve Kostro on a short slant that resulted in a 52-yard touchdown to pull ISU with 28-23 with 7:19 remaining in the game.
The ISU defense held again and forced SEMO into an intentional safety with 46 seconds remaining in the game to pull ISU within 28-25 but the Birds were unable to pull out a score on their final drive.
Watts led the Redbird offense with 156 yards and a touchdown and Walter James added 89 yards on 22 carries. Davis ended the night with six catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Southeast Missouri State improves to 2-1 on the season and gained its second consecutive victory over a Gateway Conference opponent after dropping Southern Illinois 34-33 the week before.
The loss drops Illinois State to 1-2 on the season and marks the first time the Birds have lost consecutive games in over two seasons, a stretch spanning 27 games.
ISU has a bye next weekend but returns to action September 30, at conference rival Northern Iowa.
