FOOTBALL: SEMO surprises SIU
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Southeast Missouri State rallied from a 21-3 deficit with just over 18 minutes to go to come back and hand No. 5 Southern Illinois its first home non-conference loss since 2002.
Henry Harris' 67-yard touchdown run with 3:41 to play put the Redhawks up for good in their 24-21 victory on Saturday at Saluki Stadium.
Southeast Missouri State, who was also the last team to beat SIU at home in non-conference play, ends SIU's 16-game streak.
This is the first time in Southern Illinois head coach Dale Lennon's tenure that the Salukis have lost back-to-back games. SIU falls to 1-2 on the year while Southeast Missouri improves to 2-1.
"This is one of those that is extremely disappointing," Lennon said. "It was there for the taking, we just failed to close. We just didn't have the ability to make the stop when we needed to, and to be successful you got to play four quarters. We played three quarters and didn't get it done."
Shariff Harris' three-yard touchdown run with 3:46 left in the third quarter gave SIU the 21-3 lead.
Southeast Missouri, which had the ball for nearly seven more minutes than SIU did in the second half, put together drives of eight and 10 plays to pull within four points with five minutes to go.
Southern Illinois had the chance to run out the clock after that, but went three-and out to give the ball back to SEMO for its decisive score. SIU, who was 3-of-16 on third downs last week in a loss at Illinois, converted just 3-of-9 third-down tries on Saturday.
SIU was out gained 391-255 on the night and the Salukis only had 83 yards passing on just 12 attempts. Shariff Harris ran for 89 yards to lead the Dawgs, who had 172 yards on the ground.Paul McIntosh replaced starting quarterback Chris Dieker in the second quarter and finished 5-for-6 passing for 76 yards and one touchdown.
Henry Harris finished with 142 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead the Redhawk option rushing attack that racked up 228 yards on the ground.
Two turnovers from SIU to start the game, one that came off an interception near the SEMO goal line, led to a 34-yard field goal from Drew Geldbach at 1:57 to give the Redhawks the early lead.
It didn't last long though, as Steve Strother returned the ensuing kickoff 91-yards for the touchdown. It was SIU's fifth kickoff return for a touchdown in 28 games under Lennon.
McIntosh led SIU on its two drives in the second quarter and he gave Southern a 14-3 lead when he found Matt Guinn on a 36-yard touchdown pass right before the half.
After only gaining 37 yards in the entire second quarter, Southeast Missouri State drove 51 yards to the SIU 10-yard line on its first drive of the third quarter. However, the Redhawks came up empty as Geldbach missed a 27-yard field goal.
Southern Illinois made the most of the missed field goal, and drove down 80 yards on 12 plays to take a 21-3 lead. 11 of the 12 plays on the drive were rushes - eight that were by Harris - and he capped it off with a three-yard touchdown run at 3:46.
The Redhawks got their first touchdown of the game right before the end of the third quarter. Mike Jones finished an eight-play, 71-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
That drive swung the momentum to the Redhawks for the first time since SIU's two turnovers to start the game. It then led to another long scoring drive that covered 74 yards in just over five minutes.
Henry Harris capped off that drive with a 14-yard rushing touchdown to close the gap to 21-17 with eight and a half minutes to play.
Five minutes later, Harris scampered for a 67-yards for the game-winning score.
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