In the pivotal Big South OVC matchup against Tennessee Tech on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Houck Field, Southeast Missouri State (5-1) behaves like a reptile shedding its skin while maintaining dominance over the site.

Week after week, the No. 11 (Coaches Poll No. 9) Redhawks have suffered key losses while still winning games and maintaining a perfect record against other FCS competitors.

The Redhawks lost senior defensive tackle Steven Lewis in the season prior to their road game at Southern Illinois and have now recently lost senior center Zack Gieg for the season in their recent road game at Eastern Illinois. Freshman running back Peyton Brown was also blitzed and the depth of the running back room and the rest of the trenches were also tested.

“At the end of the day, it’s an opportunity for some other guys to step up and they need to,” SEMO head coach Tom Matukewicz said. “As the next man up, prepare them, train them well and put them in good football positions so they can play.”

Now it’s Jaylon Stone’s turn to step up at defensive tackle. The change in offensive lines resulted in Kobe Sixkiller moving from defense to center. Running backs Cole Ruble and Darrell Smith have also had opportunities to impact the game on the ground in recent games, with Ruble scoring his first career touchdown last week at EIU.

“I’m not going to lie, I was on cloud nine,” Ruble said. “I didn’t really know what to do. All I could do was let Zach Gieg and Andrew Civey pick me up from the end zone and celebrate with the rest of the team.”

Ruble was in the running for one of the fullback positions in preseason camp until Brown took over. However, he didn’t gain any statistical yards until SEMO’s recent home win against Northwestern State, in which he gained 41 yards. In a limited but versatile role against EIU, Ruble carried the ball into the end zone, caught two passes and even returned a kick for 10 yards.

“As a redshirt freshman, he’s getting better and better,” Matukewicz said. “He has talent.”