At 1-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Eastern football team knows that a loss at Southeast Missouri could very well cost the Panthers a chance for their third straight league title.

Although Eastern is 1-5 overall, head coach Kim Dameron said his team is improving despite what the record portrays. But a loss in Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Saturday might take away any hopes of a three-peat in the OVC.

“I look at it as two football teams this week that are looking at each other dead in the eye, and whoever comes away with the victory this week down there kind of stays with a possibility of maybe still being in the conference race,” Dameron said. “The other one is going to be awfully hard.”

The Redhawks are in the midst of their resurgence from last season under first-year coach Tom Matukewicz. At 4-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play, Southeast Missouri has already surpassed its win total from last season, when the Redhawks finished 3-9 and 2-6 in the OVC.

Southeast Missouri suffered its first conference loss against Murray State, losing in double overtime 44-41. Nevertheless, Dameron said the Redhawks are playing well.

“We’re just trying to embrace the challenge, stay positive and keep getting better everyday,’ Dameron said.

Part of the Redhawks’ success this year falls on the shoulders of senior quarterback Kyle Snyder, who is leading the Southeast Missouri offense to 36 points per game, which is second-best in the OVC.

Snyder began the season struggling with interceptions. After the season opener, he went through a four-game stretch throwing an interception. He has six this season, but has also thrown a conference-best 13 touchdowns.

“He’s been a guy who’s always been a good player, but he turned over the ball a couple times,” Matukewicz said. “This has been the second consecutive week that we’ve done a good job with the football.”

In Snyder’s last two games, he has thrown three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Eastern quarterback Jalen Whitlow has not thrown an interception since the Panthers’ 34-15 loss at Illinois State on Sept. 13. He has five touchdown passes and no interceptions in Eastern’s last three games.

Statistically, both teams are similar, as they rank No. 3 and 4, respectively in rushing yards per game, with Eastern slightly ahead. Defensively, Southeast Missouri is just ahead of Eastern in rushing defense, allowing 176.7 yards per game, compared to 177.3 allowed by the Panthers.

Dameron said, parallel to Whitlow’s dual-threat ability, the Redhawks run similar plays with Snyder, who like Whitlow ranks in the top-10 in rushing in the OVC.

The Panthers received a boost to their overall running game, with the return of Shepard Little against Eastern Kentucky. The red-shirt junior running back ran for a season-high 122 yards on 19 carries.

Southeast Missouri has beaten two top-25 ranked teams this season in Southeastern Louisiana and Tennessee State. Dameron said if there is one thing the Redhawks do the best is play hard for their coach.

“All you have to do is put the film in and you see they play hard,” he said. “They’re good fundamentally, schematically, I mean they’re an improved football team. They’re competing their hind end off.”

The Redhawks started their OVC schedule with a 31-27 win against Tennessee-Martin and then beat Tennessee State 28-21. If they come away with a win over Eastern on Saturday, Matukewicz said it would not be because they have more talent, but because they play smarter.

“Our expectation is to play well every week,” Matukewicz said. “We’re not the most talented team. We are a good football team. We have to just do a better job of playing smart because the difference between winning and losing in this league is so thin that I believe the team that plays the smartest will end up winning.”

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.