CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Eastern lost its fourth consecutive game to a winless Southeast Missouri squad in a contest between conference foes looking for confidence.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, SEMO found some at Houck Stadium.

The Panthers continued to shoot themselves in the foot from the opening possession as Andrew Harris responded to being named starter by throwing an a interception on his second pass of the game.

The Indians went on a nine play, 36-yard drive that concluded with a 23-yard field goal by Derek Kutz giving SEMO a 3-0 lead.

The Panthers defense gained plenty of momentum by stopping the Indians while SEMO had the ball first and goal on one-yard-line.

“I thought our defense did a remarkable thing on those goal line stands,” Spoo said. “Overall, I thought they played very well.”

However, Eastern proved it could move the ball more efficiently than it had all season long by going on 14-play, 85-yard drive that was highlighted by a 13-yard scramble by Harris and the junior college transfer completed a 21-yard pass to tight end Nick Eller.

Sophomore kicker Steve Kuehn spilt the uprights on a 22-yard field goal to even the score early in the second quarter.

SEMO tailback Jamel Oliver fumbled on the next possession and the Panthers were in great field position.

Andrew Harris ruined that gain in momentum by tripping over center Pascal Matla and pitched the ball to no one. When Harris attempted to pick up the fumble, he kicked the ball five yards and inside linebacker Ricky Farmer recovered the ball and returned it to the Panther 38-yard-line.

“Sometimes I’m just trying to make a play out there,” Harris said.

Three completions by SEMO senior quarterback Jack Tomco resulted in a 37-yard field goal that bounced off the upright and through for a 6-3 advantage.

13 plays and seven minutes later, Andrew Harris gave the Panthers their most exciting play as the quarterback scrambled for 10 yards by breaking a pair of tackles and diving into the end zone for a touchdown.

SEMO managed to drive the length of the field to get another field goal from Kutz to make the deficit a single point going into the locker room.

“The attitude in the locker room was good but we knew we had to play better to win and we just didn’t make enough plays,” Eastern defensive tackle Marcus Lorick said.

Harris was 11 of 12 on his passes for 98 yards in the first half, but knew his turnovers were a huge turning point.

“Even though we were winning, we would’ve felt more comfortable if we hadn’t given them those points,” Harris said.

Eastern’s defense looked like it came out of the tunnel inspired as the pressure forced Tomco to roll right and throw off his back foot to force an interception by safety Chad Cleveland.

“We wanted to get Tomco out of the pocket because that’s where he does his damage,” Lorick said. “Coach (defensive coordinator) Roc (Bellantoni) challenged us to get pressure.”

On the second play of the drive, deep in its own territory, Harris dropped back and was hit by blitzing cornerback Kellin White. This sack forced a fumble by Harris that was picked up by junior defensive tackle Caleb Daniel and returned two yards for a touchdown.

“They disguised their blitz and hit me from behind and that’s when my arm came forward toward the ground,” Harris said. “I thought it was an incomplete pass.”

Harris nearly turned the ball over again as the pass across his body was juggled by White and fell into the hands of Voss for 21 yards.

Harris then took a quarterback draw 33 yards up the middle and was hauled down on the SEMO three-yard line.

Andre Raymond took a hand off over left tackle into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown to give the Panthers a one-point lead again.

However, that lead wouldn’t last very long as the Indians took the ball 72 yards in just more than two minutes to find the end zone. Converted wide receiver Jamel Oliver busted open a 31-yard run to pay dirt and along the way the sophomore broke four tackles on the game-winning touchdown.

“It’s all about making the plays; they made them,” Spoo said.

Eastern saw a glimmer of light when Oliver fumbled in the middle of the fourth quarter and the Panthers took over in SEMO territory.

However, a 37-yard field goal attempt by Kuehn was hooked wide left.

The Panthers held SEMO to a three and out late in the game but freshman punter David Simonhoff unleashed a 82-yard punt that went 65 yards in the air and ended any hopes of good field position for Eastern.

On fourth and one, Spoo was forced to keep the offense on the field and try to keep the drive alive. However, senior tailback Andre Raymond was met by two defensive players in the backfield for a four-yard loss and the Panthers turned the ball over.

“I think maybe that might have been the wrong call on fourth and one,” Spoo said.

SEMO then scored an insurance touchdown and made it a 13-point deficit and sealed Eastern’s first OVC loss of 2003.

However, the Panther locker room hasn’t phoned in the season in early October.

“We still feel we can win conference because there’s still seven games left to play in the OVC,” Spoo said. “There’s several positives we can take from this today.”