CAPE GIRADEAU, MO. – Charleston Southern extended their winning streak to three on Saturday at Southeast Missouri State with a 23-17 victory. The three consecutive victories marks the first time for CSU since the 2019 season. The Bucs used a fake field goal and successful onside kick in the second quarter to get control of the game and set up for the victory as Zolten Osborne eclipsed 300 passing yards for the first time in his career.
Charleston Southern were the first to get on the board, capping off their opening drive of 71 yards in eight plays with a 21-yard field goal by Zach Gordon. Osborne connected with Laden Beckwith and Jamil Bishop during the drive for big gains down the sideline. SEMO was quickly able to bring it level at 3-3 with a 37-yard field off their 49 yard, 11 play possession.
Charleston Southern then pulled out special teams’ trickery in the second quarter. The Bucs lined up for a field goal on 4th and one, just outside of the redzone and Gilbert Brown, the holder, took the snap to the left of the line for a first down and 19-yard rush. On the ensuing play, Osborne rolled out to his right and dashed into the endzone from four yards out to regain the lead and complete the eight play, 56-yard drive.
The trick plays did not end on that drive as the Bucs’ Will Laing connected with Steve Zayachkowsky on a successful onside kick. Charleston Southern was able to take this possession into the endzone as well with a third & goal from the 14 having Osborne connect with Rashawn Cunningham in the corner of the endzone to now take a 17-3 lead halfway through the quarter.
Late in the half, SEMO was able to begin to put a drive together after starting at their own five. As they approached midfield, Mylan Bowan sacked the Redhawks’ quarterback and popped the ball into the air and into the hands of David Portu who returned it to SEMO’s 12. This set up a 30-yard field goal by Gordon in the closing seconds of the first half, pushing Charleston Southern to a 20-3 edge going into the break.
The Redhawks began the second half with a spirited opening drive, finding the endzone for the first time of the day. Cole Ruble took the direct snap on fourth and goal from the one and ran it to the left for the score. At the end of the quarter, they tallied their second of the day, bringing it to 23-20 off a Jax Leatherwood 40 yard touchdown pass to Cam Pedro.
Following a big defensive stop by the Buccaneers, Gordon knocked another field goal midway through the fourth quarter with this one from 25 yards out. The seven play, 81-yard drive pushed it to 23-17 which proved to be the final scoreline. The Redhawks had one final chance for a game-winning score and following a 20 yard completion on 3rd and 10, they had four consecutive incompletions giving the Bucs the ball back.
Osborne finished the day going 17-35 through the air and had a career-high 302 yards as well as a passing and rushing touchdown. Hakeem Watters had the majority of carries on the day with 16 rushed for 48 yards with Ke’Marion Baldwin taking 10 carries for 15 yards.
Bishop, Cunningham and Nebanye Moore each had four receptions on the day with Bishop totaling 99 yards and Cunningham having 70. Mekhi Campfield had two catches for 49 yards which included the game-sealing first down to allow the Bucs to kneel out the clock.
Knai Cook was the leading tackler for the squad with nine on the day and Justin Waters was next with six. As a team, they finished with six tackles for loss and had seven quarterback hurries with Malik McKinzie racking up four himself.
Brown had one of his best days of the season punting the ball as he finished with an average of 42.5 per kick with a long of 57 and one inside the 20 on his six punts. Gordon went 3-4 on kicks with each make coming from inside 30 yards or less.
Charleston Southern is off this upcoming weekend, enjoying a bye week after ten consecutive games. This will be back in action the following weekend with a trip to Martin, Tennessee to play UT Martin on Saturday, November 15 which will be followed by the season finale hosting Tennessee State on Saturday, November 22.