Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tony Samuel was happy about the Redhawks performance in their first win of the season.

The Redhawks won 30-18 against Division II Mars Hill College despite committing four turnovers in the game.

Quarterback Scott Lathrop completed 12 of 21 passes, accumulating a total of 114 yards passing, 37 yards rushing and one touchdown. Renard Celestin had a career-high 93 yards rushing and two touchdowns while Levi Terrell rushed for 128 yards.

The Redhawks compiled 402 total yards and averaged 5.3 yards per play.

"We played hard, you know we're playing really hard," Samuel said during a Monday press conference. "I thought we took better angles on defense. I thought the first game we took some really bad angles with tackling and it cost us, probably the game, for not taking the proper angles."

In the team's Aug. 30 game against Central Michigan, the Redhawks led by 24-10 at one point in the first half before losing the game 38-27.

Samuel also mentioned that it's important to control the number of turnovers the team makes. The Redhawks fumbled five times against Mars Hill and lost four of them. Lions quarterback Jon Richt threw all five interceptions. Richt completed 20 of 37 in passing for a total of 274 yards and two touchdowns. The two teams combined to commit 10 turnovers in the game.

The last time the Redhawks had four or more turnovers was in a game in 1997 against Eastern Illinois.

"We just have to keep working on it," Samuel said. "That's the key to the whole thing, turnovers. You have to put two hands over the ball because people will go after you."

The Redhawks hope to do a better job on the turnover battle this weekend against SIU Carbondale. Samuel described the Salukis as a talented group of players that would be ready to play this weekend.

"They're a physical team, they run the ball well," Samuel said. "I think their quarterback is doing a really good job. He started about four or five games last year and he's picking up where he left off, and the defense is very aggressive and they have a lot of speed on special teams."

In the Salukis game against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, the team missed two field goals in the 30-14 loss. Quarterback Kory Faulkner completed 19 of 34 passes, throwing for 195 yards passing with two interceptions against Miami. Mika'il McCall was the team leader in rushing yards with 74 yards in 16 carries. McCall also scored both touchdowns for his team.

"The team needs to go after the ball hard on defense," Samuel said.

The Redhawks (1-1) has had four sacks against the opposing teams in the first two games this season, allowing two sacks while the Salukis (0-2) have struggled in their non-conference games allowing an average of 18 points a game.

Despite the Salukis losing all of its game thus far this season, Samuel said it's important the Redhawks protect their quarterback and make their way through their offense this weekend.

"We're catching good balls," Samuel said. "We've got to keep the pressure off the quarterback."

Southeast will play regional-rival SIU Carbondale at 6 p.m. Sept. 15. in Carbondale, Ill. The Redhawks will meet the Salukis for the 78th time. Southeast holds a 37-32-8 overall series record that dates back to 1913.

"Anytime you have this kind of proximity, you're always going to have some kind of rival," Samuel said. "This is only our third time playing them since we've been here, and I think it's great to have that kind of rivalry. I think the crowd will be a big influence with a lot of excitement and both schools will benefit from it."

The Redhawks beat the Salukis 24-21 in 2010, the last time the teams played. The team has an all-time record of 19-15-4 in Carbondale and has won three of its last four visits there.