In the 2013 season for the Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks football team, there are many new faces on the field, with eight of them only being freshmen. These freshmen include Colby Baker, Austin Black, Selwyn Carrol, Roper Garrett, Christian Guerrero, Terrance Hill, Jake McCandless and Chad Meredith.

Southeast lost eight defensive starters from last season and will be counting on most of these freshmen to step up and take on a vital role for the defense. Six out of the eight are playing on the defensive side of the ball.

Black and Garrett are having much progress on the field for Southeast as both have taken on substantial roles for the defense. The two have combined for a total of 36 tackles on the season so far with Garrett having 24 of them.

"As long as I am playing hard and all of the others are playing hard and we get 11 men to the football on defense, I feel like we're gonna have a really good season and then for the future as well," Garrett, middle linebacker for Southeast, said.

He is tied for fourth in the leading tackler spot for Southeast throughout its first four games. Garrett is from Farmington, Mo. He played baseball, basketball and football at his high school, dominating mainly though in football. With his junior and senior seasons he combined for 271 tackles, 12 sacks, one interception and scored two touchdowns as the leader of the defense.

Black, defensive tackle for Southeast, has started all four games and has proven to be vital for the defensive line with 12 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

"I feel like I just need to do my job and do my assignments and do what I can for my team," Black said.

He is from Warrenton, Mo., where he played football at his high school, Warrenton, and recorded a combined 248 tackles his junior and senior seasons.

Another freshman for Southeast who has received a lot of playing time is Carrol. He is the starting left defensive end and has played in all four games recording six tackles and one forced fumble. He is from Jacksonville, Fla. and earned All-State honors at his high school Trinity Christian Academy in 2011.

Six out of the eight freshmen redshirted last season and got experience with the team but this is their first year of playing college football on Saturdays.