Saturday was the perfect day to rip off UTM running back Donald Chapman’s football helmet and pads and find out if he is just a true freshman or some super hero pretending to be a football player.

On Halloween eve or the day when most youngsters were going out for trick or treat, Chapman donned a Skyhawk football uniform and rushed 41 times for a career-high and school record 272 yards against host Southeast Missouri State.

The 5-10, 190-pounder from Marietta, Ga., also scored a touchdown in the Skyhawks’ 35-7 loss to Southeast Missouri State.

Chapman is the first UTM player to rush for more than 200 yards in game since Darriel Ruffin piled up 222 yards against Southwest Missouri State in 1997.

Chapman even surpassed the school-record performance of Bobby Fowler (250 yards against West Georgia) set in 1958. Chapman’s 41 attempts in the game is also a new school record. The old record was 33 attempts by Fowler against Harding in 1956.

Chapman has played in eight career games as a Skyhawk and has racked up 905 yards on 198 attempts. He missed one game this season because of an injury.

With two games left this season, Chapman can become the first Skyhawk to rush for 1,000 yards or more in a season since John Burch ran for 1,002 in 1988.

Chapman needs 154 yards in the next two games to set a new UTM school record for the most rushing yards in a season. Larry Washington holds the current mark at 1,058 yads. He accomplished the feat in 1976.

It’s unfortunate that Chapman’s effort was not enough to help the Skyhawks claim their second OVC win of the season. Playing without junior quarterback Brady Wahlberg, the Skyhawks committed five turnovers. Two of the fumbles resulted in missed Southeast Missouri State field goals, while two of the interceptions by freshman quarterback Drew Jackson resulted in SEMO touchdowns.

Jackson, who will replace Wahlberg at quarterback for the rest of the season, was 9-26 passing for 106 yards. Wahblberg suffered a broken collar bone in the Skyhawks’ game against Eastern Illinois, Oct. 23.

Both teams battled to a 7-7 tie after the first half, but SEMO scored 28 unanswered points in the third quarter to nail down its 35-7 homecoming win over the Skyhawks.

Kellin White picked of Jackson twice in the game and returned both picks for touchdowns for the host Indians.

SEMO running back David Taufoou scored the Indians’ first TD of the game on a 69-yard run. He also scored the first TD of the third quarter on a 34-yard run.

Taufoou finished the game with 16 carries for 154 yards and the two touchdowns.

Offensively, for the second consecutive year, the Skyhawks gained more yardage than SEMO. The Skyhawks ran 85 plays for 386 yards, while SEMO ran 53 plays for 296 yards.

The Skyhawk defense stymied the nation’s seventh-best passing offense and SEMO quarterback Andrew Goodenough who entered the game at 11th in the nation for total offense.

SEMO managed 148 yards of passing in the game as Goodenough completed 11 of 19 attempts.

Skyhawk sophomore Jack Greenwood recorded his second interception of the season when he picked off Goodenough late in the second quarter.

SEMO also fumbled three times in the game, but never lost possession of the ball.

The Skyhawks won the possession battle and the penalties contest. The Skyhawks had the ball for almost 35 minutes, compared to SEMO’s 25:05.

In the penalty department, the Skyhawks were flagged four times for 34 yards, while SEMO was tagged 10 times for 123 yards.

The Skyhawks, now 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference, will close out the home portion of their 2004 schedule Saturday when they host Eastern Kentucky in an OVC game Saturday at noon.