2022: Voted the 2022-23 Ohio Valley Conference Male Athlete of the Year, becoming Southeast Missouri’s fourth player in its Athletics history to win the award…Became the third player in program history to win OVC Offensive Player of the Year accolades…First-Team All-OVC selection…Was named to the Associated Press (First-Team), American Football Coaches Association (first-team), Stats Perform (Second-Team), Phil Steele (second-team) and Bluebloods (First-Team) All-America teams…Team captain…Preseason All-OVC honoree…Ran for 1,691 yards and 21 touchdowns on 236 carries in 12 starts as the top running back in the OVC…Averaged 7.2 yards per carry…Caught nine passes for 114 yards and another two touchdowns…Scored 138 points…Led the nation in scoring (11.5 ppg), rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns (23)…Finished fifth in the overall voting for the Stats Perform Walter Payton Award garnering the highest finish for an OVC player in the voting since Eastern Illinois’s Jimmy Garoppolo won the award in 2013…Broke SEMO records in career rushing yards, single-game rushing yards (317, vs. Murray State, 11/19), career rushing attempts, career rushing touchdowns, single-season rushing touchdowns, most career 200-yard games, career points scored, single-season points scored, career total touchdowns and single-season total touchdowns during the 2022 campaign alone…Ran for 100 yards in seven of his starts and went over 200 yards on three of those occasions…Topped the OVC in rushing yards, rushing yards per game (140.9), rushing touchdowns, scoring, total touchdowns and all-purpose yards (150.4 ypg)…Nationally, he rated third in rushing yards per carry, second in rushing yards, third in rushing yards per game and 10th in all-purpose yards…Won OVC Offensive Player of the Week honors a total of five times (10/2, 10/23, 11/6, 11/13, 11/20) and was tabbed the Stats Perform FedEx National Player of the Week once (11/21)…Broke the OVC single-game rushing record and the league’s career scoring record…His 138 points were second-most in OVC single-season history…Was the only FCS player to break the 300-yard plateau with his 317 yards against Murray State…Scored the first receiving touchdowns of his career vs. Nicholls (9/17)…Ran for 123 yards on 20 carries vs. Central Arkansas (9/24)…Gained 276 yards and scored a season-high four touchdowns in the OVC opener at Lindenwood (10/1)…Broke SEMO’s all-time career records in rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns in that game…Rushed for 207 yards and three scores on 17 carries at Northwestern State (10/22)…Ended the season with four-straight 100-yard games…Picked up 136 yards and scored three touchdowns at Tennessee State (11/5)…A week later, ran for 198 yards and three touchdowns on a season-high 30 carries at Eastern Illinois (11/12)…Ran for SEMO’s single-game record 317 yards and matched a season-high four touchdowns vs. Murray State (11/19)…Had 122 rushing yards and one touchdown on 30 carries in the Redhawks FCS Playoff game at Montana (11/26)…Ran for a season-long 84-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter at Lindenwood (10/1).

2021: First-Team All-OVC selection…Named to the Associated Press (Second-Team), Stats Perform (Third-Team) and Phil Steele (Third-Team) All-America teams…Finished tied for 23rd in the overall voting for the Walter Payton Award which goes to the Football Championship Subdivision Offensive Player of the Year…Started 10 games in the backfield…SEMO’s top rusher with 1,116 yards and 14 touchdowns on 203 carries…Averaged 5.5 yards per carry and 111.6 rushing yards per game…Caught five passes for 69 yards…Led the OVC in rushing, scoring (TDs) (8.4 ppg) and all-purpose yards (118.5 ypg)…Ranked among the top 15 FCS leaders in rushing yards per game (7th), rushing yards (9th), rushing TDs (10th), scoring (12th) and total touchdowns (15th, 14)…Ran for 100 or more yards on seven occasions which tied for second-most in a season in program history…Ran for a career-best and OVC-high 205 yards and scored three touchdowns vs. Tennessee State (9/25)…Picked up 104 yards in season-opener vs. Southern Illinois (9/2)…Ran for over 100 yards in each of his final five games…Scored three touchdowns and gained 116 yards at Austin Peay (10/9)…Added two touchdowns and 176 yards on 22 carries vs. Murray State (10/16)…Two-time OVC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 26, Oct. 10)…Went over 1,000 yards in a season for the first time in his career…Was one of just two OVC running backs to gain over 1,000 yards along with UT Martin’s Peyton Logan (1,121)…Had a season-long 66-yard touchdown run at UT Martin (10/23).

2020: First-Team All-OVC running back and HERO Sports Sophomore All-American…Claimed his team’s Top Offensive Back Award…Led the Football Championship Subdivision with 12 rushing touchdowns…Ran for 666 yards on 137 carries in eight games and four starts…Averaged just under five yards per rush (4.9)…Added two receptions out of the backfield…Ranked first in the OVC and eighth nationally with nine points per contest…Finished fourth among conference leaders and 15th in the FCS in rushing yards (82.1 ypg)…Scored multiple rushing touchdowns three times with a career-best four vs. Austin Peay (3/14)…Posted two 100-yard rushing games, including a season-high 128 yards on 16 carries at Southern Illinois (10/30)…Ran the ball 37 times vs. Austin Peay (3/14).

2019: Named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team…Played in 12 games and logged two starts…Ranked second on the team in rushing with 575 yards and six touchdowns on 102 attempts…His six touchdowns were second-most on the team…Averaged 5.6 yards per carry and 52.3 rushing yards per game…Caught one pass…Gained a season-best 156 yards and scored two touchdowns at Tennessee State (11/2)…Was named OVC Newcomer of the Week a day after that performance…Picked up 96 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns vs. West Virginia State (9/21)…Had a 73-yard touchdown run vs. Tennessee State, Southeast Missouri’s longest rushing play of the season…His 156 yards against the Tigers were also the most in a game by any Redhawk running back all year…Had 17 carries of 10 or more yards…Ranked seventh in the OVC in rushing…Southeast Scholar-Athlete…Earned the team’s Offensive Newcomer Award.

2018: Redshirted after seeing action in four games as a true freshman…Ran for 64 yards on 11 carries, averaging 5.8 yards per attempt…All 64 of his rushing yards came at Tennessee Tech (10/6)…Southeast Scholar-Athlete.

Prep: Ran for 574 yards and eight touchdowns and broke a state record with 64 carries against Normal West High School...Named to the CBS MaxPreps 2016 Medium Schools All-American second team...Was the only player from the state of Illinois named to either the first or second team among medium schools, which have enrollment between 1,000 and 2,000 students...Ran for 2,821 yards and 44 touchdowns for the Class 5A state champion Peoria High School Lions as a junior...Was one of three players to rush for at least 1,000 yards at Peoria High that year...Ranked second in single-game rushing yards in Illinois High School Association history after going for 567 in a 70-63 win over National Community in the opening week of the 2016 season...Was named to the Journal Star Big-School All-Area Team and played for USA Football in the International Bowl.

Personal: Born November 18, 1999...Majoring in Corporate Communication...Son of Terrell and Kyie Hess.

Geno Hess