YSU FOOTBALL Players handle new roles on special teams

A scrimmage allowed coaches to test the versatility of different players.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State University football team has a lot of outstanding athletes this season who wouldn't mind taking part in special teams play.
YSU held a 45-minute special teams scrimmage Wednesday and, according to new special teams coordinator Trent Boykin, things went pretty well.
The White team won the scrimmage 26-12, thanks to the foot of sophomore Jake Stewart and the speed and versatility of senior wide receiver Eugene Mintze.
Mix and match: "We got to take a look at a lot of people in a lot of different roles and I liked what I saw," said Boykin, the former Penguin standout wide receiver who is in his second season on the YSU staff.
Stewart kicked eight field goals in the scrimmage, two for the Red team and six for the White team, but overall he was just 8-of-14 on the day with one being blocked. His longest was hit first, from 34 yards.
"Jake struggled a little early, but he had a different holder and a different line in front of him," YSU head coach Jon Heacock said. "He came back later and kicked much better and I was pleased to see that."
Stewart, a sophomore from Austintown, was the team's regular field goal kicker last season as a freshman and went 5-of-10.
"Last year was a big adjustment from kicking with a tee in high school to kicking off the ground here," Stewart said. "I'm much more comfortable kicking off the ground now and I've been working on getting my kicks up quicker this year."
Special play: Mintze, the team's leading wide receiver a year ago, came on to block the final field goal attempt of the scrimmage at the Red's 33-yard line and scooped it up and raced 50 yards for a touchdown that clinched the White team's victory.
Sophomore Tony Bartholomew, the other YSU kicker, was 2-of-4 on the day and made a 31-yarder. He also had two kicks blocked.
"It was good to see some of these guys in there in roles they were not used to," Boykin said. "Mintze is normally our punt-return man, but we put him on the line and he went in and blocked the kick. Now we know if we need him what he can do.
"On one kick we had our offensive line in there on defense and they came up with a block," Boykin said.
The Penguin punters, sophomore Kosta Karapetsas and freshman red-shirt Ryan Martino, punted well. Most of the scrimmage they were punting out of their own end zone.
Karapetsas, of Warren, who appears to have the inside track on the punting job, had the best kick of the day, a 49-yarder that went out of bounds on the 1-yard line.
Martino, a Cardinal Mooney product, also kicked well, including a 43 yarder that reached the end zone.
Karapetsas had the only punt blocked, by senior Charlie Meister, which turned into a safety for the White team. Stewart handled all the kickoff duties and two of his three kicks were deep into the end zone, and the third reached the 8-yard line.
Total effort: "It was a fun scrimmage and there were a lot of people flying around all over the field," Heacock said. "Overall, we were pretty pleased with their effort today."
The Penguins also had a situation scrimmage for about an hour, working at various spots on the field.
The team will work out again today at 3:30 p.m. and then hold the final jersey scrimmage of the spring on Friday at 4 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium.
The annual Red and White Spring Game will be played April 20 at 7 p.m. at the stadium.