YSU Seniors select spring rosters

The Penguins' Red and White game begins Friday at 7 p.m.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Wednesday was "draft day" as the teams for Friday's Youngstown State Red and White spring game were selected by the senior players.
Friday's contest will begin at 7 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium.
YSU coach Jon Heacock was "commissioner" for the draft. He and the coaching staff evenly divided the senior players to each squad.
This year's game looks to be a good one as both teams have standout players.
The game will be played in two 35-minute continuous clock halves with a five-minute intermission. The final five minutes of each half will follow normal clock procedure. The 25-second play clock will be in effect. All special teams will be utilized.
The Red team, whose draft specialists included seniors Russell Stuvaints, John Schumacher and Justin Dellarose, will be led by junior tailbacks Mike Burns and Josiah Doby while the starting quarterback will be senior Justin Green.
The White team, whose draft experts included seniors Anthony Barone, Jon Tekac, Andy DeNiro and Kosta Karapetsas, will feature All-American candidate P.J. Mays at tailback. He'll be backed up by junior Darius Peterson and junior Aaron Pruitt.
Junior transfer quarterback Matt Crivello will be the starter, with senior Colby Street as backup.
Freshman redshirt quarterback Aaron Marshall will rotate between both teams.
Fun: "It's an opportunity for these kids to go out and compete against each other, but really it comes down to going out and having some fun," Heacock said.
Heacock said the cancellation of two workouts this week will be made up this weekend.
"We won't miss anything since we'll come back Saturday and Sunday after the game and have our final two workouts," he said. "We needed to take the time off this week to get some of these kids healthy again. For the most part, most of them will be ready to go by Friday."
Missing: Those who will not participate in the spring game are seniors Wendall Parish, Matt Mechling and Gary Frost; sophomores Phil Larmon and Brent Steiner; and junior Randy Cook.
Senior defensive tackle Guy Mazard also will miss the remainder of spring drills after being suspended from the team for the remainder of spring for an unspecified team violation.
Heacock said it has been a difficult spring because of the weather.
"It's been difficult for both players and coaches who come out each day not really knowing if we were going to practice or not," he said. "I think that had a lot to do with our performance in the first jersey scrimmage.
"I think this team has what it takes," Heacock said. "But we have to be at our best to make that happen. This group has the potential even they don't know they have."
mollica@vindy.com