YSU FOOTBALL Tekac playing for pride, tradition

The senior linebacker has been the leader of the defense all season.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Being elected a team captain is something special for Youngstown State's Jon Tekac, even if it is for only the last three games of the season.
The Penguins had 17 seniors on this year's squad and coach Jon Heacock went with game captains for the first eight games.
When everyone had their chance, Heacock turned it over to the team to elect permanent captains for the final three games of the season.
Tekac, P.J. Mays and John Schumacher were chosen by their teammates to head the team for those three games.
Tekac, a four-year starting linebacker, feels it is an honor to be named, but he and his two other co-captains are representing all 17 seniors every time they go out for the pre-game coin toss.
"It's really an honor to be chosen by your teammates," Tekac said Tuesday. "It was fun being out there last week. You want to have fun these final games, but you also know that you have a job to do to try and win these final games."
Final trip
The Penguins (5-4, 3-3 Gateway) make their final road trip of the season Saturday, to Normal, Ill., to meet Illinois State (5-4, 3-2) at 2:30 p.m.
It will be the final conference game for the Penguins, who have next week off and then conclude the season with a home contest Nov. 23 against Samford.
Tekac said that the team has only one thought for this week's game.
"My thoughts are the same as the rest of the seniors," he said. "We just want to go to Illinois State and win and then win the season's final game.
"We realize that we are just playing for tradition and history at Youngstown State," Tekac said. "When we go out there we are not just playing for each other, but for the team. We want to go out and play as hard as we can these final games."
Team leader
Despite the disappointment of not being in the hunt for the Gateway championship or the I-AA playoffs, Tekac has had an outstanding season.
Through nine games he is the team leader in tackles (92) and tackles for losses (16), and he is tied for the team lead in quarterback sacks (6) with senior defensive tackle Guy Mazard.
His 92 tackles are already a career high, as the 6-foot-1, 235-pounder from Pulaski, Pa., surpassed his previous best of 69, set last season.
He has led the team in tackles in six of the team's nine games, including a team-high 11 in last week's 21-9 win over Southern Illinois.
As a freshman he played in all 12 games and recorded 25 tackles. As a sophomore, he had 65 tackles and last year he increased that to 69, which tied for the team lead.
Tekac also has an interception and a fumble recovery this year and has forced two fumbles with his bone-jarring tackles.
He is just one of the seniors that Heacock has been heaping praise upon all season.
"I've said all along that they [the seniors] are just a special group," Heacock said.
mollica@vindy.com