Penguins roll over Edinboro

By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jon Heacock didn't expect his Youngstown State football team to be in mid-season form Thursday night and it wasn't.
The Penguins struggled at times, but were still good enough to post a 35-11 victory over Edinboro University in the season opener before 16,093 fans at Stambaugh Stadium.
"We played hard right to the end and we did some good things tonight, but we still have a long way to go and we have to get a lot better," Heacock said.
On offense, the Penguins rolled up 386 total yards, including 278 on the ground. Sophomore Josh Cayson and senior Mike Burns accounted for 220 of those rushing yards.
Cayson, playing in his first college game and first game in more than a year, led the Penguins with 136 yards on 10 carries. He got 73 on his first official carry, electrifying the crowd with some exciting broken field running to score the Penguins' second touchdown.
Burns carried 17 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns, one on an 11-yard burst and the other on a 4-yard carry.
Defensively, the Penguins struggled, especially in the first half. They allowed 303 total yards and Edinboro controlled the ball in excess of six minutes more than the Penguins.
"I thought our defense got better as the game went on," Heacock said. "We have a lot of new faces there and their conditioning showed up in the second half."
YSU allowed just one touchdown and one field goal, both coming in the first half.
"We started slow and Edinboro threw some stuff at us we weren't expecting," senior defensive back Scott Thiessen said. "We were much better the second half."
Sophomore quarterback Aaron Marshall continued his improvement, completing 5-of-10 passes for 82 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for 37 yards on eight carries and touchdown, and was not sacked.
Scots' mistake
It wasn't until late in the first period that the Penguins got on the scoreboard and it came with Edinboro's help.
On fourth down from the YSU 33, the Scots lined up for a 50-yard field goal attempt. The play was supposed to be a direct snap to Matt Barley, normally the punter who lined up as the kicker, but the ball sailed over his head. YSU's Durell Preston recovered at the Edinboro 36.
The Penguins missed a chance to score when junior Matt Rycraft dropped Marshall's pass in the end zone. Junior Nick Terracina kicked a 50-yard field goal, but the Scots were caught with 12 men on the field, giving YSU a first down at the Edinboro 17.
Three plays later, Marshall, out of a shotgun formation, rolled to his left and then dove over for the score.
Following a missed field goal try by the Scots, YSU took possession at its 27.
Cayson rolls
On the first play, Cayson took a handoff from freshman quarterback Tom Zetts and slashed off tackle, broke to his right and then to his left, found daylight and outraced the defense to the end zone.
Edinboro came right back to score its only touchdown on a 71-yard drive that was capped off by a 1-yard run by Matt Phillips.
YSU turned around and drove 70 yards, again behind Cayson, who had a 13-yard run and Burns, also with a 13-yard run. Burns carried the final 11 yards for the touchdown.
Edinboro cut the lead to 21-11 on a 37-yard field goal by Eli Visnick, but the Penguins scored once more in the half.
Cayson had a 29-yard scamper in the drive that was capped by a 14-yard pass from Marshall to junior tight end Mike Roberts.
Neither team scored in the third period, but YSU's final scoring drive spanned the third and fourth quarters. Marshall hit sophomore Kyle Smith with a 26-yard pass and later he ran 10 yards to the 4 before Burns ran up the middle for the touchdown.
mollica@vindy.com