Western Kentucky ruins YSU's season finale

By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- It was a disappointing finish to a disappointing season for the Youngstown State football team Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.
The Penguins suffered a 37-13 loss to Western Kentucky, finishing with their first losing season since 1995 -- 5-7 overall and a 2-5 record in the Gateway Conference.
The Penguins put themselves in a hole in the first 13 seconds of the contest when the Hilltoppers' Jeremy Chandler returned the game's opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown.
Early rally
But the Penguins fought back and tied the score at 10 on a 12-yard touchdown run by senior Josiah Doby. The defense, which had made several outstanding plays during the first quarter and a half, came up with another as senior Waymann Peters picked off a a Justin Haddix pass, giving the Penguins a first down at the WKU 36.
But two plays later everything turned the other way as sophomore quarterback Aaron Marshall was intercepted by WKU's Dennis Mitchell at the 16-yard line and he returned it 84 yards for a touchdown, which really broke the Penguins' backs.
"We put ourselves in a hole with the kickoff return, but then we battled back, but the interception really took everything out of us," said YSU coach Jon Heacock.
"It would have been tough to come back from that if we had all 22 starters in the game, let alone with our injury plagued outfit," he said.
"I can't say enough about our seniors," he added. "They kept fighting when there was nothing to fight for."
YSU family
Doby, who led the Penguins with 64 yards on 17 carries and the one touchdown, was emotionally moved after the game.
"When I came here five years ago I knew nobody; now I know everybody and it really pains me to have to leave all my brothers on this team," Doby said.
The Penguins finished with 109 yards rushing. Marshall was 17-of-28 for 154 yards passing with two interceptions, and he was sacked three times.
YSU finished with 263 total yards, while the Hilltoppers totaled 398, including 285 on the ground, led by tailback Lerron Moore, who had 134 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns.
Junior kicker Nick Terracina added field goals of 42 and 41 yards, while his WKU counterpart, Matt Lange, had three of 29, 18 and 42 yards for the Hilltoppers.
After the opening kickoff put the Penguins behind, they came right back and were impressive in their first offensive drive, moving from their own 20 to the WKU 29. But two straight losses put them back at the 33 and eventually led to Terracina's first field goal of 42 yards.
YSU's defense forced three straight stops on the Hilltoppers, one on a fourth-and-2 where senior Justin Dellarose nailed Moore behind the line of scrimmage.
Western Kentucky took a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter on Lange's first field goal from the 29, but the Penguins came right back and drove 80 yards to tie the game.
That drive featured a 27-yard run by Marshall and then a perfect 26-yard pass from Marshall to tight end Shawn Carlson to the WKU 12-yard line. Doby slashed off tackle through a big hole to score on the next play.
Then Peters came up with the big interception on the next series and the Penguins appeared to be in great shape. Mitchell's interception ended all that.
The Hilltoppers added an 18-yard field goal by Lange as time expired in the half to lead 20-10.
Another kickoff nightmare
The third quarter didn't start any better for the Penguins as sophomore Josh Cayson fumbled the second-half kickoff and the Hilltoppers took over at the YSU 38. It took just five plays before Moore took a pitch and raced 17 yards to put WKU up 27-10.
Terracina added his second field goal with 9:18 remaining in the third quarter, but the Hilltoppers added one of their own on Lange's 42-yarder. After Marshall was intercepted for the second time, Western came back and scored its final touchdown, this time on a 33-yard run by Moore right up the middle.
Western Kentucky (8-3, 5-2) will now wait to see if it gets into the playoffs as an at-large team, since the best it could do is tie for third in the conference standings.
mollica@vindy.com