Gateway opener tonight for YSU

Youngstown State plays host to Southwest Missouri State in a 7 p.m. kickoff.
& lt;a href=mailto:mollica@vindy.com & gt;By PETE MOLLICA & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- According to Youngstown State senior linebacker Justin Dellarose, one of the Penguins' four captains this year, "the real season begins today."
YSU (3-2) plays host to Southwest Missouri State in the Gateway Conference opener at 7 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium.
The Penguins finish the regular season with seven straight conference battles. Winning the Gateway championship will earn an automatic bid to the I-AA playoffs. YSU, which joined the Gateway in 1997, has never won the conference title.
The Penguins have been to the I-AA national championship game twice since joining the conference, however, winning the crown in 1997 against McNeese State and losing to Georgia Southern in 1999. Both years the Penguins finished second in the Gateway. YSU has not reached the I-AA playoffs since 2000.
Never lost to Bears
Today the Penguins will try to extend a winning streak against Southwest Missouri State, which stands at seven games. In fact, SMS has never beaten the Penguins.
In the series, which dates to 1996, five games have been decided by a touchdown or less.
YSU won at Springfield, Mo., in 1996 (17-13), then posted a 45-13 win at home in 1997. The Penguins won 24-17 in 1998, 17-14 in 1999, 19-13 in 2000, 41-20 in 2001 and 24-17 last year.
It was in that game a year ago that YSU quarterback Aaron Marshall made his starting debut as a redshirt freshman, but the win came mainly on the strength of the Penguins' running game.
The score was tied at 7 at halftime before the Penguins scored 17 third-quarter points, including touchdown runs by Josiah Doby and Mike Burns and a field goal by Jake Stewart.
SMS rallied in the fourth quarter on a 52-yard fumble return and a 48-yard field goal, but the Penguins held the Bears twice on downs in the final minutes.
Gateway showdown battle
The big game in the Gateway today will be in Macomb, Ill., where defending national champion Western Kentucky (3-1) visits defending Gateway champion Western Illinois (3-1) at 3:30 p.m.
The two teams met twice last year. The Leathernecks won the regular season matchup 14-0 in Bowling Green, Ky., but the Hilltoppers got revenge in a I-AA semifinal game, winning 31-28 en route to the national title. WKU leads the series 5-3.
Southern Illinois (4-0), the only unbeaten team remaining in the conference, visits Indiana State (3-2) at 2:05 p.m. The Sycamores lead in the series 23-17 and have beaten Southern Illinois nine straight times, including a 21-14 victory last year.
The other matchup has Illinois State (3-2) playing host to Northern Iowa (3-1) at 2:30 p.m. in Normal, Ill.
The Redbirds have won two straight from the Panthers, including a 35-14 victory last year in the UNIDome. Northern Iowa leads the series 12-7.
The Gateway Conference finished the pre-conference schedule with a 25-10 overall record. The teams were 18-2 at home, with both losses inflicted by Florida Atlantic, which defeated YSU 13-6 and Illinois State 28-10.
The league was 7-8 on the road, with all eight losses coming against I-A opponents.
& lt;a href=mailto:mollica@vindy.com & gt;mollica@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;