Pain in the Leatherneck: W. Illinois routs Penguins

YSU committed four first quarter turnovers en route to a 54-20 loss at Stambaugh Stadium.
& lt;a href=mailto:mollica@vindy.com & gt;By PETE MOLLICA & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Four first-quarter turnovers put Youngstown State into a hole that it could not recover from, as the Penguins were routed by Western Illinois, 54-20, Saturday afternoon before 14,218 fans at Stambaugh Stadium.
The Penguins (4-3, 1-1 Gateway) lost four fumbles in the opening period, and fell behind 24-0 to the No. 2-ranked team in Division I-AA.
The Leathernecks (5-1, 2-0) scored off three of those fumbles, all coming within the YSU 25-yard line, and never were threatened seriously by the Penguins.
"We certainly didn't do anything to help ourselves today," said YSU coach Jon Heacock. "Western Illinois is a great football team and deserving of their No. 2 ranking or perhaps even better, but we kind of made things easy for them today."
Fumbles and fumbles
Sophomore quarterback Aaron Marshall lost fumbles on two of his first three series, and twice freshman kickoff-return man Durell Preston lost fumbles trying to return the ball.
And that was just the first quarter.
The Leathernecks led 27-0 before Heacock decided to go with junior quarterback Matt Rycraft, and it was possibly the best decision he made all day.
Rycraft, a 6-foot, 180-pound West Branch High product, came in and gave the Penguins a needed lift, rallying them to two touchdowns and cutting the Leathernecks' lead to 27-14 late in the third quarter.
YSU's defense, which was on the field entirely too much during the game, then came up with another stop and the Penguins had a chance to get back into the game.
But fumble No. 5 occurred as Rycraft was trying to hand off to sophomore tailback Josh Cayson, and the Leathernecks recovered and went on to score again and taking the Penguins out of the game for good.
Momentum was lost
"That was definitely a pivotal point in the football game because they had all the momentum in their favor," said Western Illinois coach Don Patterson.
Rycraft, getting his first significant playing time, was the only real standout on the YSU offense.
He led the team in rushing, gaining 152 yards on 21 carries, and scored two touchdowns. He also completed 6-for-10 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.
He finished the game with 237 of the Penguins' 303 total yards.
But the Penguins just couldn't stop Western Illinois tailback Travis Glasford or quarterback Russ Michna.
Glasford set a school record with five touchdowns, and he led the team with 198 yards rushing on 35 carries, while Michna finished 11-for-18 for 156 yards and one touchdown.
Heacock took full responsibility for the Penguins' performance.
"But right now I really don't have an answer to what went wrong," he said. "We've got to find it quickly."
Early fumble
The Penguins took the opening kickoff, and on the second play Marshall fumbled and Western Illinois' Lee Russell recovered at the YSU 18.
After the defense held, Justin Langan kicked a 29-yard field goal.
On the ensuing kickoff, Preston fumbled at the 5-yard line and Terrance Hall recovered for the Leathernecks. Four plays later, Glasford had his first touchdown on a 2-yard run.
The Penguins went three-and-out on the next series, and after Langan missed a 40-yard field goal, they got the ball back at their own 24.
On the first play Marshall fumbled the snap and again Russell recovered at the 21. This time, the YSU defense came up with a goal line stand at the 1.
Following a YSU punt, the Leathernecks went 44 yards to score their second TD on Glasford's 19-yard run.
Another fumble
Again on the ensuing kickoff, Preston fumbled at the 25 and Charlie Hayden recovered and returned to the YSU 16. This time, Michna hit Reggie Gray with a 12-yard scoring pass, and it was 24-0 with 14:13 remaining in the second quarter.
Western Illinois went ahead 27-0 on a 42-yard field goal by Langan before Rycraft entered.
On his first drive, he took the Penguins 62 yards for their first score which came on a beautiful 35-yard run by the junior speedster.
Long drive
On YSU's first drive of the second half, Rycraft took the team 82 yards for their second TD, which came on a 22-yard pass to tight end Mike Roberts.
But then came the fumble and two more Western scores and a 40-14 lead, before Rycraft took the Penguins for their final TD on an 80-yard drive.
He hit Kyle Smith with a 33-yard pass, and then got a 25-yard run by Josiah Doby before Rycraft scampered the final 3 yards.
Western added two more scores, one on a 45-yard run by Glasford for his record fifth touchdown.
The Penguins will go on the road next Saturday when they meet Indiana State in Terra Haute, Ind., at 2:05 p.m.
& lt;a href=mailto:mollica@vindy.com & gt;mollica@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;