YSU FOOTBALL Marshall wins MVR award for relief role

Matt Briggs and Nick Terracina also earned honors.
& lt;a href=mailto:mollica@vindy.com & gt;By PETE MOLLICA & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- For the second straight week the quarterback position has been signaled out as the best offensive effort by the Youngstown State football team.
Last week it was junior Matt Rycraft; this week the MVR Club's offensive player of the week is quarterback Aaron Marshall.
Marshall, a 6-foot-3, 217-pound sophomore from Detroit, had started the last 14 games for the Penguins dating back to last season. Rycraft, who played well in relief of Marshall two weeks ago against Western Illinois, snapped that streak last Saturday at Indiana State.
This time it was Marshall who came off the bench to spark the Penguins, rallying them from a 24-14 deficit to a 30-24 overtime victory.
Directed comeback
Marshall came on in the fourth quarter and his first drive ended with a 31-yard touchdown pass to junior Phil Larmon that brought the Penguins to within three points, 24-21.
His second drive ended with 33 seconds remaining as junior Nick Terracina kicked a 42-yard field goal into a swirling wind to tie the score and send the game to overtime.
Marshall was also named the Haines Family player of the week by the YSU radio broadcasters.
Terracina earned the MVR special teams player of the game award for the third time this season.
Huge kickoff
His game-tying field goal was only part of his accolades from Saturday. Following Indiana State's safety, in which the Sycamores blocked a Joe Bishop punt and it rolled out of the end zone, Terracina kicked off from his own 20 and into that same wind. He boomed the kick all the way to the Sycamores 3-yard line -- 78 yards in the air -- and kept them from getting good field position.
After his tying field goal he also made a clutch tackle on the ensuing kickoff that the Sycamores ran back to their own 45. The MVR defensive player of the game was junior tackle Matt Briggs for the second straight week.
Key defensive play
The 6-4, 246-pounder from Cleveland played an all-around fine game, but what he did in the overtime proved to be the difference.
YSU won the toss for overtime and elected to go on defense. On the Sycamores first play, quarterback Jake Schiff dropped back to pass, couldn't find a receiver and took off running. He got all the way to the 3-yard line where he was stopped, while Briggs came up from behind him and stripped the ball cleanly and then recovered it to end ISU's series.
Two plays later sophomore tailback Josh Cayson scored from 15 yards out to win the game.
The Jim Zdelar offensive lineman of the week was senior Will Sanders of Weaver, Ala. The Jermaine Hopkins defensive lineman of the week was junior linebacker Justin Martin of Downers Grove, Ill.
& lt;a href=mailto:mollica@vindy.com & gt;mollica@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;