Rock goal: stay close to YSU

Five games have been blowouts enjoyed by the Penguins.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- In seven games against Youngstown State, the Slippery Rock football team has been able to come within two touchdowns of the Penguins only twice.
The Rock will try to reverse that trend Saturday in a 7 p.m. game at Stambaugh Stadium.
The last time the teams met was in 2000 when The Rock played the Penguins tough before losing 24-10. That Slippery Rock team went on to finish with an 8-3 record and was ranked 14th in Division II.
Last year, Slippery Rock was 7-4, the 12th-straight winning season for coach Dr. George Mihalik.
Rebuilding
Mihalik, though, doesn't feel that this year's team, which makes its season debut Saturday, is as good as the one he brought to YSU in 200.
Redshirt freshman Luke McCaffrey (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) will make his first start at quarterback for SRU. The native of Slippery Rock probably won the starting job in The Rock's spring game when he completed 11-of-12 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns.
Joining him in the backfield will be sophomore Mike Vernillo (5-11, 200), who rushed for 165 yards on 48 carries last season, and another redshirt freshman, Brian Rakszawski (6-3, 210).
The Rock lost all-conference receiver Ryan McKavish, who caught 61 passes a year ago, but returning is tight end Brandon Richardson (6-3, 245) who had 14 catches and two touchdowns, and junior wide receiver Matt Tack, who caught eight passes.
Senior center Bill Ricks (6-2, 325) anchors the offensive line. He is a two-time all-conference selection. Three other veterans on the line are sophomore guards Don Harbison (6-4, 280) and Noah Richards (6-4, 290) and junior tackle Pat Oster (6-2, 270).
The defense is expected to be the strong point for The Rock, according to Mihalik.
"We return our front seven on defense and we are going to have to count heavily on them in the early games until our secondary develops," Mihalik said.
All-conference nose tackle Brian Godfrey (6-2, 270, junior) had 35 tackles and three sacks last year.
Also returning in the trenches are defensive ends Mike Jennings (6-1, 225, junior) and Louis Jamison (6-3, 250, senior) and tackle Matt Mager (6-0, 240, senior).
Senior linebacker Dan Woodard (6-1, 225) was the team's top tackler (77) and had six sacks. Mike Copper, from New Wilmington, Pa., is another veteran at linebacker.
Mihalik said his teams have been able to compete with YSU for a while, "but the thing about Youngstown is that when you make a mistake they make you pay for it," he said.
What's Mihalik's biggest concerns about the Penguins this year?
"That's easy," he said. "It's their offense, defense and special teams. I fear just about everything about them."
mollica@vindy.com