Cayson carries load on turf, carries a tune

The junior tailback wanted to win for the seniors.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State junior tailback Josh Cayson had been waiting way too long to join his teammates in singing the YSU fight song after a victory.
"It seems like it's been two months since we've got to sing the fight song, it was too long," Cayson said.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound standout from Warren JFK High had his second straight 100 yard plus rushing game to lead the Penguins and scored two touchdowns in the 45-20 rout of Indiana State.
"We wanted to win one for the seniors and we did, it was so much fun out there today, this is the way it should have been all season long," he added.
Yardage
Cayson finished the game with 158 yards on 32 carries and bettered his career single game rushing mark for the second straight week.
Besides scored twice and leading the rushing attack, Cayson also ran back three kickoffs for 80 yards and put the Penguins in excellent field position with all three returns.
"I love to be back there on kickoffs," he said. "It's just me against their 11 guys. I've got blockers and good ones, but it really comes down to me against them."
YSU coach Jon Heacock, who has used Cayson sparingly on returns this season, said it was a move the coaches made during the game.
"I really don't like to use defensive people back on kick returns because they are usually just coming off the field from defense and you really don't know how tired they are," he said.
The Penguins usually use defensive back Jason Perry to return kickoffs along with wide receiver Matt Rycraft.
Perry returned the first two kickoffs for a combined 34 yards, the first one to the 23 and the second only to the 11.
Lauds line
Cayson lauded his offensive line, which he says has improved tremendously this year.
"We started the year with a pretty inexperienced line, but they have developed and some of the older guys like Norris Kennedy have come back from injuries and really taken over," Cayson said.
YSU senior defensive back Steve Reynolds, who picked off an Indiana State pass late in the game and returned it 43 yards for the final YSU touchdown, said he was looking for the ball on that play.
"They had run that several times on me over the game and I said that the next time I was going to pick it off and take it to the house," Reynolds added.
The 6-1, 203 cornerback from Akron said that the difference in the defense in the second half was its emotion.
"We came out and really played with emotion in the second half," Reynolds said. "We talked about it at halftime and we knew what we had to do and went out and did it."
Checks at line
Senior wide receiver Matt Rycraft, a West Branch High standout, lauded the offense, especially freshman quarterback Tom Zetts.
"Tom made some great checks at the line and ran the offense very well tonight," he said. "The win feels so great and that much more being a senior and playing at home for the last time."
Heacock also praised Zetts' play.
"I think that this was Tom's best game, he made some great checks at the line and took us out of some bad situations. He's still learning, but he's come an awful long way this season."