Penguins hold on for win

By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State football team jumped out to an early 24-3 lead, but then had to hold off Liberty University before posting a 27-17 victory Saturday night before an announced crowd of 14,958.
The victory improved the Penguins to 2-2 going into the Gateway Conference schedule next week. The Penguins will play three of the league's top four teams in the next three weeks, beginning at Western Kentucky Saturday night.
Saturday, the Penguins were out-rushed (223-194), out-passed (181-158), out first-downed (19-14) and out-gained (404-352), but still managed to pull out the victory.
"It was disappointing that we had a chance to put them away early and we didn't," YSU coach Jon Heacock said. "We still played hard, but we gave up way too many yards. We have to find a way to get off the field sooner."
Bright spot
One of the few bright spots for the Penguins was the running of sophomore tailback Monquantae Gibson, who for the third straight week went over 100 yards on the ground.
The 6-foot, 205-pounder from Louisville, Ky., rushed for 160 yards on 30 carries and scored two touchdowns, one on a 27-yard pass from freshman redshirt quarterback Tom Zetts.
Zetts, who was 11-of-16 for 158 yards and two touchdowns, played much better than a week ago, but still had help from his receivers who made some great catches and runs after the catches.
Electrifying run
The two touchdown passes, the first one to Gibson, was a short screen which Gibson turned into an electrifying run behind some great blocking.
The second was a short pass to senior wide receiver Matt Rycraft, who found himself wide open and raced 53 yards untouched to the end zone.
Junior wide receiver Kyle Smith had three receptions for 51 yards and every catch was a circus catch, one of them one-handed.
While the offense had its moments, the defense, which played well early, gave up tons of yardage in the second half.
Liberty (1-3) had just 38 yards rushing in the first half, but nearly 200 in the second half and had two backs finish with over 100 yards rushing -- Eugene Goodman with 109 on 26 tries and Sam Gado with 101 on 14 carries.
"They didn't do anything different in the second half," YSU senior captain and defensive back Mike Bracken said. "When you look at the films you'll see guys not in their gaps or missed assignments."
Gibson said that he was happy with his performance.
"With my offensive line I feel that I can gain over 100 yards every game," he added. "It felt a lot better getting it in a victory."
His last two 100-yard efforts were in losses.
"I'd rather gain 50 yards in a win than over 100 in a loss," he added.
Early scores
The Penguins scored on four of their first five possessions in the first half.
Gibson set the early tempo when he slashed off tackle early in the opening quarter and broke loose. He broke a tackle at the 35-yard line and completed a 53-yard scoring jaunt.
On the next series, the Penguins drove to the Liberty 25 where senior kicker Nick Terracina converted a 43-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.
YSU was stopped on its next possession, but on the first play after a punt, Goodman fumbled at his own 25 when freshman James Terry hit him and Bracken recovered.
It took the Penguins just three plays to score as Zetts tossed a little screen to Gibson on the left side and he just followed his blocking cutting back and forth to the end zone.
Liberty finally got on the scoreboard when it drove to the YSU 7-yard line before the Penguins stiffened and Zacry Kolegue kicked a 24-yard field goal.
But the Penguins came right back and drove 72 yards with Zetts hitting Rycraft for the 53-yard touchdown pass and a 24-3 lead.
Just before halftime the Flames put together an 80-yard, 15-play drive to cut the Penguins' lead to 24-10 as Goodman scored on a 3-yard run up the middle with 37 seconds remaining in the half.
Momentum reversal
The momentum changed quickly in the second half as Zetts was intercepted by C. J. Moore on the Penguins first series at the Liberty 36 yard line.
Goodman ripped off three straight gains, the third a 30-yard run and then Gado scampered 21 yards through a big hole for the touchdown.
Terracina added a 35-yard field goal later in the period to up the margin to 27-17.
Special teams played a key role in the final 15-plus minutes as the Penguins blocked a pair of Kolegue field goal attempts.
The first in the final seconds of the third quarter when Ron John-Finn knocked down a 49-yard attempt and then, with just under three minutes remaining, sophomore Jason Perry blocked a 38-yard attempt which the Penguins recovered back on the Liberty 43-yard line and ran out the clock to preserve the win.
mollica@vindy.com