Marcus Mason rushes to another honor

The tailback earned his second Player of the Week award.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- It took junior tailback Marcus Mason a while to get into the starting lineup for the Youngstown State University football team.
But once he did, it's been nothing but major performances for the Penguins offense.
The 5-foot-9-inch, 197 pound transfer from the University of Illinois and Pontiac, Md., has been nothing short of sensational in the past four games he's been a starter in the YSU backfield.
Mason, who was named the Hill, Barth and King offensive player of the game for the second time in three weeks, had his career best game Saturday in the 31-7 victory over Missouri State.
That victory kept the Penguins (7-1) in first place in the Gateway Conference standings with a perfect 4-0 record. They are deadlocked with Western Kentucky.
Leading rusher
Mason rushed for 203 yards on 32 carries and scored one touchdown Saturday to raise his team leading statistics to 688 yards on 118 tries and six touchdowns in the six games he's played.
Mason joined the Penguins this past summer and was injured in the team's only jersey scrimmage in August. That injury forced him to miss the team's first two games.
He saw limited action against Liberty (four carries for 18 yards), but then was called upon for the bulk of the workload against Pitt and finished a team-high 16 carries for 64 yards.
That effort earned him a starting role against Illinois State and he has not relinquished it since.
Mason has rushed for 126, 152, 125 and 203 the past four games for a 151.5 yards per game average and all six of his touchdowns.
Mason was also selected as the Haines Family Player of the Game by the YSU radio broadcast team.
Defense
This week's defensive player of the game was senior linebacker Justin Scholes of Mentor.
The 6-1, 240 pound Scholes was second on the team in tackles against the Bears with six (five of them solo) and recorded three tackles for losses totaling 22 yards. Two of those were quarterback sacks.
Special team player of the game honors went to senior cornerback Herb Jones (5-10, 175) of Twinsburg, who was on most of the Penguins' special teams and recorded a pair of tackles.
The Jim Zedlar offensive lineman of the game was junior fullback Demetrius Ison (6-0, 235) from Jackson Center, Pa. Ison, who was Mason's lead blocker out of the backfield, also caught six passes for 45 yards including a 29-yard grab and now ranks second on the team in receptions with 20.
The Jermaine Hopkins defensive lineman award went to junior linebacker Jeff Koval, who led the Penguins with seven tackles against the Bears. The 6-1, 225 pound standout from Austintown also had one tackle for a loss and intercepted a pass, returning it 38 yards.
The Wash-on-Wheels Derrick Pixley Hit of the Week was recorded by junior tight end Max King of West Farmington and Champion High School.
The 6-2, 225 pound King caught one pass against the Bears for 18 yards, but in the process bowled over a pair of Missouri State defenders to earn the honor.
mollica@vindy.com