Penguins are Rock-ready

Sunday, August 27, 2006 By PETE MOLLICA VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock knows a lot is expected of his team this season. He took that attitude into fall camp this year. The Penguins wrapped up fall camp last week and are getting ready for the season opener Thursday against Slippery Rock (7:30 p.m., WNIO-AM 1390, WBBG-FM 106.1) at Stambaugh Stadium. Heacock was pleased with the 21 practice sessions the Penguins completed during fall camp. "Basically we wanted to make sure that we were getting better and I feel that we are doing that," Heacock said. "We are a better team then we were 21 practices ago." The Penguins are to be a better team for different reasons. Best of both "First off, our older guys have gotten better, yet when they were banged up the younger guys stepped in and got some valuable reps which made them better," said Heacock. "We're progressing," he added. "In camp we try to put them through as many difficult mental and physical situations as we can, while trying to stay as healthy as we can and we pushed them to the limit there. "We still came out of camp relatively healthy, a lot of bumps and bruises, but nothing that is going to keep anybody out of action for any length of time," he said. There are still areas that concern Heacock (32-24), who begins his sixth season, and most of those are on the defensive side of the football. "Defensively we need to get everybody back there, especially on the front line," he said. "We need them all and we're not going to be very good without all of them ready to go. We want to try to not use some of the young guys if we don't have to. "We need to develop some depth at linebacker," he added. "We definitely have a strong starting group, but junior college transfers Myles Banford and Rashod Cotton both got a late start in camp and are still behind. Dual purpose "Mike Barlak is going to help us there, but he's also our long snapper and has been looking tremendous there, so we have to be careful with him," said Heacock. "We also need some depth on special teams, which is always a crucial need." Offensive depth is also a concern for Heacock, particularly at receiver. "Miles Williams has had a great camp as has T.J. Peterson, but we need some depth there quickly," he said. The running back situation is in good hands with Marcus Mason and Monquantae Gibson, but Heacock is hopeful Justin Reams gets healthy. "These guys take such a beating in our conference and you can never have enough depth there," he said. The offensive line appears set; almost everyone on the two-deep roster has had considerable game experience. "We've got to keep them healthy and fresh and we need to develop some younger kids to help out," Heacock said. "They're not going to go through an entire league season without needing some backup support." Quarterback comfort Heacock is excited about the quarterback position, with third-year starter Tom Zetts, redshirt freshman Todd Rowan and fifth-year senior Mike Schneider of Sharon, who spent four seasons at Duke, where he started 31 games. "The competition is great and they feel good about each other and each one of them wants to be the guy," Heacock said. "Schneider has been in a lot of college games and he can take some pressure off the other two." The Penguins have 27 seniors and Heacock said the success of the team lies in their hands. "There are only 22 starting positions, so whatever role they'll have will be an important one and it will require a career season for us to be successful," he said. mollica@vindy.com