YSU survives playoff opener

Marcus Mason, Tom Zetts and YSU's defense led to a 35-31 comeback win.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State football team had trouble stopping James Madison most of the night Saturday, but when the Penguins needed the big stop they came up with it.
The Penguins held the Dukes on fourth-and-1 at their own 12-yard line, and then went on an 88-yard touchdown drive that gave them a come-from-behind 35-31 victory in the opening round of the NCAA Division I playoffs at Stambaugh Stadium before 11,626 fans.
"These were two great football teams playing a great game and we came out on top," said Youngstown State coach Jon Heacock. "James Madison is a very good football team."
The Penguins trailed 31-20 early in the fourth quarter, but behind the play of junior quarterback Tom Zetts, they rallied to score on an 8-yard TD pass from Zetts to T.J. Peterson to cut the lead to 31-28.
James Madison, then as they had most of the game, came right back up the field moving to the Penguins 12 yard line, but one fourth and one the Penguins stopped quarterback Justin Rascati for no gain and took over possession.
Then Zetts went to work, hitting four passes in the drive, the first on third down to Peterson for 30 yards, and once he got inside the Dukes' 30 yard line he went to the running game, which had been quiet most of the night.
Mason delivers winner
Senior tailback Marcus Mason carried the final four times, the last one from 1-yard out for the touchdown with 1:12 remaining.
"I think that our rugged Gateway Conference finish was a big help in our play at the end," Heacock said. "We never quit, we never gave up and that was the difference.
The Penguins (10-2) now advance to the second round of the playoffs next Saturday against Illinois State, which knocked off Eastern Illinois in another Saturday matchup.
"It is always a very difficult thing to play a team twice in a season, but now we have to just get down from this win and start getting ready for Illinois State," Heacock said.
Saturday's contest will be held at YSU at a time to be determined today.
The Penguins totaled 412 yards, but 318 of them came through the air as Zetts had a career night hitting on 24 of 40 passes and one touchdown.
Mason was held to just 72 yards on 26 carries by the Dukes, but he scored two touchdowns.
Peterson also had career night as he caught 11 passes for 144 yards and one TD.
The Dukes almost beat the Penguins at their own game as they rushed for 249 yards on 37 tries, led by Rascati with 93 yards on 11 carries and Eugene Holloman with 89 yards on 20 carries.
There was little defense played during the first 30 minutes of the game.
YSU had four possessions and scored off all four, while the Dukes had the ball three times and scored twice, and they actually stopped themselves in another attempt with a fumble by Rascati.
YSU took the opening kickoff and marched 84 yards for its first score, which was set up by a 43-yard pass from Zetts to Gibson. Mason capped the drive with a 1-yard run.
The Dukes wasted little time (about 20 seconds) to tie the score, as Scotty McGee returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.
YSU came right back, but had to settle for a 40-yard field goal by Brian Palmer for a 10-7 lead, but the Dukes drove 70 yards to take the lead as Rascati executed the perfect bootleg and ran 11 yards for the touchdown.
The Penguins then put together a 66-yard drive as Zetts mixed up the pass and run, his last pass put the ball at the Dukes 6-yard line.
After two runs netted just two yards, Zetts handed off to Gibson, who then tossed a 4-yard TD pass to a wide open Rory Berry.
On the next series with the Dukes driving again, YSU's Greg Jacobs came up with a big hit on Rascati and the quarterback fumbled with senior defensive back Chris Goffer coming up with the recovery.
Zetts hit his season average passing in the first half as he was 13 of 20 for 189 yards, while Mason managed just 43 yards on 17 carries. YSU still held the edge at halftime 244 total yards to 164, but they also had the football for over seven minutes more than the Dukes.
"That last drive we just got into the rhythm and there were some great catches and runs after the catches, but the real key was the job that the offensive line did tonight," Zetts said.
& lt;a href="http://media.vindy.com/photos/ysuplayoff/index.html" & gt; For a photo gallery of the game, click here & lt;/a & gt; & lt;br & gt;
& lt;a href="http://media.vindy.com/video/newswatch/video_player_hi.html" & gt; For video of Coach Heacock's post-game press conference against James Madison, click here & lt;/a & gt; & lt;br & gt;