Redbirds get second shot at Penguins

By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Thus far, the NCAA Division I Football Championship Series has been nothing more than a repeat of the regular season for Illinois State University.
The Redbirds (9-3) will be matched up Saturday for the second straight week with an opponent they played during the regular season.
Saturday in the FCS quarterfinals the Redbirds will visit Youngstown State for a 6 p.m. kickoff at Stambaugh Stadium.
The contest will be televised by ESPN, but over the ESPN Game Plan, which is a pay-per-view telecast and available to anyone with a digital cable box.
Beat Eastern Illinois
Illinois State opened the playoffs last Saturday on the road against Eastern Illinois, a team it had defeated 44-30 in September in Normal, Ill.
The Redbirds and Penguins, both members of the Gateway Football Conference, met on Oct. 28 in Normal, but the Penguins came away with a 27-13 victory on their way to the Gateway championship and the automatic bid into the playoffs.
The Penguins earned the NCAA's No. 4 seed for their 9-2 season effort and hosted and defeated James Madison in the opener 35-31.
ISU head coach Denver Johnson, now in his seventh season, is just 2-5 against the Penguins. YSU holds a slim 8-7 advantage in the overall series dating back to 1979, but has won five of the last seven meetings, including the last two.
"It's never an easy task going to Youngstown State," said Johnson. "But we're still playing in December and the kids are excited about the challenge ahead of them.
"We haven't played well our last two games, but we got some exceptional efforts last week and pulled out the win against Eastern Illinois."
Two interceptions for TDs
The Redbirds had two pass interceptions returned for touchdowns against the Panthers, the final one by Jesse Caesar for 45 yards clinched the victory in the final quarter.
"Youngstown State is an outstanding football team and really put it to us good in the first meeting, beating us on both sides of the football," Johnson said. "We didn't play all that well, but I'm not sure it would have made a difference by the way they were playing.
"Nobody has shut us down defensively they way they did. But this is a new game and a new season and hopefully our kids are ready for the task ahead," he added.
The Redbirds, who Tuesday had 13 players named to the All-Gateway Conference team, including the defensive player of the year in senior linebacker Cameron Siskowic, suffered a regular season-ending loss to Northern Iowa that cost them a share of the conference title with YSU.
The Redbirds are led by senior tailback Pierre Rembert (6-0, 220) who last Saturday became the school's single season rushing record holder. He gained 122 yards against Eastern Illinois and now has totaled 1,622 yards.
All-Gateway quarterback
When Rembert isn't running the ball, junior quarterback Luke Drone (first team All-Gateway) is throwing it.
Drone (6-2, 210) has thrown for 2,772 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. He's hit on 187 of 322 passes and has been intercepted nine times.
His top receivers are senior Pierre Jackson (6-1, 175) and senior Laurent Robinson (6-2, 195). Jackson has 44 catches for 746 yards and six touchdowns, while Robinson has 33 catches for 629 yards and five TDs. Robinson also missed four games with injuries.
Defensively the Redbirds have three players with more than 100 tackles, led by Siskowic (6-2, 225) with 149 stops, five tackles for losses and two sacks.
The teams' other two linebackers are right behind him as junior Kye Stewart (6-0, 205) has 123 tackles with 10 for losses and senior Niall Campbell (6-2, 230) has 100 stops with seven for losses.
The Redbirds have intercepted 17 passes this year, four by sophomore safety Tom Nelson (6-0, 195) and three by senior safety James Temple (6-0, 210).
Sophomore kicker Kevin Mazur has made 11 of 18 field goals, the longest being 37 yards.