YSU NOTEBOOK

YSU NOTEBOOK

Penguins vs. Redbirds

Hot kicker: Junior Brian Palmer, the former Mineral Ridge High standout, has made six straight field goals in the Penguins’ last two games. Palmer is now 9-of-10 on the season, with his only miss coming on a 47-yard attempt at Southern Illinois. He is 28-of-37 in his career at YSU.

Big return day: Junior cornerback De’Angelo Wilson had his best day returning kicks. The Sacramento, Calif., native returned five punts for 110 yards and three kickoffs for 80 yards that gave the Penguins plenty of good field positions. His 76-yard punt return set up YSU’s final touchdown and his opening 38-yard kickoff return led to the Penguins’ first score of the game.

100-yard back: In the Penguins’ two Gateway Conference defeats this year they have allowed a opposing back to rush for over 100 yards. In the 24-17 loss to Southern Illinois John Randle rushed for 122 yards. Saturday Illinois State’s Geno Blow finished with 128 yards on 17 carries.

Defensive leaders: Senior linebacker Jeremiah Wright continued to be the leader on defense as he led the Penguins with nine tackles, six solos. The Penguins came up with four sacks in the contest, two by senior linebacker James Terry, who finished with eight tackles, and one each by senior Vince Gliatta and senior defensive end Maurice Smith. De’Angelo Wilson had three pass breakups.

Champ on hand: Middleweight boxing champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik was on hand to take part in the opening game coin flip. Pavlik received a warm welcome from the YSU fans.

Next up: Things don’t get any easier for the Penguins, who will travel to meet Northern Iowa on Saturday. The Panthers were undefeated going into Saturday night’s conference battle at Western Illinois. Northern Iowa was also the top-ranked team in all of the Football Championship Subdivision.

Pete Mollica