Greatest players return to Ice Castle

Sixteen of the 25 honorees will be at Stambaugh this afternoon.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — When Youngstown State football team takes the field today against Stony Brook, there will be additional support for them at Stambaugh Stadium.

Up in the stands for the 4 p.m. kickoff will be 16 of the 25 greatest football players ever to play a game at Stambaugh Stadium.

This group is just part of the ongoing 25th anniversary celebration that the Penguins will carry throughout the 2007 season.

The 25 greatest players, which by the way includes 21 All-Americans, were selected by a pre-season vote of Penguins’ football fans.

Throwbacks

The YSU football team will be wearing throwback jerseys to the 1982 season when Stambaugh Stadium was opened. Their helmets also will be throwback with a script “Penguins” on each side of the helmet.

If that isn’t enough, the Penguins also will have a throwback on game ticket prices as they will use the same prices for games played in 1982 — $8 for reserved and $6 for general admission.

Rick Love, YSU Associate Director of Athletics, said that those prices will be honored until game time.

The 25 greatest players will be introduced at halftime and the first 10,000 fans will receive a 25th anniversary poster.

The Penguins (1-1) and Stony Brook (2-0) will be meeting for the first time.

The Seawolves had previously played in the non-scholarship Northeast Conference, but this year is an independent and will join the Big South Conference in 2008.

Gateway

All of the other six Gateway Conference teams will be in action today. Three Gateway teams remain unbeaten.

Northern Iowa (2-0) which upset FBS Iowa State last week 24-13, will travel to South Dakota State for a 8 p.m. contest in Brookings, S.D.

The Jackrabbits, who will be Gateway members next season, are 0-2, losing to future Gateway opponents Western Illinois and Youngstown State.

Southern Illinois (2-0), also a winner over FBS Northern Illinois last week 34-31, is at Southern Utah, also in an 8 p.m. contest in Cedar City, Utah. The Salukis blanked Southern Utah 59-0 last year.

Missouri State (2-0) will take on FBS member Kansas State in the school’s first meeting at 7 p.m. in Manhattan, Kan. The Bears are 0-12 against Big 12 opponents.

Western Illinois (1-1) will play host to St. Francis, Ill., in a 7:05 contest at Macomb, Ill. It is the first meeting between the teams and the Leathernecks have outscored non-Division I foes 261-17 in their last four meetings.

Indiana State (0-2) will travel to meet Southeast Missouri State in a 6 p.m. contest at Cape Girardeau, Mo. The teams last met in 1999 with the Sycamores taking a 34-13 win.

Illinois State (1-1) will play inter-state rival Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Ill., today at 7 p.m. The Redbirds lead the series 49-37-3 and beat Eastern twice last season, once in regular season 44-30 and then again in the playoffs 24-13.

mollica@vindy.com