Penguins pass first test

By Pete Mollica

YSU’s players enter camp in good condition

Coach Jon Heacock spent most of his first practice on special teams.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State coach Jon Heacock got the first indication of his team’s dedication toward the 2008 football season Monday morning when the Penguins held their physical and conditioning tests.

More than 85 percent of the Penguins passed the tests, which pleased Heacock, although he was not surprised.

“I thought things went very good this morning,” Heacock said. “We still have a few guys that need some conditioning work, but for the most part I thought our guys did a great job.”

If there was one group of players who really made an impression on Heacock it was the incoming freshmen.

“The effort that they put forth was a good one,” he said. “Usually we only ask them to respond to about half of the test, but the majority of them did them all and passed easily.

“Overall I was pleased. Then again when you’re the coach you want everyone to pass those tests and since we didn’t there is still room for improvement,” said Heacock.

The Penguins held their first workout Monday evening and spent most of the two-hour session on special teams play.

“We’ve got a lot of new and young faces this year and we need to get them working on special teams early on,” Heacock said.

The Penguins are expected to have one of their best special teams units in a several seasons.

They return their top place kicker, senior Brian Palmer of Mineral Ridge; their kickoff specialist, sophomore Stephen Blose; their top punter, junior Ben Nowicki, and veteran holder, junior Todd Rowan.

They also return their No. 1 long snapper, senior Mike Barlak, and their top returners, seniors De’Angelo Wilson and Da’Michael Horne.

Palmer, who is the leading active scorer returning in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (formerly the Gateway Football Conference) set a YSU record last season when he made his final 11 field goals and finished 14-of-15 for the season. His longest was 42 yards, while his career best is 49 yards at Southern Illinois in 2005.

He was a second-team all-conference selection and earned honorable mention All-American. He has made 33 field goals, fifth-best on the school’s all-time list.

Nowicki, a junior college transfer from Mesa Community College, was honorable mention all-conference last year and was also named to the conference’s all-newcomer team. He averaged 37.1 yards on 47 punts and dropped 18 kicks inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.

Rowan, who is slated to be the team’s starting quarterback, is a LaBrae High graduate, and he’s been Palmer’s holder for the past two seasons.

Wilson, a transfer from the University of Nevada a year ago, led the Penguins in both kickoff and punt returns. He also will be one of the team’s starting cornerbacks.

Wilson returned 11 kickoffs for an average of 24.2 yards per return and he also had 27 punt returns for a 10.5 average, including one for 76 yards.

Heacock and his staff will spend the rest of this week working on fundamentals and conwditioning and won’t put on full pads until Saturday’s session.

They will work out from 2:40 p.m. until 4:45 today, Wednesday and Friday. Friday’s practice will be held at the grass practice field at the YSU track.

The Penguins will hold their first two-a-day session next Monday with practices at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The Penguins are scheduled to open the season against Ohio State Aug. 30 at noon.

mollica@vindy.com