Heacock stumped about injuries

By Pete Mollica

YSU’s head coach has explored all possibilities to find an answer.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock is still wondering what went wrong this season.

The Penguins (3-8, 2-5 Missouri Valley Football Conference) will take to the road this weekend to play Western Illinois (6-4, 4-3) in the season finale in Macomb, Ill. Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m. at Hanson Field.

Heacock’s Penguins have struggled through a trying season with injuries to key players putting a damper on their record.

Twenty-six players have missed at least one game because of injuries. Twenty have missed multiple games, with several missing most of the season.

Twenty-eight players made their first career starts during the year.

“We’ve gone through every scenario possible trying to figure out just what went wrong,” Heacock said. “We’ve looked at our shoulder pads, our helmets and our shoes trying to find something that could give us an answer to just what caused all these injuries.

“As much as we wished we could find an answer to the problem we didn’t.”

Heacock even investigated whether there was a correlation between summer workouts and injuries.

“Mychal Savage [who was injured] had as good a summer workout as anybody on the team,” he said. “We’ll continue to look at it, but in the long run you have to have faith in what you are doing.”

Heacock said it’s important that the Penguins go out winners, especially for the seniors.

“They have all contributed so much, many of them for four and five years,” he said. “They’ve all had a lot of success here and this season has been very difficult for them.”

Three seniors, who were at Tuesday’s final press conference, all expressed their thoughts on playing their final game.

“The reality of it still hasn’t settled in yet,” said senior place kicker Brian Palmer, a Mineral Ridge native. “I think that if we leave anything it would be the fact that you don’t have to be a senior to be a leader on this team and a lot of guys have showed that this season.”

Senior center/guard Brad Samsa of Howland says it will be emotional.

“It’s been a great experience have having been part of the great tradition here and experiencing all the things we’ve done the past years,” he said.

Senior cornerback De’Angelo Wilson said it is important for the seniors to have some fun in their final game.

“It’s our last game and we want to make the most of it,” he said. “This has been a fun place to play and it was a great opportunity for me. I’ve met a lot of outstanding people here.

“It’s a whole different environment from what I’ve been used to and it is a great family environment.”