Penguins will have Donaldson on radar
By Pete Mollica
YSU holds a 13-10 advantage in the series. Youngstown has had good success when playing the week after its bye.
MACOMB, Ill. — Youngstown State football team has won four straight games against Western Illinois and Penguins coach Jon Heacock would like nothing more than to make it five in a row.
The Penguins (3-8, 2-5 Missouri Valley Football Conference) and the Leathernecks (6-4, 4-3) will meet at 2:05 p.m. today at Hanson Field.
YSU, which holds a 13-10 advantage in the series, posted a 31-24 victory a year ago at Stambaugh Stadium. The Penguins built a 31-10 lead after three quarters and then had to hold off the Leathernecks in the final quarter.
In the team’s last meeting in Macomb, the Penguins needed a 265-yard rushing game from Marcus Mason, who also scored three touchdowns to post a 35-28 victory.
Today if the Penguins are going to win they will need to stifle Western Illinois’ outstanding running back Herb Donaldson.
Donaldson comes into the contest leading all of Division I in both rushing and scoring and has twice gone over the 200-yard mark in a contest. In two of Western’s four losses this year he was held under 100 yards. The senior needs just 205 yards today to become the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s all time leading rusher.
YSU’s offense was bolstered this week by the return of two of its regular performers. Senior wide receiver Ferlando Williams and junior tailback Jabari Scott both will be in action today. Williams has missed the last two games, while Scott has played sparingly in two of the team’s last six games because of injuries.
The Penguins were idle last week after playing 11 consecutive games. They have had great success in playing the week after their bye, winning five straight. The last time they lost following a bye was in 1998, 14-0 defeat at Western Illinois.
While the Penguins and Leathernecks are both out of playoff contention, there are a couple of crucial games involving MVFC teams this weekend.
No. 9 ranked Southern Illinois (8-2, 6-1) can wrap up the conference’s automatic playoff bid with a victory over Illinois State (3-7, 2-5). The Redbirds host the Salukis at 2:30 p.m. and Southern Illinois has only one win in Normal, Ill., since the 1996 season.
No. 4 Northern Iowa (9-2, 7-1), which has already clinched a share of the conference title, will play out of the league at Southern Utah today at 3 p.m. The Panthers, who cannot get the league’s automatic bid unless Southern Illinois loses, is still in the running for an at-large bid into the playoffs.
In other conference action Missouri State (3-7, 2-5) is at Indiana State (0-11, 0-7) in a noon kickoff in Terre Haute, Ind., while South Dakota State (6-5, 5-2) will visit North Dakota State (6-4, 4-3) in a 7 p.m. contest at Fargo, N.D.