YSU’s Williams pulled triple duty

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YSU's Ferlando Williams

By Pete Mollica

The wide receiver also played running back and quarterback.

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Youngstown State senior Ferlando Williams was exhausted following Saturday’s 14-7 loss to Southern Utah.

It was a costly loss to the Penguins (2-4) because they lost starting quarterback Brandon Summers to a knee injury early in the second quarter.

Williams, who is the team’s starting wide receiver, was used as running back and a quarterback over the final three quarters.

But, as he said, he can rest up, but the loss is there to stay for the Penguins.

Williams caught four passes for 61 yards and rushed nine times for another 35 yards. He also attempted one pass in the game, but he knows that it was turnovers that finally did the Penguins in.

“You got to take care of the football,” Williams said. “Turnovers are killers and they did us in today.”

Even with four losses, Williams hasn’t given up on the season.

“We’ve lost a lot of guys this year and we have a lot more who are pretty banged up, but now we’ve just got to suck it up and come together as a group and we can still salvage the year,” Williams said.

The Penguins, who came into the game in a serious injury situation, lost Summers and redshirt freshman linebacker David Rach, a South Range graduate who suffered an ankle injury on the game’s opening kickoff and had to be carted to the locker room.

They had four other regulars who didn’t make the trip to Utah because of injuries and those were added to the lengthy list they had before the week even began.

Williams said that moving in to play some quarterback isn’t a big problem.

“I’ve been doing that for so long now it doesn’t bother me in the least bit,” he said.

“This has got to be it for us because we can’t afford any more losses and with nothing but conference games ahead of us we really need to get things together and turn this team around,” he said.

Williams, like the rest of the Penguins, felt this was a game they should have won. The loss of Summers may have took something out of them, but Williams doesn’t think so.

“We came back and Paul [Corsaro] did a good job out there and we had our chances, but we let them get away,” he said. “We’re down, but we’re not out and we’ll be back.”

If Summers can’t go for next week’s Missouri Valley Conference game at Missouri State, Corsaro would start, YSU coach Jon Heacock said.

“Paul came in and played very well, other than the turnover,” Heacock said. “He got better the more he was in there and he almost pulled it out for us at the end.”

mollica@vindy.com