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Corsaro quits; Another one bites the dust
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YSU's Ferlando Williams
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OOPS: Youngstown State quarterback Brandon Summers (6) spirals out of control against Liberty Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.
By Pete Mollica
The redshirt freshman played only one series at Missouri State. He returned home to Indianapolis.
YOUNGS-TOWN — Although nothing that happens to the Youngstown State football team this season is surprising to any one, the Penguins were dealt another crucial blow over the weekend.
For the second time this season a starting quarterback has quit the team. Redshirt freshman Paul Corsaro left and did not return with the team following Saturday’s 42-28 Missouri Valley Football Conference loss to Missouri State.
Corsaro started the game after junior quarterback Brandon Summers suffered a knee injury the previous week at Southern Utah.
Corsaro played only the opening series and did not return to the game. He elected to return to his hometown of Indianapolis with his parents.
The Penguins went through a similar situation with junior Todd Rowan, who was the starter the first two games, then was demoted to a backup role and promptly quit the team the next day.
It started a carousel of players at the quarterback spot for the Penguins.
After Rowan quit, Summers guided the team through the next 31‚Ñ2 games until he was hurt at Southern Utah. Corsaro came on to finish that game and did a respectable job. With Summers out, Corsaro was named the starter against Missouri State. But after one series the Penguins went to senior wide receiver Ferlando Williams but that didn’t work out.
Then came in true freshman Dailyn Campbell of Kenton, who had been away from the team for nearly a week after the death of his father. He took over in the second quarter and guided the Penguins to all four of their touchdowns, scoring one himself and passing for another.
“It was Paul’s decision to leave the team,” said YSU coach Jon Heacock Tuesday. “Obviously it was all about playing time. The way that he saw things was different from the way I saw things. But the bottom line is that it’s all about what’s best for this football team.”
With Summers still recovering from a knee injury, Campbell could be the fourth starting quarterback for the Penguins this season when they play host to Southern Illinois at Stambaugh Stadium. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Campbell completed 17-of-22 passes for 122 yards and one interception. He also rushed 10 times for 35 yards, including a 24-yard gain on the first play of his college career.
Heacock also announced the players of the week from the Missouri State game.
The Hill, Barth and King offensive player was senior tight end Derrick Bush of Circleville, who although he didn’t catch a pass was the blocking leader for the offense that totaled 399 yards, including 268 on the ground.
Defensive honors went to junior cornerback Lenny Wicks of Pittsburgh, who led the team in tackles with six total, including four solos, while special teams honors went to sophomore kicker Stephen Blose of Erie, who had two kickoffs into the end zone and then executed an onside kick in the fourth quarter that the Penguins recovered.
The Jim Zdelar offensive lineman was sophomore guard Eric Rodemoyer, a Sharon, Pa. native, who played at Kennedy Catholic High and transferred here this year from West Virginia.
The Jermaine Hopkins defensive player was junior tackle Crispin Fernandez of Porterville, Calif., another transfer, who had four tackles, one for a loss.
The Wash-on-Wheels/Derek Pixley Hit of the Week was a combined effort from redshirt tailback Kamryn Keys and junior wide receiver Donald Jones, while Campbell was selected the Haines Family player of the game by the YSU radio broadcast team.
mollica@vindy.com