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Penguins’ offense hangs on to win spring jersey scrimmage
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By Pete Mollica
Both sides played well in the final tune-up before Friday’s spring game.
YOUNGSTOWN — If there is one thing that Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock has learned this spring, it’s that his seniors have to be leaders on and off the field.
Heacock and his staff got a good look as most of those seniors Saturday morning in the annual spring jersey scrimmage at Stambaugh Stadium.
It was a well-fought scrimmage, but the Offense (Red) came away with a 60-55 victory and will retain the red practice jerseys that they had won back a couple of weeks ago.
“It was a really good football scrimmage today, a really good one,” said Heacock, who is preparing for his ninth season as head coach.
“I thought both sides were playing very well. Then a couple of turnover turned things one way, a couple of big plays turned things back the other way and then a turnover at the end almost let the defense back in the contest,” the head coach said.
“Turnovers obviously are huge and in a scrimmage like this both sides are always affected, good for one, bad for the other,” Heacock said.
Heacock, who has taken over as the team’s defensive coordinator, said that long runs against the defense are the really disappointing.
“Anytime there is a big play against you, it’s disappointing,” he said. “There were times today when we weren’t lined up properly on defense and that’s my fault.
“We will continue to grow on defense,” Heacock said. “Today, we played hard for a while and then we didn’t. We’re getting there, but you have to play hard on every play if you want to be a good defensive team.”
Heacock felt that his seniors on offense played well.
He lauded all of his senior tailbacks, who he said ran very hard. He also praised senior quarterback Brandon Summers.
“Brandon made some very nice throws out there today,” Heacock said. “He has to be a leader on this team, just like all the seniors have to be leaders
“The real tests for these guys is still ahead of them,” Heacock said. “It’s easy to be a leader in the spring, the real test will come this summer and then in the fall.”
Summers had a good scrimmage as he connected on 14 of 21 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown. The 6-2, 215-pound senior also threw an interception, and what he referred to as a very poor decision on his part.
“For the most part, things went pretty well today,” Summers said. “I made one bad decision on the interception, but there is still a whole lot of room for improvement.”
Summers is excited about his running backs, his receivers and his offensive line.
“It really didn’t matter who was in the game everybody did the job and the line, first, second and third teams all did a great job today,” the quarterback said.
The Penguins used four running backs, three of whom are seniors. All contributed. They also have a fifth tailback in sophomore Kamryn Keys, who has been recovering from injuries and hasn’t played this spring. Keys led the team in rushing last season.
The team’s top rusher Saturday was redshirt freshman Paris Wicks Jr., who finished with 17 carries and 69 yards.
The seniors were led by Jabari Scott with 60 yards on nine rushes. Others are Dana Brown with 13 rushes for 45 yards and Kevin Smith with 40 yards on nine carries. Smith’s carries included two touchdowns on runs of 35 and 4 yards. Scott also had a 31-yard touchdown run.
Seniors dominated the receiving stats as senior Ty Campana finished with four catches for 64 yards and caught Summers’ touchdown pass, a 21-yarder where he outleaped the defense in the end zone.
Senior Aaron Pitts had four catches for 77 yards while Dionte Snow had three catches and Dominique Barnes two.
Defensively, the Penguins were led by sophomore defensive tackle Joe Marshall who was in on three sacks. Junior Torrance Nicholson, junior linebacker Na’eem Outler and several others all had numerous big plays.
Junior linebacker Jordan Edwards had one interception, picking off sophomore quarterback Dailyn Campbell, while junior Gary Pezzuolo picked off Summers.
The defense led 38-34 before the offense scored back-to-back touchdowns by Smith. Junior Stephen Blose booted a 39-yard field goal to put the offense ahead 59-40.
Two big plays by the defense, one a fumble recovery by Outler for a touchdown and another near safety brought the defense back in the scrimmage, But it wasn’t enough.
The Penguins will return to practice on Monday and Tuesday mornings, then attend the Bob Dove Spring Luncheon on Tuesday at noon. They will work out Thursday and wind up spring came with the Red and White Spring game on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
mollica@vindy.com