Penguins’ tackle Fernandez is happy camper

YOUNGSTOWN — Probably no member of the Youngstown State football is happier for the 2009 season to begin than senior defensive tackle Crispin Fernandez.

The 5-foot-10, 280-pounder from Porterville, Calif., was the only member of the Penguins defensive line to start every game last season when the team struggled through a 4-8 fall that was marred by injuries.

A year ago, Fernandez never knew who was going to be along side him on the defensive front from one game to the next. Injuries took out three starters for almost all of the season and the coaching staff had to experiment with several younger players to fill the holes.

This season, everybody is healthy and Fernandez is enjoying the comfort of being surrounded by veteran players once again as the Penguins work hard toward the season opener which will be on Sept. 5 against the University of Pittsburgh at Heinz Field.

“It’s really nice to have everybody back and healthy once again,” Fernandez said. “It’s going to be a lot different this year especially with the return of ‘Sav’ [senior All-American Mychal Savage], ‘Torr’ [junior tackle Torrence Nicholson] and the play of Steve Meadows, who has really come on this year.

“We’ve got depth all over the line, and a lot of that came from the younger guys getting a lot of playing time last season because of the injuries,” he said.

“It’s going to be exciting, and I can’t wait for the season to begin,” he said.

Fernandez said that he’s had a great summer and the workouts have been some of the best the team has had.

“I’ve had a good off season, and this summer I even went back home to California to visit for a while,” Fernandez said.

He’s not at all bothered by the hot August days that the team has been working out in recently.

“When I left California, it was 115 degrees, so I’m not complaining at all about this weather,” he said.

Fernandez came to the Penguins a year ago from Bakersfield Community College where he was a second-team All-Western State Conference Mountain Division selection as a sophomore. He led his team to the division championship before losing in the conference championship game, 47-42, to Mt. SAC.

It didn’t take Fernandez long to made an impact with the Penguins as he moved right into a starting position . He was the only player on the defensive unit to start in all 12 games.

He finished the season with 42 tackles including 20 solo stops, led the team with 6.5 tackles for losses and had four sacks.

For his efforts, he was named to the All-Missouri Valley Football Conference second team and also was named to the MVFC’s All-Newcomer squad.

He also was chosen as YSU’s Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year. He played almost 300 more snaps than any other defensive lineman.

Fernandez was moved all around on the defensive line a year ago, but will be settled at defensive tackle his year.

He also is excited about the fact that head coach Jon Heacock has taken over as the team’s defensive coordinator.

“Coach Heacock has really made a big impact on the defense this year,” he said. “He’s put a lot more emphasis on flying around to the football and he also wants us to know everybody’s position as well.”

mollica@vindy.com