No playoffs again for the Penguins

By Pete Mollica

YOUNGSTOWN — For the eighth time in the last nine seasons, the Youngstown State football team won’t be going to the postseason.

Saturday afternoon the Penguins gave a good account of themselves, but still suffered a 17-3 loss to the No. 9 ranked South Dakota State Jackrabbits before an announced crowd of just over 10,000 fans at Stambaugh Stadium.

It was homecoming at the university and the Penguins (4-4, 2-3 Missouri Valley Football Conference) lost for the fourth straight year on this event.

The Penguins battled the Jackrabbits (7-1, 6-0) throughout the first half, walking away with a 3-3 deadlock with the Penguins set to receive the second half kickoff.

But on the first play after the kickoff YSU senior quarterback Brandon Summers was intercepted by South Dakota State’s Derek Domino at the YSU 32 and the Jackrabbits quickly scored to take a lead they never relinquished.

“That was critical,” said YSU head coach Jon Heacock. “We played them well in the first half, were [going] to get the ball to start the second half and then throw it away on the first play.”

“Give South Dakota State credit; they are a good football team and they don’t do anything to hurt themselves,” he added. “I was disappointed in our defense that allowed them to make their long drives, but that’s what they do and that’s why they are on top of the standings.”

Heacock said he gave no thought to make any major substitutions.

“You want to ride your seniors as long as you can,” he said. “We had a lot of opportunities to go down and win this football game and they deserved to have a part in whatever happens. With the game on the line they are the ones who are going to play.”

The Penguins were also without their top defender in the secondary. Sir Demarco Bledsoe, the sophomore safety who leads the defense in tackles with 57, is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL sustained last week in the loss to Southern Illinois.

“That hurt a whole lot to lose a player of his caliber,” said Heacock. “He’s a player and that’s what you need in a game like this. Although I though Nick Gooden [his replacement] played like crazy out there tonight.”

Now Heacock has to prepare his team for the final three games of the season with nothing but pride on the line.

“Other than the playoff situation nothing changes,” he said. “We have three games left and we’ll begin tomorrow getting ready for the next one.”

Offensively the Penguins managed just 73 yards rushing on 29 attempts, while Summers was 19-of-29 passing for 181 yards with two interceptions and two sacks. The senior has thrown 13 interceptions in eight games.

The Penguins’ leading rusher was reserve quarterback Dailyn Campbell, a sophomore, who came in just to run the football and picked up 32 yards on seven carries.

But the Jackrabbits’ ability to control the football took its toll on the YSU defense.

Even on its first drive of the game, which ended on a missed field goal attempt, the Jackrabbits ran off 12 plays and used up 6:28 on the clock.

Their first scoring drive, which ended in a 25-yard field goal by Peter Riefenrath, came on a drive of 15 plays and ate up 8:17 in the second quarter.

YSU actually led in the contest as the Penguins drove the football on their first drive from their own 20 to the South Dakota State 31 and junior kicker Stephen Blose boomed a 48-yard field goal, equalling his career best.

But then came the second half kickoff and the interception and the Jackrabbits made the Penguins pay, moving 32 yards in seven plays before tailback Kyle Minett took a pitch and rambled the final five yards.

But the Penguins came right back and drove the football from their own 21 down to the Jackrabbits’ 23, a drive that took 17 plays. But Blose was wide right on a 41-yard field goal attempt.

South Dakota State sewed up the win with a fourth quarter drive that only took nine plays and 4:15 and again it was Minett getting the call from the 1-yard line for the score.

The Penguins had two more opportunities, but came up short on a fourth down play at the Jackrabbits’ 23-yard line and then Summers was intercepted a second time in the final seconds of the contest.

mollica@vindy.com

S. Dakota State0377—17

Youngstown St.3000—3

First Quarter

YSU—FG Blose 48, 2:43.

Second Quarter

SDSt—FG Reifenrath 25, 4:33.

Third Quarter

SDSt—Minett 5 run (Reifenrath kick), 11:11.

Fourth Quarter

SDSt—Minett 1 run (Reifenrath kick), 4:51.

A—10,780.

SDStYSU

First downs1714

Rushes-yards35-13129-73

Passing178181

Comp-Att-Int19-28-019-30-2

Return Yards515

Punts-Avg.5-43.64-40.0

Fumbles-Lost0-00-0

Penalties-Yards2-156-50

Time of Possession32:3627:24

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—S. Dakota State, Minett 22-87, Crawford 4-22, Duffy 7-19, T.Kool 1-4, Team 1-(minus 1). Youngstown St., Campbell 7-32, D.Brown 8-27, Cook 5-22, Summers 7-5, Team 1-(minus 1), D.Barnes 1-(minus 12).

PASSING—S. Dakota State, Crawford 19-28-0-178. Youngstown St., Summers 19-29-2-181, Campbell 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING—S. Dakota State, Cochart 6-51, Montague 5-39, Fox 4-29, Minett 2-32, M.Steffen 2-27. Youngstown St., D.Barnes 6-93, Jones 6-36, Pitts 3-20, Rogers 2-16, Cook 1-9, D.Brown 1-7.

Poor crowd: The weather wasn’t the greatest, but it was homecoming and that still didn’t bring out the fans for Saturday’s contest. The announced crowd was 10,780, but the actual number of fans in the seats was closer to half that total. The game was also televised live locally which along with the weather would be an likely excuse for staying home to watch the game.

Bledsoe out: Sir Demarco Bledsoe, the sophomore free safety from Piedmont, Okla., and a transfer from TCU, has been lost for the remainder of the season. Bledsoe was the Penguins’ leading tackler after seven games with 57 total stops while he also had a sack, an interception and a fumble recovery along with four pass breakups this year. Bledsoe injured his knee last Saturday in the loss at Southern Illinois, but played the entire game and the injury wasn’t discovered until early this past week.

Homecoming: It was the Penguins’ annual homecoming game and the fourth straight year they’ve lost this game. Despite the weather the halftime ceremonies still went on and Krista Cunningham was crowned queen and Carrington Moore was the king. YSU junior kicker Stephen Blose was also one of the candidates for homecoming king.

Hall of Fame: Eight new inductees for the YSU Athletic Hall of Famer were introduced during the halftime activities. This year’s group included Ian Dominelli (football), Matt Folk (cross country/track), Vickie Robinson (volleyball), Ian Shirey (football), Cathy Sipka (swimming), Ronald Smith (basketball), Helen Stambaugh (contributor) and Laura Thomas (cross country/track). They were officially inducted at a luncheon prior to the football game.

Defensive leaders: Former Cardinal Mooney High standout Taylor Hill, a freshman redshirt linebacker, led the Penguins with 12 tackles, while junior free safety Andre Elliott finished with 12. For the first time this season the Penguins did not have a sack or a tackle for loss. There were only two pass breakups, one by junior cornerback Brandian Ross and the other by junior linebacker Na’eem Outler. South Dakota State finished with two sacks and four tackles for losses totalling 27 yards along with two interceptions.

Up next: The Penguins will play two of their final three games on the road, beginning next Saturday at Northern Iowa. The Panthers (5-3, 3-2) were idle this weekend, but have lost two straight games. The Penguins have dropped eight straight to UNI and haven’t won at the UNI-Dome since 1999.

Pete Mollica