Penguins point to positive finish

By Pete Mollica

Despite being out of the playoff and league races, the team wants wins in its final three games.

YOUNGSTOWN — Last Saturday’s 17-3 loss to South Dakota State has knocked the Youngstown State football team out of any chance for a Missouri Valley Conference title or a berth in the postseason playoffs, but that doesn’t mean the season is over for the Penguins.

YSU (4-4, 2-3 MVFC) still has three games remaining this season and the Penguins are determined to finish things on the right foot.

Saturday afternoon the Penguins will travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa to take on Northern Iowa (5-3, 3-2) at the Panthers’ UNI-Dome, a place where the Penguins have not won since the 1999 season. YSU will then return for their season home finale on Nov. 14 to take on Illinois State and finish the season at North Dakota State on Nov. 21.

Saturday’s kickoff is set for 5:05 p.m.

The Penguins know there is still a lot of football left to play and they believe they are ready for the task.

“I’m a senior and this is my last go around,” said senior wide receiver Aaron Pitts. “We’re disappointed because we had high expectations coming into this season, but as a senior I know I’m going to give it all I have these final three games.”

Pitts, like most of the Penguins and the coaches, can’t pinpoint what the problems are with the team this year.

“We’ve made mistakes we shouldn’t have made, but to put your finger on just one thing that has made all this happen just isn’t possible,” Pitts added.

“The team as a whole hasn’t really played that poorly, but there just always seems like a play or two that makes things turn against us,” he said.

“I know that just the fact that we are playing Northern Iowa this week is more than enough motivation for me,” he said. “We’ve lost to them by a single point the last two seasons so we know that we are capable of playing with them. I’ve never won against them and I’d sure like to go out a winner this season.”

Freshman redshirt linebacker Taylor Hill, a Cardinal Mooney High product, echoed Pitts’ sentiment.

“It is very disappointing [missing the playoffs], but we just have to keep our heads up and finish the season,” Hill said.

“We’ve worked very hard all year and it’s really hard to deal with the fact that we don’t have a chance to play in the postseason,” he added.

Hill said that if he had to put a grade on the Penguins’ performance thus far this season it would be about average.

“We just don’t finish the games well,” he said. “But we have to stay positive and continue to work hard and finish out the season.

“We have to come out at a high level and play Youngstown State football. We are motivated especially against a team like Northern Iowa, who we have played very tough the last two seasons.”

YSU head coach Jon Heacock said the team was “very down” for Sunday’s workout.

“That was expected because of lot of these kids have four or five years invested in this program and to have their playoff hopes dashed is difficult for them,” he added. “But I expect them to get back up off the mats and compete with all their hearts on Saturday.

mollica@vindy.com