Penguins excited about being home Saturday

Photo

YSU head coach Jon Heacock

YSU has played three of its first four games on the road.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Nobody is more excited to be playing at Stambaugh Stadium on Saturday than Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock.

The Penguins have played their last two contests and three of their first four games on the road. They are 3-1 record, including last week’s Missouri Valley Football Conference opener at Indiana State.

Saturday the Penguins play host to Missouri State in another MVFC contest. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Ice Castle.

“We’re thrilled and excited to be back at home,” said Heacock. “Two weeks ago we had to travel to Boston to play at Northeastern and last week we spent 16 hours on a bus to play Indiana State.

“Every game is important from here on out,” he added. “You have to go and play as good as you can every Saturday. We’ve got a lot of tough games ahead of us, but the good news is that we don’t have to play them all in the same day, just one at a time.”

Heacock said although he’s happy with the team’s three straight victories, there are still a lot of areas the Penguins need to improve.

“I would like to see us run the football better, but on the same hand Indiana State’s defense was a lot better than people think they were,” he added.

“Our defense was highly motivated last week, especially after they [Indiana State] ran up and down the field on us a year ago at home,” he said.

Heacock is also concerned about the kicking game.

Junior placekicker Stephen Blose missed two field games that were well within his range, while senior punter Ben Nowicki, who had his career long punt of 67 yards, had several that weren’t too good.

“I don’t think that it’s anything serious with [Blose]. He just needs to get his steps right and he needs to be more focused on what he’s doing,” Heacock said.

Heacock, who is handling the duties of defensive coordinator this year, likes what he’s seen from that part of the team.

“I’m excited about what I’m seeing, they are playing hard and fast,” he said. “We’re young at a lot of positions, but with seniors like Mychal Savage and Crispin Fernandez leading the way the younger kids are just following their examples.

“As we grow up and become more mature this group is only going to get better,” he said.

Fernandez, who missed one game with the flu, has rebounded back into top shape, while Savage, who is nursing a banged-up ankle, is playing some of his best football.

“Hopefully the best is yet to come with this group,” said Heacock. “They all know where we’ve been and where we’re headed and they know who we are playing this week.”

Heacock is impressed with Missouri State.

“They’ve got a quarterback that just gets better every week and their tight end is very special,” he said. “He is very athletic and runs like a wide receiver.”

The Penguins came out of the Indiana State game in good physical condition.

“We’re pretty healthy except for the normal bumps and bruises,” said Heacock.

“For years we talked about winning the fourth quarter of the game, and now we have been doing that,” he added. “But we’ve got to get things going earlier now that we’re in conference play. Sometimes you need something good to happen early in the game to get you going.”

mollica@vindy.com