YSU’s tale of two halves

Penguins build 31-0 lead before 10-point win

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — For the first weeks of the season, Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock couldn’t figure out why his team could never get off to a fast start.

Saturday night, the Penguins finally found the key to that fast start, building a 31-0 first half lead.

But in the second half, they went stone cold and had to hang on for a 31-21 victory over Western Illinois before some 13,000 fans at Stambaugh Stadium.

“For weeks, you guys have been asking me about our slow starts. Now I guess you can start on our poor finish,” Heacock said. “It was a win, a good win. Any win in this conference is a good win.”

The Penguins (4-2, 2-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference) could do no wrong over the first 30 minutes. They scored on five of their first six possessions and blanked the Leathernecks, holding them to 57 total yards.

But then came the second half and a complete turnaround as Western Illinois (1-4, 0-2) outrushed the Penguins 105-39, outpassed them 93-31 and held a 210-69 advantage in total yards. The Leathernecks scored on three of their first four possessions in the second half.

“We played like crazy in the first half and we talked to them about the game not being over at halftime,” Heacock said. “In this league, you had better be ready to play a full 60 minutes.

Probably one of the biggest plays of the game came in the third quarter after the Leathernecks had scored their first touchdown.

WIU’s Stephen Moore intercepted a Brandon Summers pass at the YSU 47 and the Leathernecks quickly moved down for another score.

With the ball at the YSU 11, Leathernecks tailback Dre Gibbs slashed off tackle and got to the 2 yard line on first down where YSU senior cornerback Lenny Wicks came up to make a big hit. Wicks stripped the ball out of Gibbs’ hands and killed the drive.

“That was a huge play,” Heacock said. “Any turnover is huge, but that one was really big.”

The YSU defense came up with four turnovers in the game — three fumble recoveries and one interception. The Penguins made two turnovers.

“We are a solid football team, not a veteran football team, just a solid one and we have to go out and play the best that we can in every football game,” Heacock said.

The Penguins were at their best to open the contest. They took the opening kickoff and marched 60 yards in 10 plays. Summers connected on four of four passes in the drive and senior tailback Kevin Smith slashed over for the score from the 1.

After the defense quickly stopped Western Illinois, the Penguins drove 70 yards in 10 plays, mostly on the ground with Smith’s 26-yard run the big play.

Summers hit senior wide receiver Donald Jones with a 3-yard TD pass.

The Penguins kept piling it on as Wicks returned a Western Illinois punt from his own 32 to the WIU 37. Five plays later, senior Dana Brown scored from the 1.

The Penguins defense forced a turnover as junior linebacker drilled Western Illinois quarterback Wil Lunt, who fumbled and Sir Demarco Bledsoe recovered at the Western 23.

Summers capped off the drive with a 6-yard scoring pass to junior Dominique Barnes.

The Penguins closed out the first half scoring by adding a 27-yard field goal by junior Stephen Blose.

“Did we want to have a letdown? No,” Heacock said. “But this is a young team and with a 31-0 halftime lead it happens. Now we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The Leathernecks took over in the second half taking the kickoff and marching 77 yards on 10 plays, mostly behind the running of Gibbs, who finished with 155 yards on 27 carries.

Western Illinois scored on a 30-yard pass from Lunt to Justin Rideau.

After Wicks pulled off his heroics on the next Western Illinois series, the Penguins started to move the ball, going from their own 2 to the 48.

But Summers was chased out of the pocket, fumbled and Brandon Kreczmer recovered at the YSU 34. Five plays later, Gibbs scored from the 11.

Again, the Penguins couldn’t move the ball and the Leathernecks had good field possession on a punt return and started at the YSU 35.

This time, Lunt, a red-shirt freshman who was making his first start, hit Lito Senatus with a 12 yard scoring pass and the lead was 31-21.

But YSU’s defense answered the call and junior safety Andre Elliott blitzed and drilled Lunt as he was throwing. The ball flickered right into the hands of YSU sophomore David Rach.

YSU’s offense then picked up a couple of crucial first downs before turning the ball over with less than a minute to play to preserve the win.

“At the end, we settled down a little, but we were out there trying to make plays instead of doing what we were suppose to do,” he said.

The Penguins have an open date on Saturday and will return to action on Oct. 24 when they travel to Southern Illinois.

mollica@vindy.com