Penguins get ready for rugged stretch

Saturday YSU travels to meet No. 3 ranked Southern Illinois

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock knows what is facing his team over the last five weeks of the season.

The Penguins (4-2, 2-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference) can’t afford another defeat, but they must now go up against the top three teams in the conference one right after another.

Saturday Heacock and the Penguins begin their brutal stretch with a road game at Southern Illinois (5-1, 4-0), which sits atop the conference standings along with South Dakota State (5-1, 4-0).

YSU plays host to South Dakota State will play Oct. 31 in the homecoming game at Stambaugh Stadium.

Waiting third is Northern Iowa (5-2, 3-1) for its Nov. 7 meeting with the Penguins at the UNIDome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Saturday the Penguins will go into Carbondale, Ill., for a 4 p.m. kickoff with the Salukis, having lost their last three contests at McAndrew Stadium.

But Heacock is excited about the opportunity that awaits the Penguins.

“I think that we match up well with everybody in our conference,” he said. “That’s why I’m excited about taking this team out to play.

“We’re at the point where we know what’s at stake,” he added. “It will take our best performance, no doubt about it, but our approach is still the same. This game is not any bigger or smaller than any other game we play.

“It’s just one game, one of five that we have left, and every one of them is an important game to us,” he added.

In three out of their four wins the Penguins have played well in the second half. They started out very well in their last game on Oct. 10 against Western Illinois, a 31-21 win in which the Penguins held a 31-0 halftime lead.

“Our guys know that they have to play well from start to finish,” Heacock said. “Whether it’s a slow start or a fast start, the key will be how we finish.”

Heacock said he wasn’t surprised last week when the Salukis upended Northern Iowa 27-20 in the UNIDome.

“I’m never surprised at anything that happens in this conference,” he said.

The Penguins are coming off an open week and Heacock said the team is well rested and nearly 100 percent healthy for the contest.

He’s also impressed with what he’s seen of the Salukis on film.

“This is a very good football team,” he said. “They have 18 or 19 players who are juniors or seniors and they won’t beat themselves. They won’t turn the ball over and we’ve got to play our best football.”

Heacock said Southern Illinois’ running back Deji Karim is probably the best back the Penguins have seen this year.

“He’s fast and strong and he’s not a little guy,” he said. “He waits for you to make a mistake and then he breaks it.”

The Penguins are planning a few new wrinkles for the Salukis this week.

“You don’t want to be the same team every week,” he said. “You always want to add something new and we have.”

About the only regular who will not be activated for this week’s contest is junior tackle Chris Gammons, who is still nursing a knee injury.

“Everybody else seems healthy and ready to go,” Heacock said.

“We’re sitting here 4-2, that’s where we are and it’s exciting,” he added. “The next game is the most important game we will play and at the end if we’re still standing then we’ll go from there.”

mollica@vindy.com