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Penguins excited about game at Stambaugh

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Taylor Hill has played in a lot of football games at Stambaugh Stadium.

Saturday, the former Cardinal Mooney High standout will make his debut there as a member of the Youngstown State football team. The Penguins will hold their home opener against Austin Peay University in a 4 p.m. kickoff at Stambaugh Stadium.

Hill, who was recruited in 2007 by the University of Michigan, never played or practiced with the Wolverines last season and transferred to YSU last December.

He took part in spring drills with the Penguins and was impressive enough to be penciled in as a starting linebacker going into this year’s fall camp.

Hill, who is listed as a freshman linebacker, started and played in his first game as a Penguin Saturday in YSU’s 38-3 season-opening loss to the University of Pittsburgh at Heinz Field.

Hill finished with three tackles, but wasn’t happy with his or his team’s performance against the Panthers.

“It really felt great to be back on the field for the first time in more than a year and I’m really excited about playing our first game at home in front of our fans,” Hill said. “I know that all of my family and friends will be there rooting us on.”

Hill said that sitting out for an entire season may have been a help to his play this year. “It helped sitting out because it just made me want to work that much harder,” Hill said. “We have a really good defense.

“We didn’t show it much last week, but our biggest problem seemed to be our alignment, especially in the first half.”

Hill said that a big part of the problems with alignment was because of the speed of the game.

“It was a lot faster than what we were used to, but this week we’ll make the corrections that we need and hopefully we’ll come out with a victory,” Hill sad.

Junior wide receiver Dominique Barnes and junior kicker Stephen Blose are also excited about playing at home.

“It’s going to be exciting,” said Barnes who made two receptions for 27 yards and returned two kickoffs for another 36 yards against Pitt. He has caught a pass in 13 straight games and has had multiple receptions in 12 of those games.

“We showed that we can move the football against anybody and we had our opportunities to score but we just didn’t get that part of the job done,” Barnes said. “We have some good receivers and a few mistakes cost us a chance to score.”

Barnes said that this week the offense must score points, move the football and keep the defense off the field as much as possible.

Blose, an Erie, Pa., native, booted a 48-yard field goal in his only attemptin Pittsburgh. It was his career longest and the longest since Nick Terracina booted one in 2004.

“We’ve been waiting to get home and play before our own fans and we are really excited about the home opener,” Blose said.

mollica@vindy.com