Thursday, September 24, 2009
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YSU head coach Jon Heacock
The Penguins trailed 21-7 against Indiana State last year before rallying for a 14-point win.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN — For Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock the season officially begins on Saturday when his Penguins open play in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
Saturday the Penguins will be on the road, the third time in four games, when they travel to take on Indiana State University in a 12:05 p.m. kickoff in Terre Haute, Ind.
“It’s conference game week and you just know that the temp and pace is going to be picking up each and every week from here on out,” Heacock said.
The Penguins (2-1) will be going up against an Indiana State team that has lost four straight this season and currently hold one the nation’s longest losing streak which has now reached 30 games.
“It is still a big conference game and our guys are smart enough to know what’s facing them,” he added. “A year ago we had all kinds of problems with them and when you are in conference play records don’t really mean a whole lot on game day.”
A year ago the Sycamores jumped out to a 21-7 second quarter lead before the Penguins regrouped and rallied for a 35-21 victory. It was YSU’s 17th win in the 18 game series. The Penguins are a perfect 9-0 at Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute.
Heacock is hoping that his Penguins can finally get off to a good start in a game this year. They had a blocked punt for a touchdown and fell behind Austin Peay 14-3 in their home opener before winning 38-21, while last week had their first punt returned 76 yards for a touchdown and fell behind 14-7 before pulling out the win by the same score, 38-21.
“It’s going to be huge for us to get off to a good start this week,” Heacock added. “This team is growing and our seniors are playing a big role in that. They believe in what they’ve been doing.”
Heacock said that there wasn’t a whole lot that went wrong last week on the long punt return. “We missed a tackle early, but there wasn’t a whole lot that went wrong, nothing that isn’t correctable.”
Heacock also said that those weren’t trick plays that the Penguins used against the Huskies. “We practice the onside kick all the time and we’ve also practiced the end around pass play that we used. They are only trick plays when you pull out something that you’ve never worked on before,” he said.
Heacock also praised the play of senior quarterback Brandon Summers, who scored three touchdowns against Northeastern including a 73 yard run off a bootleg play that sealed the victory.
“The more he plays the better he gets,” said Heacock. “You could only wish that he had another year after this because there’s no limit to how good he can get. He knows more than he doesn’t know right now.”
“He’s also got some pretty good guys behind him and several others to throw to.”
Heacock also said that winning the pre-game coin toss is another benefit for a team.
“We’ve lost both coin tosses,” he said. “When you win the toss you get to pick what you want to do.”
The Penguins came out of the Northeastern game in pretty good physical shape.
Junior offensive tackle Chris Gammon suffered a leg injury and is still questionable for Saturday’s game, while senior tailback Jabari Scott, who didn’t dress last week, is back in uniform this week and will be ready.
Junior fullback Kyle Banna of Canfield, who has yet to play this season with a severe hamstring injury, was in uniform this week and could play Saturday against the Sycamores.
“The clock is ticking,” Heacock said. “This is our first conference game and they know what’s at stake. We have to be emotional on defense and we must control our emotions on offense.”
mollica@vindy.com