Coming up short — again

October 17, 2010 at 12:07a.m.

MACOMB, Ill.

Inside a funeral-quiet locker room Saturday night, Youngstown State senior center Justin Rechichar sat on a bench near his locker, staring straight ahead with tears in his eyes and a yellow towel in his mouth.

Equipment manager Carmine Cassese spotted him, draped his right arm over his shoulder and didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to.

Minutes earlier, the Penguins had held the game, the lead, the ball and the season in their hands, leading Western Illinois by four points with a chance to run out the clock. On third-and-4 at their own 44, they needed one play to redefine the season and reinvigorate their playoff hopes.

“I gathered the offense together and said, ‘I want to win this game on the field,’ said quarterback Kurt Hess. “As an offense, we needed those four yards.”

They didn’t get them.

Kevin Palermo stopped Jamaine Cook on a run up the middle with 2:22 left. Less than 90 seconds later, the Leathernecks were in the end zone, handing YSU its third straight loss, 40-38, at Hanson Field.

“It’s tough,” said Hess. “We had a great week of practice, the best we’ve had. We came out ready to go.

“It’s really tough to lose like this.”

For the morbidly curious, the final scoring drive looked like this. The Leathernecks went 80 yards in seven plays over 1:19, capping the game’s ninth lead change with a 17-yard TD pass from QB Matt Barr to Lito Senatus.

Senatus snagged it near the 10 on the right sideline, stayed inbounds, broke a few tackles and dove into the end zone for the touchdown.

Charlie Jouett missed the extra point — his second miss of the night — to give YSU hope with exactly one minute remaining.

But thanks to a first down on sack on the ensuing series — and a drop by freshman Kevin Watts on fourth down — those hopes were dashed, right along with YSU’s remaining postseason and conference title hopes.

“Are you kidding me?” said an exasperated Eric Wolford afterward. “We’ve got to find a way to finish games.

“The game isn’t over until it’s over. It’s unfortunate we came out on the short end of the stick.”

The Penguins’ 40-38 loss was their third straight. It was also the third straight game they failed to hold a 10-point lead and dropped them to 0-4 on the road this season.

Hess completed 19 of 31 passes for 213 yards for the Penguins (3-4, 1-3), who joined North Dakota State as the only teams in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with three losses.

“I’m anxious to see how tough we are,” said Hess. “I want to see if we can come back and make a mess [of the league race].”

Saturday’s game was a near-replay of last week’s loss to NDSU, when the Bison scored on a 45-yard TD pass in the final minute.

Sophomore running back Jamaine Cook went over 100 yards for the fourth time this season, finishing with 161 yards on 30 carries with two TDs. Freshman Adaris Bellamy added 71 yards on 17 carries with a career-high three TDs.

Dominique Barnes was the main receiving target, catching seven passes for 85 yards.

For Western Illinois (5-2, 3-1), Barr completed 22 of 34 passes for 302 yards and three TDs and also gashed the Penguins for 53 yards on 10 carries with two TDs.

Caulton Ray led WIU’s rushing attack with 83 yards on 13 carries with a TD, while Senatus had seven catches for 110 yards.

The 40 points were the most given up by YSU this season, topping the 35 scored by Missouri State two weeks ago. YSU’s 38 points were the most scored against WIU this season.

YSU finished with 506 total yards, compared to 480 for Western Illinois. The Penguins ground out 293 yards on the ground on 57 carries.