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Fourth-quarter run carries Penguins past USD
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
For the first three quarters, Youngstown State’s game against South Dakota wasn’t good for the heart.
But Saturday’s 28-17 win may be good for the soul.
“I think on your resume you need a game like this,” Penguins coach Eric Wolford said. “I think it’s good for character, it’s good for team building.”
Playing the Missouri Valley’s only winless team, the 13th-ranked Penguins shook off three turnovers to outscore the Coyotes 21-0 in the fourth quarter and stay one game back of unbeaten North Dakota State in the league standings.
Freshman quarterback Hunter Wells completed 12 of 23 passes for 244 yards for the Penguins (7-2, 4-1 MVFC), including a 58-yard touchdown to Andrew Williams on the first play of the fourth quarter that proved to be the game’s biggest play.
“That kind of blew things open,” Wolford said.
Jody Webb added 11 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns, including a 60-yarder that gave YSU the lead for good, 21-17, with 11:15 left. Martin Ruiz carried 28 times for 185 yards and a 2-yard touchdown with 2:58 left that put the game away.
“Their athletes shone,” Coyotes coach Joe Glenn said. “Those two running backs [Ruiz and Webb] are pretty good football players. You can see that. We’ve got speed, but not like that.
“I don’t think it’s so much what we didn’t do [down the stretch], but what they did.”
Youngstown State defensive end Derek Rivers tied YSU’s school record with four sacks and the Penguins held the Coyotes (2-7, 0-5) to 2 of 14 on third down in a game YSU dominated statistically.
The Penguins held big edges in first downs (25-15), rushing yards (313-133), total yards (557-284) and time of possession (32:48-27:12).
But Wells threw an interception and lost a fumble, punt returner Christian Bryan muffed a punt and YSU squandered a key scoring opportunity when Ruiz underthrew tight end Jacob Wood on a halfback pass on fourth-and-1 at the USD 12 late in the first quarter.
“We found a way to get a win,” Wolford said. “We kind of played sloppy at times and [the Coyotes] are a scrappy group. And we were able to overcome three turnovers, which was a concern for me, obviously.
“You need to have games like that. It’s good to see when our backs were against the wall, we stepped up and answered the bell.”
It was YSU’s third straight win and it set up a huge road game next weekend at Illinois State (7-1, 4-1), which is tied with YSU in the standings after losing to Northern Iowa on Saturday. The Penguins have not won at Hancock Stadium since 2006, which happens to be the last year YSU made the playoffs.
“That’s a big game,” said Rivers, who has 12 sacks this season, the third-most all-time in YSU history. “Like I said earlier in the year, every game is must-win. They’re a really good team, way better than they were last year and I have the utmost respect.”
The Penguins crushed the Redbirds, 59-21, last year but the home team has won all four meetings since Wolford was hired in 2010.
“We’ve always had interesting games with them,” Wolford said of the Redbirds. “It’ll be an exciting game.”