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YSU notebook More from Saturday’s game in Fargo, N.D.
Playoff situation: Youngstown State’s loss, along with Indiana State’s loss to Western Illinois on Saturday, means four Missouri Valley teams likely will advance to the postseason: North Dakota State (10-1, 7-1), which shared the MVFC title and will earn the conference’s automatic bid; Illinois State (10-1, 7-1), the co-champ which did not play NDSU this season; Northern Iowa (8-4, 5-3), which beat NDSU earlier this season; and South Dakota State (8-4, 5-3), which lost to YSU earlier this season. The selection show will air today at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.
Seniors say goodbye: Youngstown State will graduate 11 seniors: TE Nate Adams, WR Jelani Berassa (who is in his sixth year with the program and is the only player left from the Jon Heacock era), DT Octavius Brown, WR Christian Bryan, K Joey Cejudo, CB Julius Childs, S Donald D’Alesio (Cardinal Mooney), LS Nathan Gibbs, C Stephen Page (Newton Falls), LB Desmond Williams and LB Travis Williams. “It’s crushing,” said Bryan, who plans to become a coach. “I’ve been playing since I was 6. The game’s meant everything to me. It hurts to go out this way. But I can’t look back and dwell on bad things. I’m glad I had the opportunity to play football at this level. It was a dream come true.”
Series history: Youngstown State lost its third straight game in the series and has been outscored 86-21 in its last two games at the Fargodome. The Penguins’ last win against the Bison came in 2011 when they won 27-24 at the Fargodome. It’s one of just three losses NDSU has suffered over the last four seasons.
Strong finish: D’Alesio finished tied for the team lead with 13 tackles on Saturday and finished with 273 for his career, moving into 16th on YSU’s all-time list ahead of Jeff Gergel (1978-81). D’Alesio entered the game needing five tackles to crack the top 20. “Football has meant everything to me,” said D’Alesio, who was part of Wolford’s original recruiting class. “It’s what I’ve done my whole life. I thank everyone who gave me a chance — Coach Wolf and all the coaches before me. I loved every minute of it.”
Career year: Junior wide receiver Andrew Williams caught seven passes for 59 yards and a touchdown to polish off the best season of his career. Williams finished with team-highs in catches (54) and yards (966), which were also career-highs. He finished just shy of becoming the fourth Penguin to reach 1,000 receiving yards for a season.
Running man: Sophomore RB Martin Ruiz rushed 18 times for 33 yards to finish with 1,320 yards for the season on 265 carries. He finished with a team-best 10 rushing touchdowns.