YSU shuts down Missouri State QB

October 5, 2014 at 12:10a.m.

SPRINGFIELD, MO.

On Saturday, Youngstown State did something it couldn’t do much over the last half-decade: put its hopes in the hands of its defense.

Specifically, Tre’ Moore’s hands.

The junior safety made two interceptions, including the game-clinching one with 2:21 left, and the Penguins held on for a sometimes ugly, occasionally scary, ultimately effective 14-7 win over Missouri State in their Missouri Valley Football Conference opener at Plaster Field.

“I feel good — probably 55, 56 years old,” said 43-year-old Penguins coach Eric Wolford. “That’s part of conference games, though.”

The Penguins (4-1) jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the game’s first 20 minutes and survived three turnovers, a blocked punt and a missed field goal the rest of the way to win their fifth straight conference opener under Wolford.

But for maybe the first time in Wolford’s tenure, YSU had a defense capable of taking over the game when the offense struggled.

Missouri State entered Saturday’s contest averaging 442 yards and 32 points per game but finished with just 227 yards on 69 plays as the Bears struggled to protect quarterback Kierra Harris against YSU’s defensive line.

“We came out here with an edge on our shoulders,” said YSU defensive end Derek Rivers, whose stat line (five tackles, 1.5 for loss) doesn’t do justice to how disruptive he was. “Missouri State has a hell of a team. That’s probably the toughest O-line I’ve ever played. They balled out just like we did.

“We knew what we had to do.”

The Bears’ lone score, a 4-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Gannon Sinclair with 4:58 left, came after a blocked punt gave MSU the ball at the Penguins’ 14. The Bears needed eight plays, including a pass interference call that gave them a first-and-goal at the 2, before they scored.

A touchback gave the Penguins the ball at their own 25 and they were content to run three straight times, burning about two minutes off the clock. MSU got the ball back at its own 43 with 3:13 left and picked up 19 yards on the first play.

But, two plays later, Harris tried to find wide receiver Maddy Johnson over the middle. The ball bounced off his hands and into Moore’s, and he returned it five yards to the YSU 37.

“That was a good call by [defensive coordinator Jamie] Bryant,” Moore said. “I saw he dropped the ball and just caught it off the tip.

“We knew we had to make a play in that situation.”

“That last one [interception], I wanted him to get down faster,” Wolford said. “But he ran a couple seconds off, so maybe that helped us at the end of the game.”

With Missouri State (3-2, 0-1) unable to stop the clock, YSU ran off 2:17 on three runs. On fourth down, quarterback Dante Nania rolled right on a bootleg, then threw the ball into the sidelines to erase the final four seconds.

Nania completed 10 of 16 passes for 130 yards, a 9-yard touchdown to Andrew Williams and an interception. Jody Webb added 117 yards rushing, including an 81-yard touchdown run, but lost a fumble, as did Martin Ruiz (24 carries, 79 yards).

Harris, who was one of the most dynamic players in the FCS through the first month, had an awful day, completing just 9 of 28 passes for 75 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He was also sacked four times and took several other big hits.

When asked if Harris will be sore tomorrow, Rivers smiled and said, “Everyone will be. It was a tough game.”