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Sept. 30, 2000
Football: Penguins Hold On For 19-13 Win Over SMS
Springfield, Mo. -- The No. 3 Youngstown State
football team used a late defensive
stand to hold off Southwest Missouri
State and open Gateway Football
Conference play with a 19-13 victory
in front of a crowd of 11,592 at
Plaster Field on Saturday night.
The Penguins, who improved to 4-0 on the season,
stopped a late SMS drive deep in YSU
territory when Montrail Thomas
busted through to sack SMS
quarterback Austin Moherman on the
game’s final play. The Bears (1-3)
had a first-and-goal at the
Penguins’ five-yard line with 15
seconds remaining trailing by six.
On first down, Moherman’s pass to
Bell was broken up by Demetrious
Rich. With 11 seconds left, Thomas
charged through the line and sacked
Moherman for a 10-yard loss as time
ran out.
YSU looked to have the game under control leading 19-10
late in the fourth quarter, but the
Bears cut the lead to 19-13 on a
20-yard field goal by Brian Long
with 2:59 remaining.
The Penguins avoided disaster on the first play of the
drive following Long’s field goal
when Jeff Ryan fumbled the snap, but
Ryan recovered his own fumble at the
YSU 23. On third and 10, Ryan hit
tight end John Schumacher on a
39-yard gain, but Schumacher was
stripped of the ball by Donte King
at the SMS 35. King recovered the
fumble to set up the Bears’ final
drive.
With 1:38 remaining SMS took over and marched down to
the YSU five on eight plays to set
up the game-ending drama.
The Penguins built their 19-10 advantage with 10:50
left in the contest on an eight-yard
touchdown run by P.J. Mays, however
Jake Stewart missed the extra point
to leave the lead at nine points.
SMS took advantage of a Youngstown State miscue to pull
within 13-10 with 46 seconds left in
the third. After YSU held the Bears,
Fon Nanji mishandled an Eddie Pena
punt at the YSU five and the Bears’
Pete Tillman recovered. On third
down, Jason Ringena scored from two
yards to pull SMS within three.
The Bears took the first drive of the second half and
moved the ball to the YSU 26 before
the drive stalled. Long was called
on to attempt at 43-yard field goal
but pushed it wide left. Following
the missed field goal by Long,
Stewart answered with his second
3-pointer of the game.
Leading 10-3, Stewart connected on a 42-yard kick with
6:54 remaining in the third as the
Penguins built a 13-3 lead.
YSU tied the game 3-3 with a successful field goal on
the second play of the second
quarter. After an incomplete pass by
Ryan on third down, Stewart drilled
a career-long 45-yard field goal to
tie the contest. The field goal was
the second of Stewart’s young
career. Ryan ended the game
completing 9-of-15 passes for 120
yards.
On the Penguins’ ensuing drive, Eric Lockhart scored
his first career touchdown scoring
on a one-yard plunge with 5:27
remaining in the half.
Southwest Missouri State took its initial drive of the
game and took a 3-0 lead on a
22-yard field goal by Brian Long
with 9:36 left in the first quarter.
The 3-0 deficit marked the first
time the Penguins had trailed this
season.
Twice the YSU defense stiffened with SMS deep inside
the Penguins’ 20-yard line in the
first quarter. On the first drive,
the Bears had to settle for a
22-yard field goal from Long after
having first-and-goal from the nine.
The next time SMS moved to the YSU
19-yard line, but Long missed a
37-yard field goal attempt.
Youngstown State concludes its three-game road trip on
Saturday, Oct. 7, when the Penguins
travel to Illinois State (1-3, 0-1).
Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. in
Normal, Ill. |
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