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Oct. 21, 2000
Football: Western Illinois Hands YSU First Loss,
24-10
Macomb, Ill.
-- The No. 2 Youngstown State
football team suffered its first
loss of the 2000 season falling at
No. 7/6 Western Illinois 24-10 on
Saturday afternoon in front of a
crowd of 13,418 fans at Hanson
Field.
The Penguins, who dropped to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the
Gateway Football Conference, came up
short all game as they had their
eight-game road winning streak
snapped. The Leathernecks, 7-1 and
4-0, now hold a one-game edge over
YSU in the conference standings with
two league games remaining for each
team.
YSU played catch-up all afternoon in a game it never
led. The Penguins tied the game in
the first quarter, but fell behind
17-7 at the half. YSU cut the
deficit to 17-10 in the third, but
two turnovers, including an
interception return for a touchdown
by the WIU defense, ended any
comeback hopes.
Trailing 17-10 the Penguins had a golden opportunity to
cut into the Leathernecks’ lead when
Gary Quivers recovered a Charles
Tharp fumble at the WIU 33. But the
Penguins failed to capitalize when
P.J. Mays was stopped for a loss on
fourth and inches at the
Leathernecks 25.
However, the fatal blow came on YSU’s next possession.
On a third-down-and-five play at
midfield, YSU quarterback Jeff Ryan
avoided the pressure, but his
dump-off pass was intercepted by
Ryle Irish who raced 44 yards for a
touchdown and a 24-10 WIU lead.
Following the kickoff, Ryan fumbled
at the YSU 30 and Junior Robinson
recovered. Ryan finished the game
completing 9-of-17 passes for 103
yards.
To open the second half, the Penguins cut the deficit
to 17-10 on a 28-yard field goal by
Jake Stewart. YSU went 10 plays in
67 yards to pull within seven with
9:24 remaining in the third quarter.
The Leathernecks outgained YSU 288-172 in the first
half en route to the 17-7 lead. Of
the Penguins’ 172 yards, Mays had
103 on 14 carries. Mays, YSU’s first
100-yard rusher of the season,
finished the game with 117 yards.
For the game, YSU finished with 249
total yards, while WIU had 397.
In the second quarter, the Penguins had a chance to tie
again on some trickery of their own,
but Brandon Pedraza’s pass to Ryan
for an apparent 25-yard score was
called back because of an illegal
shift penalty. On that possession,
YSU turned to ball over on downs
when Eugene Mintze was stopped
one-yard short on a fourth and 11.
The Leathernecks extended the lead to 17-7 at halftime
on a 22-yard field goal by Joe Lopez
with 53 seconds remaining in the
second quarter.
WIU used some razzle dazzle to break the 7-7 tie when
backup quarterback Frisman Jackson
lined up at wide receiver and after
taking a handoff from Clemons,
Jackson threw an 80-yard touchdown
pass to Jammarl O’Neill one play
following YSU’s score.
The Penguins answered WIU’s scoring march with an
11-play 79-yard scoring drive. Mays
scored on a one-yard run to cap the
drive with 4:03 left in the first
quarter that tied the game at seven.
Western Illinois jumped out to a 7-0 lead when Clemons
drove them 80 yards in 10 plays on
their initial drive of the game.
Avoiding the YSU blitz, Clemons
stepped up to hit Jasen Isom in the
flat on a 25-yard touchdown pass to
put the Leathernecks ahead.
Youngstown State will look to get back in the win
column when they play host to
Indiana State on Saturday, Oct. 28,
at 4 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium. The
game against the Sycamores is YSU’s
homecoming contest. |
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