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Oct. 25, 2003
Football: Illinois State Topples Penguins in Homecoming Game, 35-25
Youngstown --
Illinois State jumped out to an 18-0 lead and held off a late YSU
comeback attempt to pick up their
first Gateway Conference win of the
season with a 35-25 victory over
Youngstown State on Saturday
afternoon at Stambaugh Stadium.
With the win, the Redbirds move to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in the
conference while YSU falls to 5-4
and 2-2. The Penguins' 11-game
Homecoming winning streak was
snapped in the loss.
Sha-Ron Edwards paced the Redbirds on the ground with 183
yards and two touchdowns while
LaShawn Bullock added 106 yards on
14 carries. Quarterback Mike
Souza added 271 yards through the
air with two touchdown passes
despite throwing two interceptions.
Josiah Doby led the Penguins with 71 yards on nine carries
while quarterback Aaron Marshall
chipped in with 69 yards and one
touchdown. Marshall was
13-of-29 for 131 yards and two
touchdowns through the air.
The Redbirds outgained the Penguins 604 yards to 336 and won
the first down battle 32 to 24.
ISU held a 35-17 advantage with 3:10 remaining in regulation,
but YSU marched 44 yards in 1:18 as
Marshall scrambled for a 20-yard
touchdown then connected with Mike
Roberts for the two-point conversion
to make the score 35-25.
Placekicker Nick Terracina recovered his own onside kick at
the YSU 46 with 1:52 remaining in
the fourth, but the Redbird defense
turned the Penguins away on the ISU
44.
The Redbirds scored
on their first three possessions and
added a safety to take an 18-0 lead
with 14:54 remaining in the second
quarter.
The Redbirds took a 3-0 lead on their first possession by
marching 54 yards on 11 plays to set
up a 43-yard field goal from Stephen
Carroll with 11:22 remaining in the
opening quarter.
ISU increased its lead to 10-0 on its next drive when Mike
Souza found Lauren Robinson on a
fade route in the end zone for a
10-yard touchdown pass with 5:45 on
the clock in the first.
The Redbirds tacked on a safety when they tackled YSU punter
Joe Bishop in the endzone at the
2:48 mark in the first.
On the ensuing drive, ISU marched 63 yards on nine plays to
up its advantage to 18-0 when
Edwards scored from seven yards out
on a rush over the right side with
14:54 remaining in the first half.
The Penguins got on the board with 9:47 remaining in the
opening half on a 34-yard field goal
from Nick Terracina to cap a 11
play, 60 yard drive.
ISU drove deep into YSU territory again on its next drive and
faced a first-and-goal from the 2,
but the Jeremiah Wright and Joe Juby
stopped Edwards' plunge on
fourth-and-inches to turn the
Redbirds away empty.
The Penguins scored their first touchdown on their first
possession of the second half when
Marshall connected with Kyle Smith
in the endzone from eight yards out
to make the score 18-10.
However, ISU scored the next 10 points on a 22-yarder from
Carroll and a nine-yard rush from
Edwards to take a 28-10 lead with
14:55 remaining in regulation.
The Penguins worked their way back to get within 11 on a
25-yard touchdwon pass from Marshall
to Mike Burns, but ISU answered
right back on its next possession
when Souza connected with Dwayne
Smith on a 45-yard touchdown pass to
make the score 35-17.
The Penguins will travel to Northern Iowa to take on the
Gateway-leading Panthers on Nov. 1
at 5:05 EDT. |
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