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Sept. 27, 2003
Football: Penguins Strike Often in 34-3 Victory at
Liberty
Lynchburg, Va. -- Mother Nature
provided the first strikes around
the stadium, then the Youngstown
State football team struck even
quicker inside scoring two
touchdowns in a span of 1:15 in the
second quarter to take control
against Liberty in a 34-3 victory at
Williams Stadium late Saturday
night.
The contest was delayed 83 minutes late in the first quarter
as the area was engulfed in a severe
lighting storm. But once the weather
cleared, the Penguins thundered
their way to victory to finish the
non-Gateway portion of the schedule
at 3-2.
The delay seemed to help the Penguins the most and it stopped
the Flames' momentum cold. In the
opening minutes following the break,
YSU had a new attitude stuffing the
Liberty (1-4) offense on five plays
from inside.
After the Flames held the Penguins on the ensuing possession,
Joe Bishop's punt was mishandled by
Adrian Hall and Jeremiah Wright
pounced on the muff at the Liberty
20.
Three plays later, Aaron Marshall found Demetrius Ison in the
flat and the redshirt freshman took
the ball into the end zone for a
touchdown putting the Penguins in
front 7-0.
Just 75 seconds later, Waymann Peters picked off a Gus Condon
pass and returned it 27 yards for a
touchdown to put YSU ahead 14-3. It
was YSU's first interception return
for a touchdown since LeVar Greene
took a pick to the house against
Western Illinois in 2001.
In a quarter that was full of YSU highlights, junior
placekicker Nick Terracina provided
a memorable one.
At the Liberty 39 with two seconds remaining before halftime,
Terracina was called on to attempt a
56-yard field goal. He drilled it
with room to spare breaking the
school record held by current St.
Louis Rams kicker Jeff Wilkins and
former NFL Pro Bowler Paul McFadden.
Both had 54-yard kicks in their
careers, but their record fell as
the Penguins built a 17-3 halftime
edge.
Head Coach Jon Heacock said the series of play that changed
the momentum the most was the
goal-line stand.
"Our guys came out from the delay and the goal-line stand was
critical." Heacock said. "Nick
Terracina had an outstanding game as
all three units contributed to this
win."
YSU kept the onslaught rolling taking advantage of a solid
kick return by Durell Preston.
Preston returned the ball 45 yards
to the Liberty 47. After six plays,
Marshall ended the 47-yard drive on
a two-yard keeper around the right
side to put YSU ahead 24-3.
Burns added a three-yard touchdown score with 10:37
remaining to provide the final score
for YSU.
For the game, Youngstown State finished with 327 total yards,
222 of which came on the ground.
Liberty had 308 total yards, as Dre
Barnes led the charge with 130 yards
on 18 carries.
Marshall completed 8-of-17 passes for 100 yards, including
his touchdown toss to Ison to offset
two interceptions. He also had 36
yards rushing on six carries and a
score. Josh Cayson led YSU on the
ground with 69 yards on 10 carries
as Damian Wright caught four passes
for 54 yards.
Terracina struck again to open the fourth quarter. He kicked
a 47-yarder this time to extend the
advantage by three just five seconds
into the period.
Liberty jumped on the board early scoring on a 30-yard field
goal by Scott Kiovsky in the first
quarter before the lightning delay.
The Penguins return to Stambaugh
Stadium next Saturday when they open
Gateway play against 4-1 SMS. |
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