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Oct. 11, 2003
Football: Glasford's Five Touchdowns Leads Leathernecks Over YSU,
54-20
Youngstown --
Western Illinois running back Travis Glasford tied
the Gateway Conference record with
five touchdowns to lead the
second-ranked Leathernecks over the
Youngstown State football team 54-20
on Saturday afternoon.
Glasford, who rushed for 198 yards on 35 carries, scored on
runs of two, eight, 19, 26, and 45
yards. Quarterback Russ Michna was
11-of-18 for 156 yards and threw one
touchdown pass while Reggie Gray had
seven reception for 156 yards and a
touchdown.
YSU quarterback Matt Rycraft rushed 21 times for 152 yards
and two touchdowns while adding
another through the air to lead the
Penguins.
With the loss, Youngstown State falls to 4-3 overall and 1-1
in the Gateway while WIU improves to
5-1 and 2-0 in the conference.
Western Illinois jumped out to a 27-0 lead in the first half
after scoring on five of their first
eight possessions and forcing four
YSU fumbles.
"We give Western Illinois a lot of credit," YSU Head Coach
Jon Heacock said. "They
deserve to be No. 2 in the country
if not higher and we didn't do
anything to help ourselves."
WIU forced its first fumble on YSU's third play from
scrimmage when Jon Kowalyshen got
through the offensive line and
sacked Aaron Marshall and Russell
Lee returned the fumble eight yards
to the YSU 11. However, the
Penguin defense held the
Leathernecks to minus-one yard on
three plays and WIU settled for a
29-yard field goal by Justin Langan.
On the ensuing kickoff, Durell Preston failed to receive the
ball cleanly and WIU’s Terrance Hall
recovered at the YSU five yardline.
The Penguin defense held the
Leathernecks to three yards on three
plays, but Glasford scored on a
fourth-and-goal from the two to give
WIU a 10-0 lead at the 10:32 mark in
the opening quarter.
After Langan missed a 40-yard field goal on WIU’s next
possession, Marshall mishandled a
snap and Russell recovered his
second fumble of the contest at the
YSU 21-yardline.
Michna found Reggie Gray for an 11-yard completion on the
first play of the drive to give the
Leathernecks a first-and-goal at the
10. After Glasford rushed for
seven yards on first down, the
Penguin defense came up with three
straight stops inside the three
yardline to turn WIU away.
Following a YSU punt, WIU assembled a three play, 44-yard
drive on their next possession to
take a 17-0 advantage. Michna found
Gray for a 21-yard completion to
open the drive, then Glasford ran 19
yards up the middle for his second
touchdown two plays later.
WIU’s Tim Martz forced YSU’s fourth fumble of the opening
quarter on the ensuing kickoff when
he hit Preston at the YSU 23.
Michna connected with Gray on a
12-yard touchdown pass on the third
play of the drive with 14:13
remaining in the second quarter to
give the Leathernecks a 24-0 lead.
The Leathernecks tacked on another field goal at the 7:19
mark in the second quarter when
Langan connected on a 42 yarder to
give WIU a 27-0 advantage.
The Penguins got on the board with 1:47 remaining in the
first half on a 35-yard rush by
Rycraft. After starting on
their own 38, YSU marched 62 yards
on eight plays, five of which were
rushes by Rycraft.
On the third play of the drive, Rycraft found Mike Burns for
a 10-yard completion on a
third-and-eight. Rycraft then
had rushes of 10 and eight yards to
the WIU 32 before his 35-yard
scamper to make the score 27-7 at
the half.
"Matt does some things that puts some pressure on you,"
Heacock said. "You see him
running around and it's out of the
norm. He's a gutsy player."
After forcing a WIU punt, the Penguins opened up the second
half with a 10 play, 82-yard
touchdown drive when Rycraft
connected with Mike Roberts for
22-yards to make the score 27-14.
The YSU defense stopped the Leathernecks again on their
second possession of the second half
and YSU took over on their own 38
with 4:48 remaining in the third
quarter. However, Josh Cayson
fumbled on the third play of the
drive and WIU recovered at the YSU
46.
Four plays later, Glasford put the Leathernecks up 33-14 on a
26-yard rush over the left guard
with 1:23 remaining in the third
stanza.
WIU added another touchdown on their next possession when
Glasford rushed on all four plays of
the drive that covered 22 yards and
gave the Leathernecks a 40-14 lead.
Rycraft got the Penguins back within 20 on a three-yard
scamper with 10:52 remaining, but
WIU scored on their final two
possessions.
The Pengiuns will continue their 2003 campaign when they
travel to Indiana State on Oct. 18
for a 1:05 p.m. kickoff against the
Sycamores. |
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