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Sept. 18, 2004
Second-Half Comeback Falls Short at McNeese State
Lake Charles, La. -- Youngstown State
rallied from a 14-point halftime
deficit and took a 20-17 lead early
in the fourth quarter, but McNeese
State scored off a Penguin fumble
with 5:28 remaining for a 24-20
victory at Cowboy Stadium on
Saturday night.
The Penguins trailed 17-3 with 12:29 remaining in the third
quarter before marching on two
straight touchdown drives in 5
minutes, 57 seconds, but McNeese
forced seven turnovers, three of
which were in the final seven
minutes of the contest, to sneak
away with the win.
YSU tailback Monquante Gibson rushed for 168 yards on 23
carries, including running for 100
in the third quarter, to lead all
rushers. Aaron Marshall, who
came in on YSU's first scoring drive
of the second half, was 7-of-13 for
45 yards and a touchdown, but he
threw two interceptions in the final
5:15. Tom Zetts was 4-of-11
for 25 yards with one interception.
Trailing 17-3 with 12:29 remaining in the third quarter, the
Penguins cut the deficit to seven
when Gibson outran the MSU secondary
for a 67-yard touchdown run on the
second play of the drive.
Bob Perez then recovered an onside kick on the ensuing
kickoff to give the Penguins the
ball at their own 39. YSU then
assembled a 12-play, 61-yard
touchdown drive capped by a
seven-yard pass from Marshall to
Kyle Smith to tie the score at 17.
Marshall passed for 39 yards on the
drive, finding Mike Roberts three
times, and also rushed for 11 yards.
Nick Terracina then gave the Penguins their first lead since
the first quarter on a 41-yard field
goal with 12:52 remaining in the
fourth quarter.
The Penguins got the ball with 9:14 remaining and their
three-point lead in tact and looked
to work the clock, but Josh Cayson
fumbled on the YSU 33 on the second
play of the drive to give the
Cowboys an opportunity to take the
lead.
The Penguin defense forced MSU into a fourth-and-nine on the
YSU 32, but Scott Pendarvis hit
Steve Whitehead over the middle for
a 13-yard gain to keep the drive
alive. Pendarvis then hooked
up with Chris Thomas on an 18-yard
touchdown pass three plays later to
give the Cowboys a 24-20 lead with
5:28 remaining.
The Penguins and Cowboys were deadlocked at three through one
quarter, but McNeese State scored
two touchdowns off of three YSU
turnovers in the second quarter to
pull ahead 17-3 at the break.
Thomas scored his first of two second-quarter touchdowns with
12:45 remaining on a six-yard
scamper following a fumble by
Monquante Gibson. MSU's Jason
Cook pinned the Penguins at their
own 1 yardline and, after two
consecutive two-yard rushes by
Demetrius Ison, Vaalyn Jacskon
stripped Gibson at the 6. The
Cowboys needed only five seconds to
take the lead at 10-3 as Thomas
scored on the first play from
scrimmage.
Following a three-and-out by the Penguins on the ensuing
possession, McNeese State marched 41
yards down to the YSU 8, but Kris
Bush fumbled at the 3 and Jeremiah
Wright recovered to seemingly end
the scoring threat. But
Demetrius Ison on YSU's first play
following the turnover at the 7 and
MSU's Jamelle Juneau recovered at
the YSU 7 to give the Cowboys a
first and goal with 6:54 remaining.
Thomas then found the endzone from
seven yards out on the third play of
the drive and John Marino's point
after made the score 17-3.
YSU struck first as Thomas fumbled on the first play from
scrimmage and Terracina connected on
a 32-yard field goal six plays later
with 11:52 remaining.
After both teams went three-and-out, Marino answered
Terracina's make with a field goal
of his own from 48 yards out to tie
the score at 3-3, capping an eight
play, 54-yard drive. Thomas
got the drive going with a 22-yard
rush to the MSU 37 and later added a
16 yard run to move the ball to the
YSU 26.
The Penguins outgained the Cowboys 159 yards to 19 in the
third quarter and the defense held
MSU to just one first down.
The Penguins will continue their season when they play host
to Liberty on Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. |
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