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Sept. 2, 2004
Cayson, Defense Lead Second-Half Surge in 35-13 Victory
Youngstown -- Even with a 6-0
deficit on the scoreboard and being
outgained 175 yards to 56 through
one half, the Youngstown State
football team was still calm. The
Penguins knew that with their
offensive weapons the game was far
from over.
They were right.
The Penguins scored
21-unanswered points over a
6-minute, 38-second span in the
third quarter en route to a 35-13
win over Slippery Rock on Thursday
night at Stambaugh Stadium.
The YSU offense caught fire in the second half, outscoring
SRU 35-7 and gaining 306 yards, but
it was the defense that turned the
game in the favor of the home
team. The Penguin defense forced
three second-half turnovers that led
to three touchdowns.
"They did the same things in the first half, but we came out
and played like Youngstown State is
suppose to play (in the second
half)," senior Matt Rycraft
said. "The defense got the offense
motivated by the turnovers and it
really helped the offense get
rolling."
Trailing 6-0 with 9:55 remaining in the third quarter, YSU
cornerback Jason Perry picked off a
pass and followed with an 18-yard
return to midfield. Five plays
later, YSU took the lead and never
looked back.
Following Perry's interception, Josh Cayson spearheaded a
five-play, 50-yard drive that gave
the Penguins the lead that they
would never lose. After redshirt
freshman quarterback Tom Zetts
connected with Kyle Smith on a
32-yard pass down to the SRU 22,
Cayson posted runs of six and three
yards before scampering 13 yards to
the right corner of the endzone with
7:40 remaining in the third.
After the Penguin defense forced a three-and-out for The
Rock, Zetts capped a 22-yard charge
with a three-yard rush through the
right side into the end zone to put
YSU up 14-6.
Perry came up big again with his second interception of the
contest at the YSU 22 and raced 32
yards on the return to the SRU
46. The offense responded quickly
again as Zetts connected with Phil
Larmon on a 30-yard completion to
the SRU 16 on the first play of the
drive and Cayson rushed for six
yards on two straight carries to get
the ball to the SRU 4.
Demetrius Ison plunged in from the
one two plays later to put the
Penguins up 21-6 with 1:02 remaining
in the third quarter.
"We
were very calm at halftime," Head
Coach Jon Heacock said. "We just
regrouped figured out ways to block
and ways to get them stopped. The
kids went out and played and showed
a lot of character."
The Rock cut the deficit to 21-13 on its first possession of
the fourth quarter as Corey Manfull
scored from 18 yards out, but Cayson
took a screen pass from Zetts 72
yards to the end zone on the first
play of YSU's ensuing possession to
make the score 28-13.
SRU threatened to get within eight again with just under 7
minutes remaining in regulation, but
Manfull fumbled on the YSU 18 and
Mike Bracken recovered to give the
Penguins the ball with their lead in
tact.
Six plays later, Rycraft bounced outside and scored from one
yard out for the final tally.
Zetts, who made his first collegiate start, completed
14-of-16 passes in his first game
back from a season-ending broken
collarbone injury suffered in the
opener last season.
"He’s
a great leader on and off the field
and he shows no signs of weakness at
all," Rycraft said. "You could tell
in the second half he was all
business and everyone was making
plays. He did a great job of keeping
us together."
Cayson rushed for 92 yards on 14 carries and added 72 yards
through the air. Rycraft had a
team-high six catches for 16 yards
while Smith finished with 66 yards
on three catches.
Josh Kniess led The Rock with 134 yards on 26 carries.
After a scoreless first quarter, Slippery Rock scored on its
opening two possessions of the
second stanza to take a 6-0 lead.
Ryan Daniel connected on a 31-yard field goal with 10:38
remaining to break the scoreless
deadlock and followed with a
26-yarder at the 2:31 mark.
With the win, the Penguins won their ninth-straight home
opener and upped their all-time
record to 26-0 against Division-II
opponents.
YSU will continue its season on Sept. 11 when it plays host
to Florida International at 5 p.m. |
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