Dec. 3, 2006

Football: Penguins-Mountaineers Semifinal Contest Set for Saturday in Boone

     Youngstown -- The Division I Football Championship semifinal game between Youngstown State and Appalachian State will be played on Saturday, Dec. 9 in Boone, N.C., at ASU's Kidd Brewer Stadium, the NCAA announced on Sunday. The contest kicks off at 4 p.m. and will be nationally-televised on ESPN HD.

    The Penguins (11-2) reached the semifinals by beating James Madison 35-31 in the first round while defending-champion and top-seed Appalachian State (12-1) advanced by beating Coastal Carolina 45-28 in the opening round and Montana State 38-17 in the quarterfinals.

    Ticket information, office hours and availability will be announced Monday by the Youngstown State athletic department.
    Also on Monday, a decision will be made on status of the Weekly Football Press Conference luncheon. The weekly luncheon's are normally scheduled for noon on Tuesday's, but the Penguin men's basketball team will be in action against Lock Haven that day in a special 11:05 a.m. start.

    This will be the first meeting between the Penguins and Mountaineers. Last year, Appalachian State defeated Southern Illinois in the quarterfinals and Northern Iowa in the national title game. YSU shared the Gateway crown with both schools in 2005 but did not make the playoffs.

    Youngstown State has had success in semifinal action owning a 6-0 all-time mark in such games. Two of those victories have come on the road -- at Northern Iowa in 1992 and at Eastern Washington in 1997.

    Appalachian State has won 12 straight games since losing its opener to North Carolina State. The Mountaineers have won six straight playoff games and own a 26-game home winning streak dating back to a 14-13 playoff defeat to Maine in 2002.

    The other semifinal contest pits No. 3 seed UMass at No. 2 seed Montana. That contest will be played on Friday in Missoula, Mont., at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.