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Photo of correspondent / Robert Hayes YSU senior Grant Dixon tackles in the second half on Saturday against Western Illinois.
YOUNGSTOWN – After its more dominant half of the Doug Phillips era, Youngstown State followed with perhaps its worst.
Behind a bulldozed ground game, the Penguins built a 28-point lead in the first half, only to see that advantage evaporate late in the third quarter as Western Illinois scored 31 unanswered points and crowned the crown. his comeback with a 20-yard field goal from Mason Laramie with 5 seconds left to seal his 38-35 victory in each team’s first game of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
It was the second straight season the Penguins have let the Leathernecks slip away. During the spring campaign, YSU led by 11 in the second half before WIU rallied for a 27-24 victory at Macomb.
“The hardest part is once you lose momentum, how do you get it back? We chat with guys all the time that your measure isn’t when the going is good, but when the going gets tough, how do you bounce back and get things back on track? “ said a gloomy Phillips. “We couldn’t understand this. It starts with me as the head football coach and it comes down to our assistants. We keep growing and we need to improve.
Western Illinois (1-3, 1-0) started their rally with a touchdown with just seven seconds left in the first half, as Connor Sampson found Mason Sikes for a 7-yard strike to bring WIU down to 21.
Then, coming out of the break, YSU (1-2, 0-1) imploded. Western Illinois scored 21 points in the third quarter to tie the game, then used a massive save in the bottom of the fourth to establish their winning score.
Facing a 4th and 1 in his 36 with less than 2 minutes to go, Phillips initially chose to try a false punt, and it looked like the Penguins had recovered. However, WIU got a last second time out before the ball was broken.
Outside the timeout, YSU handed the ball to Jaleel McLaughlin, but the tailback was stuffed away from the line to win, handing the ball over to Western Illinois with 1:49 to go. The Leathernecks moved the ball to YSU 5 and cut the clock to 5 seconds before Laramie shot the green light basket.
Of his decision to roll the dice, Phillips said, “You have to be aggressive. At the time, we had no momentum. I trust our offensive line, running back and quarterback, who had big chunks of yards in the first half, to get us that extra distance for the first down, but we didn’t have it. made. It’s a call I’m making. Did it cost us? Yes, it goes back (to WIU), and we’ve given them a great position on the pitch to achieve that goal on the pitch.
And while that fourth-down decision is getting attention, YSU’s post-intermission running game didn’t do the Penguins a favor, either.
After nicking the Leathernecks for 236 yards in the first half, YSU was limited to just 62 yards in the second. Jaleel McLaughlin and Demeatric Crenshaw accumulated 108 and 104 yards each in the first two quarters of the game, but were limited to 136 and 134 by the end of the game. McLaughlin and Crenshaw scored three and two touchdowns, respectively, but they all arrived before halftime.
“I think they started to put more guys in the box (in the second half), but we still have to work our way.” McLaughlin said.
Phillips said WIU “Made adjustments, and we didn’t” and added that the Penguins will continue to face stacked boxes until they are able to develop a passing game that offers down threats. Crenshaw was limited to 76 passing yards on a 13-for-22 night. He was also selected once, which saw WIU score the second touchdown of the third quarter.
“And most of these were just hitting buckles and hitches in the flats”, Phillips said of the distance traveled. “We need to be able to do a few downstream passes. Until we do that, we’re going to face a lot of teams that will put nine in the box to stop the race.
After thwarting the WIU offense before half-time, YSU’s defense also started to drop the big chunks. Sampson was 14-for-21 for 146 yards and two touchdowns before intermission, and was 33-for-48 for 316 yards and four touchdowns.
Dennis Houston caught nine of Sampson’s passes for 110 yards and one score, while Tony Tate had eight receptions for 71 yards.
WIU also connected on a rigged game, as Tate swiped a pass to Ludovick Choquette who made it 35-21 in the third.
“Coming in we said we have to limit their big games – not eliminate, just limit” said Phillips. “I thought we did it in the first half and then in the second those big plays just kept adding up.”
The conference slate doesn’t relax from here either. YSU is heading to Cedar Falls, Iowa next week for a date with the North Iowa Panthers, No.17, who just went off a week off.
“We have to get back to work and keep finding ways, because it doesn’t get any easier”, said Phillips. “In this league, you have to be ready to play football in seven days against another good opponent, and we have to get back to work to correct those mistakes.”
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