All week long, Eric Wolford said his YSU Penguins would not look past Albany.  The Penguins were focused enough to pull out a 31-24 win.  The Penguins jumped to 3-0 and like Aronde Stanton said at the postgame press conference, any win is a good win.

“Albany did a good job coming in to play hard, they are well-coached “, said Wolford.  “You can see why the coach has been there for 40 years.  I was encouraged that we found a way to come away with a win in the fourth quarter.  In any championship run, there is always a game like this.”

YSU started the game with the ball.  After picking up two quick first downs, Kurt Hess found Will Shaw for a 20-yard completion, but Shaw was blindsided and coughed up the pigskin.  Albany capitalized on a flea-flicker that saw Cole King haul in a 44-yard scoring toss from Will Fiacchi.

Trailing 7-0, the Penguins offense responded quickly.  Jamaine Cook (above) scored the first of three first half rushing touchdowns.  This one would come from two yards out and capped a 10-play, 87 yard drive.

Albany would respond quickly to tie the game at 14 when Omar Osbourne rattled off a nice 32-yard touchdown run.

YSU started their next drive with nine minutes left in the half.  The Penguins offense would cover 7 yards in 11 plays to reclaim the lead on a Cook 7-yard tally.

Albany would score with nine seconds left in the half to tie the game at 21.  Drew Smith caught a Fiacchi pass in the left flats and got into the end zone almost untouched for the Great Danes.

After both teams failed to convert their initial second half drives, Kyle Sirl sacked Fiacchi on third down to halt the next Great Danes possession.

“I started the season as a two and knew that everyone had to contribute”, said Sirl.  “It was great to contribute, and it was a lot of fun.”

YSU (3-0) would build off of that momentum and take a 24-21 lead with 2:15 left in the third quarter.  Extra point specialist David Brown got to kick a field goal, from 25 yards to pull the Guins in front.  The field goal capped a 12-play 70 yard drive that chewed up 6:48.

With Albany on the move again, Sirl came up big for the second time in the half with another third down sack to stop a drive.  On the next drive, Sirl would have a hurry in what was turning into his best game ever.

“We needed to play tougher and hit them”, said Sirl.  “That was the big adjustment at half. ”

“Kyle [Sirl] is a guy that has been in the program.  He isn’t the flashiest guy, he is an overachiever”, said Wolford.  “He deserves all of the accolades for his hard work.”

Ali Cheaib blocked a punt for the second consecutive week.  The blocked punt would set YSU up at the Albany 29 with just over five minutes left in the game.  With 2:48 left in the game, YSU would ice the contest when Torrian Pace went off of left tackle for a one-yarder to make it 31-21.

Albany would kick a field goal to make it 31-24, but Dale Peterman fielded the onside kick attempt with :56 left in the game to seal the win for the Penguins.

Cook had his best game of the year for the Penguins.  The senior tailback had 33 carries for 161 yards and three touchdowns.

Hess finished the contest 15-22 for 183 yards.  He showed maturity and poise more than once on third down plays in the second half.  Hess also had five rushes for 26 yards.

“It  was a fight.  Jermaine and I saw that from the beginning”, said Hess.  “We responded and got a win.  It is going to help us.  They were a very disciplined football team.”

Fiacchi was 23-35 for 28 yards and two touchdowns.  Cole King caught seven passes for 115 yards.

The Penguins open Missouri Valley Conference play next week when Northern Iowa comes to town.  Northern Iowa lost to Iowa this week.