Youngstown State, playing their biggest game in years, finally came out on the right end of a close one.  Going into a hostile environment to face the #1 North Dakota State Bison, not many gave the Penguins a chance.  Happy to report, however, I predicted a four point win for the Penguins.  The end result was a tremendous 27-24 upset, boosting the Penguins playoff hopes, but more importantly, assuring everyone that Eric Wolford was not just saying that he had a good team that had to learn how to win – he actually does have a good team.  Lessons well taught.  In this game, it could easily be said that three is greater than zero.  The second field goal was actually the difference.

YSU marched into the red zone with the opening drive but had to settle for a David Brown 33-yard field goal.  When the Bison got the ball back, Sam Ojuri capped a three-play, 52 yard drive with a one yard touchdown run.  The Bison held a 7-3 lead at the end of the first quarter and YSU’s defense looked very ineffective in the entire first quarter.

Following a Kurt Hess interception, the Bison went up 14-3 as Ojuri again scored, this time from two yards away.  This scoring drive took only six plays and covered 40 yards in just under three minutes.  YSU took the next drive in for a touchdown to cut the lead to 14-10 in favor of NDSU.  Hess connected with Jelani Berassa from twelve yards out.

With just under two minutes left in the half, D J McNorton popped in another Bison touchdown on a two-yard run.  YSU did not finish out the half without getting back on the board.  Jordan Thompson broke a nice 38-yard run to get to the Bison two before Hess snuck in from a yard out to make the halftime score 21-17 in favor of the Bison.

Things got interesting in second half.  McNorton broke off a big run but fumbled the ball.  The opportunistic Penguins jumped on the ball for a big momentum swing.  The Penguins drove into the red zone and Hess found Jamaine Cook on a swing pass.  Cook caught the ball at around the nine and practically jumped over a would-be tackler to get in the end zone.

The Bison and the Penguins exchanged field goals.  Ryan Jastram kicked a 27-yarder to tie the game for the Bison.  Not to be outdone, Brown doubled his production for the entire season with a 30-yard field goal to give the Penguins a 27-24 lead that would last the entire game.

From that point, the YSU defense took over.  NDSU QB Brock Jensen faced huge pressure from YSU’s young defense.  Daniel Stewart brought serious heat more than once in the final three Bison possessions.  Aronde Stanton batted a ball down, Jimmy May played big, breaking up passes in the final drives, and the entire unit played awesome down the stretch.

Before this game, the Bison did not give up more than 24 points.  They never gave up more than 396 yards.  Youngstown State (6-4, 4-3) got by both of those marks.  Cook had 33 big carries for 147 yards.  Hess was 20-24 for 237 yards and more importantly, was able to lead the team by making great decisions at crucial times.  Berassa had 5 catches for 97 yards.

The Bison (9-1, 6-1) got 133 yards of passing from Jensen on 11-22 passing.  Ojuri, who had big success in the first half with long runs finished with 14 carries for 104 yards.

The Penguins wrap up the regular season at home next week against Missouri State.  If they will have any shot at a playoff spot, they will need to win convincingly.

** Photos courtesy of YSU Athletics / Trevor Parks