Posts Tagged ‘Youngstown State University’

New Penguin Club members are being offered a chance to receive their own “12-Pack” of seats in the Chairback section at Stambaugh Stadium if they join the organization at the $400 level.

Chairback seating offers some of the best game-action views in Stambaugh Stadium and it is exclusively available to Penguin Club members.

With the “12-Pack”, individuals can select 12 chairback seats and mix-and-match them for any game they’d like for the remainder of the season. If a fan wants 12 tickets to next week’s Conference Clash with UNI then they can get 12 seats for that game. If they want six for the UNI game, and two more for three others they can chose that option.

This gives fans a great chance to get all the benefits of the $400 Penguin Club level as well as get great seating for the rest of what could be a historic football season.

The Penguin Club is a vital support group for all Youngstown State student-athletes helping to provide scholarships and resources to be successful on and off the field.

Fill out the attached form and return it via fax to YSU Athletics at (330) 941-3191 or email at tmorella@ysu.edu. For more information call (330) 941-2351.

When the YSU Penguins take the field for their Saturday contest against Albany, they will be attempting to go to 3-0 for the first time in seven years.  Albany is coming to Youngstown, also undefeated, at 2-0, and has similar aspirations of winning.  The Great Danes were a playoff team last season and are the preseason pick to win the Northeast Conference.

“They have had the same coach for a very long time”, said Eric Wolford.  “They are a fundamentally sound football team that is very good at running the football, I think they are averaging 250 yards a game.  We cannot, and will not, look past them.  They are a playoff team, they are coming here undefeated, and they must be doing something right to have all of that success.”

Albany, which has posted wins over Colgate (40-23) and Robert Morris (35-10) believe they have a punchers chance in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Drew Smith, a senior running back, is one of the main components of the Great Danes offense and has tasted the fruits of hard work over the past couple of seasons.

“We can win this game”, said Smith via telephone.  “Youngstown State is a very good team, but we are better than Pitt and Valpo.  We have to execute, come out early, and hit them in the mouth, let them know we are here to play football.”

Smith was very complimentary of Youngstown State and cited all of the tradition but says his team is looking at this chance as their Super Bowl.

“For us, it is one of the biggest games in our history.  These are the big boys on our schedule.  We are trying to gain respect.  YSU is a great program with a good history and four National Championships.  We do have a chip on our shoulders to prove we are a good team and want to win.”

It was like watching my grandmother play Yahtzee with seven dice instead of five.  It was so out of hand by the half that the pee-wee continuous clock theory may have been a viable option.  To put it mildly, it was a total mismatch.  Youngstown State scored early and often in pounding Valparaiso, 59-0, to open the home portion of their schedule.

“It was good to see our kids come out focused after last week “, said Coach Wolford.  “We brought in Reverend Louis Macklin.  He said we are on assignment.  On assignment for the community, the program, and the university.  The assignment is to go 1-0 every week.”

YSU got on the scoreboard at the 13-minute mark of the first quarter when Kurt Hess connected with Christian Bryan for a 12-yard touchdown (next photo down).  The Penguins drive covered 65 yards in just five plays.  Hess connected with Kintrell Disher for nine and 20 yard completions on the drive.

Ali Cheaib blocked a punt on the ensuing Valpo possession.  The block was recovered by Ricardo Dixon at the Crusaders 11-yard line.  Hess then found Will Shaw for an 11-yard strike to put the Penguins ahead 14-0.

Next Valpo possession, the revamped YSU defense roared again when Travis Williams forced a fumble that Jeremy Edwards would scoop up and run seven yards with, to make it 21-0.

In the second quarter, Eric Wolford and staff started getting into the depth chart a bit giving the ones time with the twos.  Torrian Pace rambled in from three yards out to make it 28-0.

“It is always encouraging to see the twos get time with the ones”, commented Wolford.  “We want the twos to be able to blend in with the ones.  We have to continue to be creative.”

Pace talked about playing in these types of games.  “It was a very good day for us offensively.  The O-Line played great.  Overall, we executed and did what we needed to do.  It was a good home opener, but we are taking it one week at a time.  Our approach was to go into this game as if we were playing Pitt.  Every week it has to be like that.”

Jamaine Cook, who saw a short work day with eight carries for 51 yards would plunge in from two yards out with 12:54 remaining in the first half to make it 35-0.

Demond Hymes would be the third YSU running back to hit the stat sheet in the second quarter when he scored from a yard out, increasing the Penguins lead to 42-0.

Pace would again score before halftime on a 14-yard scurry to make it a 49-0 game.

Hess had another productive game, or in this case, a productive first half.  The junior signal-caller was 7-10 for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

David Brown kicked a 27-yard field goal in the third quarter to make it 52-0.  It was obvious that Wolford took his foot off of the gas in the second half.  In the third quarter, Valpo made it across the 50 for the first time in the game.

The Penguins would score one last time to make it a 59-0 when Hymes would cap off a 2:32 yard drive with a 3-yard scamper.

Edwards, a defensive leader, commented on the defense posting it’s first shutout since 2009, a 28-0 win at Indiana State.

“It is a 24-hour rule, but we are a confident group and we will be ready for next week.  I wasn’t aware of the shutout being that long ago.”

Patrick Angle got some time at QB for the Penguins.  Angle started the second half and was 5-7 for 45 yards before yielding to Dante Nania for the last couple of Penguins drives.

To put the game into perspective, Valpo collects about $70,000.00 for coming to Youngstown State.  It is a tier-two money beating.  Youngstown State collected $400k last week on the visit to Pittsburgh, so the shoe was completely on the other foot this week.

YSU will have a similar contest next week when they face Albany.  The attitude will be business as usual and the Penguins will not take anyone lightly.  Wolford will surely get more reps for both, the offense and the defense, as a big challenge looms the following week when Northern Iowa comes to Youngstown to open Missouri Valley Football Conference play.

Going into Saturday’s home opener, the Youngstown State Penguins have proven plenty in just a week.  Valparaiso, self-admittedly, is a football program that has struggled to get the program where it needs to be winning just one game last season.

The game is a mismatch on paper, but do not tell Eric Wolford that.

“We are going to run our offense and our defense to keep things running smoothly”, remarked Wolford when asked how much would be enough to pull the starters.  “Once we have seen what we need to, we will use some of our depth if we are afforded that opportunity.  They are a football team just like we are and anything can happen.”

6’3″ , 300 lb. Valpo noseman, Bruce Collins, relishes the chance to play in these type of games. With that kind of size, it is fun to tell you that Collins had a 76-yard interception return for a touchdown last season.

“We know that YSU is a good team, we learned that first-hand last season and they are probably ten times better this year if they beat Pitt”, remarked Collins.  “We want to come out and play hard and show that we have heart.”

Collins, referring to last season’s 77-13 blowout loss to the Penguins showed optimism for the Crusader football program.

“This program has really struggled for the past three seasons and we feel like we are getting ready to turn the corner.”

Wolford was emphatic about his desires to pack the Ice Castle.

“It is our home opener and we are coming off of a big win.  People know that this is the place to be now.  We want to pack the tailgate lots, pack the stadium, and represent this great community.”

For the first time in school history, a pair of Youngstown State women’s soccer players have swept the Horizon League weekly awards, the league announced on Tuesday. Junior forward Rachel Morrison was named the league’s offensive player of the week while Ali Viola earned defensive player of the week.

At 4-0-0, Youngstown State is off to the best start in the program’s history. The Penguins knocked off Buffalo, 1-0, before a 4-0 rout of Canisius on Friday.

Morrison scored twice against Canisius, becoming the first YSU player in nearly a year to score more than a single goal in a match. With three goals on the year, Morrison is one of four Horizon League players tied atop the ledger.

Viola did not allow a goal in 180 minutes of play, collecting her second and third shutouts of the year. Against Buffalo, Viola was instrumental in the Penguin win, making nine saves in the match, the second-highest single-game total in the Horizon League this year.  On the week, Viola made 12 saves while moving into third all-time in YSU history for shutouts with five.

The Penguins will travel to Kent State for a match on Friday, Sept. 7 before returning home to host Niagara on Sunday, Sept. 9. The Horizon League Network will have live coverage of the match, beginning at 4 p.m. ET

Youngstown State University’s Andre Stubbs has been named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Player of the Week.  Stubbs had a terrific all-around effort agains Pitt in YSU’s 31-17 win.

In his first game since a season-ending injury in 2011, Stubbs rushed for 71 yards on six carries, caught four passes for 61 yards and had two kickoffs for 40 yards. He caught a 27-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and ran for a 13-yard score in the fourth. He finished with 172 all-purpose yards on the evening. The win against Pitt marked the league’s first-ever victory against a Big East Conference foe.

“We don’t recruit players based on size”, said YSU Coach Eric Wolford.  “We would rather go by the films and see what the guys can do on the field.”

The 5’6″ redshirt freshman from Maple Heights, Ohio, packs a lot of power in that small frame.

Kurt Hess joked at the post game press conference that when the Penguins run an empty backfield set that Stubbs is hard to see, but quickly noted that he usually gets to where he can be seen.  This week, he was pretty visible in the Panthers end zone, twice.

The Youngstown State Athletic Department, in honor of Labor Day, is offering the fans of the Mahoning Valley a special FREE ticket offer on Monday, Sept. 3 only. For every reserved or general admission game ticket purchased on Monday each fan will receive a FREE ticket of equal value. The ticket office at Stambaugh Stadium will have special hours from Noon to 5 p.m. on Monday.

The Penguins, who grabbed the college football headlines with an impressive 31-17 win over Pittsburgh at Heinz Field last night, play host to the Valparaiso Crusaders this Saturday in the home opener at Stambaugh Stadium. Kickoff for the contest is 4 p.m.

Season tickets – including reserved, chair back seats and M-24 tailgate passes with a Penguin Club membership – for the six-game home slate, which features three games in September, are also on sale. Beginning on Tuesday, the ticket office will be open from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. leading up to Saturday’s home opener.

“Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions, achievements and hard-work of American workers,” noted Eric Wolford, YSU Head Coach. “To honor the tireless effort of the workers and retirees in this Valley, we are offering this one-day special free ticket offer. Our team worked hard on opening night at Pitt and we want to reward our fans with a chance to fill the Ice Castle this Saturday.”

All fans attending YSU’s opener will receive a 2012 schedule magnet. A very limited number of individual game tailgate passes remain for the M-7 tailgate lot ($15). State Farm will sponsor the annual Kids Day Tailgate activities from 1-4 p.m. in the M-7 lot at the corner of Lincoln and Fifth Avenues.

Fans can call 330-941-1978 for more information or log onto YSUSports.com.

The Youngstown State University football team was last at Heinz Field in 2009.  In that contest, the goal was to score and make it to the bus with half the team able to walk.  The result was a 38-3 beating.  Fast forward to 2012, Eric Wolford‘s first shot at the Panthers.

The Penguins recovered an early fumble, marched the field, and never trailed in a 31-17 dismantling of D-I Pittsburgh in what can be considered the biggest win in the Wolford Era.  Kurt Hess looked masterful in running an offense everyone thought could produce, but it was the defense that played with a chip on their shoulders and forced the issue in the upset.

The game was delayed by inclement weather for a half hour, but when it finally started, it was obvious that YSU was in Pittsburgh to do more than take a check home and hopefully score some points.

“We expect to win”, said Wolford.  “This win is a compliment to our staff, our players, and the community.  We demand perfection, coach hard, and know it is a high standard at YSU, to win championships.”

In the first quarter, with the Panthers driving, the YSU defense did something that it hasn’t done in one of these D-I games, create a turnover.  Pitt’s Ray Graham was tackled by YSU’s Dubem Nwadiogbu, who popped the ball out.  Jeremy Edwards picked the pigskin up and advanced it a few yards before YSU’s offense would take the field.

Kurt Hess (above) and the Penguin offense went to work and put together a productive 10-play, 79-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown.  Hess found Andre Stubbs on a short route that the redshirt freshman turned into a 27-yard touchdown reception.  With the extra point, the Penguins took a 7-0 lead.

Pitt would respond with a touchdown of their own on their next drive when Isaac Bennett capped off an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a four-yard rush to paydirt.  Early in the drive, Pitt QB Tino Sunseri made a good pass to Devin Street on a 3rd-and-8 to keep the drive going.

The resilient Penguins would march again, this time covering 92 yards in 15 plays.  Shane Montgomery, the Penguins offensive coordinator, did a fantastic job of calling plays that kept the Pitt defense on their heels all afternoon.  The Penguins touchdown was a nice 14-yard strike from Hess to Will Shaw to give YSU a 14-7 lead.

“The play calling was great”, said Hess.  “It was a very efficient game plan and we were able to execute it.”

Pitt would drive again, but had to settle for a Kevin Harper 33-yard field goal.  That would make the score at the end of the first half YSU 14 and Pitt 10.

In the second half, YSU took the opening kickoff and marched down the field, aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty.  On a fourth-and -1 play on the Pitt 24, YSU went to the bag of tricks and Jamaine Cook took a pitch to the right side and backed up to fire a little pass to Shaw, who had nobody ten yards around him, for an easy six.  David Brown‘s extra point gave the Penguins a 21-10 lead.

“That play is called Penguin”, explained Wolford.  “We practiced it this week and knew we would use it when we  had a chance on a fourth-and-short situation.”

What happened on Pitt’s next drive may define the Penguins season.  The defense stuffed Pitt on a fourth-and-1 deep in YSU territory.  It was Tevin Williams and Travis Williams stuffing the play to give the Penguins the ball back with 5:55 remaining in the third quarter.

“Anytime it’s fourth down, on either side of the ball, it is a big play,” said senior Aronde Stanton.  “On the play we stuffed them, I was out with cramps and two sophomores stepped in and got the job done.”

From there, Montgomery used Hess to carry out a drive that would cover 78 yards, but more importantly, result in a touchdown that would kill 8:34 of the game clock and boost the Penguins lead to 28-10.  The drive ended when Stubbs gathered his second touchdown of the game, a 13-yard run.

When Pitt got the ball back they used several short plays in hurry-up mode and looked in a hurry to get all 18 points they trailed by throwing some unsuccessful deep balls.  Tino Sunseri missed an open receiver in the end zone by a bit.  On the next play, YSU hurried Sunseri to set up a third-and-10.  The senior quarterback would connect with Joshua Brinson to cut the deficit to 28-17.

With control of the game, the Penguins got the ball back on their 25 with 9:17 left to play.  The YSU offense had to chew clock and get a few first downs.  Facing a 3rd-and-4 with six minutes left, the Penguins Stubbs broke loose and took the ball all the way to the Pitt 22.  Wolford the starting doing exactly what he said he would do – substitute fresh capable bodies.  Torrian Pace was inserted and had two five yard runs.

The drive stalled and YSU settled for a FG from Brown, a 25-yarder that would close the scoring with YSU ahead 31-17.

“We all thought we could do this”, said Stubbs.  “I knew coming in that I would have a chance to make some plays.  We have to stay humble now because we still have ten games to play.”

Stubbs finished the game with six carries for 71 yards and four receptions for 61 yards with one touchdown in each category.

“Andre Stubbs was too short for most schools to recruit”, said Wolford.  “We don’t recruit based on size, we look at the films.”

Hess had a strong game, more than statistically, as a leader of a machine.  Hess finished the game 13-23 for 154 yards and a pair of TD’s.  He also had 9 rushes for 47 yards and just made good decisions for four quarters.

Dale Peterman had nine unassisted tackles for the Penguins.  Teven Williams chipped in with seven tackles.  The Penguins defense did a fantastic job of keeping the Ray Graham / Isaac Bennett combination in check for the majority of the game.  New defensive coordinator Jm Tresey also deserves credit for being aggressive and cleverly scheming against Pitt.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed in the outcome of the game”, said first year Pitt head coach Paul Chryst.  “My hat goes off to Youngstown State.  They are very well coached and tonight they were the better team.”

The Penguins will have their home opener next Saturday when they welcome Valparaiso to Stambaugh Stadium.  Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.

Junior Rachel Morris scored two goals and the Youngstown State women’s soccer team extended its winning streak to four after knocking off Canisius, 4-0, on Friday afternoon at Stambaugh Stadium.

The Penuins are 4-0 for the first time in school history while Canisius falls to 0-4 on the season.

Morrison, who has has a team-high three goals this season, became the first player to score two goals in a match since Jade Flory scord two against Ursuline College in 2011.

Morrison began the scoring when she received Allison Ludwig‘s corner kick and slapped a shot past Canisius goalkeeper Megan Tock at the 31:30 mark of the first half.

The Guins took a 2-0 lead when freshman Shannon Leghart entered a long pass into the penalty box and a touch pass from Flory found Morrison for her second goal at the 58:57 mark.

Sophomore Chelsey Haney’s got in the scoring column and gave the Penguins a 3-0 at the 78.56 mark after taking a pass from Flory and streaking the last 30 yards for a one-on-one against Canisius keeper  Kailee DeFranks.

Sophomore Cara Armstrong (pictured) tallied YSU’s final goal with just 12 seconds left in the match taking a pass from Leghart and streaking down the left sideline and blasting her second goal of the season into the lower-right corner from 20 yards out.

Junior goalkeeper Ali Viola posted her third shutout of the season and the fifth of her career career while collecting three saves.

The Penguins visit Kent State, Friday, Sept. 7, at 4 p.m. in Kent, Ohio.

Freshman Katie Hohmann scored her first career goal and junior goalkeeper Ali Viola posted her second shutout of the season to lead the Youngstown State women’s soccer team to a 1-0 win over Buffalo on Tuesday afternoon at Stambaugh Stadium.

The Penguins improve to 3-0 for the first time in school history while Buffalo falls to 1-2-1 on the season.

Hohmann collected a rebounded shot from teammate Chelsey Haney and planted a shot in the back of the net for the match’s only goal at the 36:20 mark of the first half.

Hohmann also became the fifth different player to score a goal for the Guins this season.

Viola posted a season-high nine save, including a game-clinching, diving save after a header by Buffalo’s Kristin Markiewicz that nearly tied the match.

Viola, who moved into a tie for third all-time with four career shutouts, face a barrage of attacks from the Bulls – a total of 18 shots, including five shots on goal in the first half and four in the second half.

The Guins host Canisius, Friday, Aug. 31, at 3 p.m.