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Oct. 15, 2005
Late Takeaway, Mason's Two TD's Lift No. 15
Penguins to 23-21 Victory
Youngstown --
Coming into the game leading the
Gateway and ranking seventh in the
country turnover margin, it took
Youngstown State more than 55
minutes to force its first turnover
of the game. But Codera Jackson's
interception with 4:48 remaining in
the fourth quarter led to a
game-winning Marcus Mason touchdown
as No. 15 Youngstown State defeated
Western Illinois 23-21 Saturday
evening at Stambaugh Stadium.
WIU's attempted comeback drive stalled with 1:11 remaining at
the WIU 40 after Mike Andrews came
up with a big sack and Steve LaFalce
threw two incompletions on third and
fourth down.
Mason finished with 125 yards rushing and scored two
touchdowns while quarterback Tom
Zetts threw for 202 yards and a
touchdown for the Penguins, who
improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in
the Gateway. LaFalce threw for 363
yards and three touchdowns, but the
Penguin defense held the
Leathernecks (2-5, 0-3) to just 48
yards rushing.
The Penguins are 3-0 in the Gateway for the first time since
2000, and their 6-1 overall mark
matches their best start under head
coach Jon Heacock.
Youngstown State scored on its opening possession of the game
to go up 7-0 with 8:30 remaining in
the first quarter. The Penguins took
possession at their own 20 and
capped their seven-play drive with a
39-yard strike from Zetts to Damian
Wright. Wright finished the game
with four catches and a team-high 84
yards.
The Leathernecks tied the score at the 13:50 mark of the
second quarter when Steve LaFalce
hit Boomer Moore for an 18-yard
touchdown. LaFalce was 3-for-3 on
the drive for 55 yards and hit Moore
twice for 28 yards.
After punter Joe Bishop pinned Western Illinois inside its
own 10, the Penguins took over on
the WIU 44 and scored three plays
later on a 25-yard Mason touchdown
to reclaim a seven-point lead.
WIU, however, tied the score with 30 seconds remaining in the
half when LaFalce hit Reggie Gray
for 29-yard touchdown strike. The
pair connected four times on the
drive for 72 yards.
Brian Palmer kicked a 25-yard field goal on the Penguins'
opening drive of the second half to
give them a 17-14 lead with 10:08
remaining in the quarter. But
LaFlace connected with Moore again
on a 33-yard touchdown pass with
4:05 left in the third to put WIU up
21-17.
The Penguins were turned away twice in the fourth quarter
after driving inside the WIU 35
twice in the fourth quarter until
Mason scored off Jackson's fifth
pick of the season.
Gray finished with 134 yards receiving while Moore finished
with 118 for the Leathernecks. Jason
Perry averaged 24 yards on kickoff
returns and had two covering 30
yards or more.
The Penguins will play host to Missouri State in their
Homecoming game on Oct. 22 at 4 p.m. |
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