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Late comeback falls short as Youngstown State hands Western Illinois 31-24 loss

December 11, 2007 on 9:10 pm | In Athletics |

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - A pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns by Alex Douglas brought No. 23 Western Illinois within a touchdown, but the Leathernecks could not overcome a first-half deficit and fell at No. 21 Youngstown State, 31-24.

The Leathernecks (6-5, 3-3) were forced to play from behind the entire game. After the defense held the Penguins (7-4, 3-3) to 3-and-out on their initial drive, Taylor Rowan missed a 51-yard field goal attempt barely wide right. A fumbled pitch on an option play on the Leathernecks’ next possession gave Youngstown the ball at the Western Illinois 28-yard line and led to the first touchdown of the game as the Penguins took a 7-0 lead three plays later with 5:28 to play in the first quarter.

Western responded with an 11-play, 43-yard drive that took 5:31 off the clock and ended with a 28-yard field goal by Rowan that put the Leathernecks on the scoreboard, 7-3, early in the second quarter. The Penguins, however, came back with passing touchdowns on two of their next three drives to go up 21-3 with 2:45 remaining in the half. Matt Barr completed all five pass attempts on the Leathernecks’ final drive of the half, leading the Leathernecks 63 yards on just seven plays before Dre Gibbs carried the ball into the end zone from two yards out. The Penguins began their final drive of the half with just under a minute to play and drove 52 yards on six plays before kicking a 21-yard field goal at the buzzer to go up 24-10.

Barr was 10-of-13 for 149 yards in the half while Gibbs rushed 11 times for 45 yards. Gibbs and Douglas, who started the game, combined to fill in for Herb Donaldson who missed the game after spraining an ankle last week against Southern Illinois.

Midway through the third quarter the Penguins strung together their longest drive of the game, a 12-play scoring drive which proved to be the game-winning touchdown. A 16-yard pass from wide receiver Ferlando Williams to Rory Berry put the Penguins inside the 15-yard line and Kevin Smith rushed into the end zone three plays later to give Youngstown a 31-10 lead.

The Leathernecks reached the end zone on two of their three fourth-quarter possessions, the first set up by Jason Williams’ fumble recovery at the Youngstown State 18-yard line. The Leathernecks recovered the on-side kick after their first score, but had to re-kick because of an off-side penalty. The Penguins recovered the second on-side kick at the 1:12 mark. Sandwiched between the two scoring drives was a six-play drive that ended with Barr being intercepted at the 2-yard line.

Postgame Quotes - Western Illinois head coach Don Patterson:
“I was really proud of how hard we played, we just made too many mistakes. Championship teams don’t make that many mistakes. Against Youngstown, you just don’t get that many possessions. It’s disheartening to lose a game that we had every chance to win. We have to cut down our mistakes and be even more physical than we already are. There’s a price to be paid now to get bigger, faster and stronger.”

“Youngstown had a more mature lineup today with 19 seniors. That’s almost double the number we have and half of ours weren’t even on the trip. So we’re a young team and we’ll have a lot of talent coming back. Our junior class is a very strong class. I saw a lot of young players come through today and play well. The challenge I gave them is to decide that we will pay a huge price over the next nine months to get ready for next year.”

Postgame notes:
Todd Speight caught a career-long 45-yard pass in the second quarter to put the Leathernecks across midfield.

After a delay-of-game penalty on a 53-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, the Leathernecks lined up for a 58-yarder but never attempted the kick. After receiving the snap, holder Will Ducey tossed the ball between his legs to Taylor Rowan, who ran 11 yards around the right side for a first down.

Matt Barr threw for 149 yards in the first half, completing 10 of 13 passes - four of which were to Carl Sims for 43 yards. He ended the day with a career-high 276 yards on 17-of-31 passing.

For just the third time this year, the Leathernecks gained more yards passing (276) than rushing (124).

Taylor Rowan’s 19 field goals this season rank second in school history, one behind Justin Langan’s 20 in 2002.

Carl Sims ended the game with eight catches for a season-high 144 yards, recording his first 100-yard game of the season with a career-long 53-yard reception with under two minutes to play.

Jerome Bennett’s forced fumble (recovered by Josh Galloway) in the fourth quarter was the tenth of his career, tying Western Illinois’ career record held by Lee Russell.

Originaly from Source