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Closing with a spike

Penguins’ seniors end successful careers

Tribune Chronicle / Marc Weems Youngstown State’s Tevin McCaster gets a block from a teammate as he runs for some of his 181 yards Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium where the Penguins defeated Missouri State, 38-10.

YOUNGSTOWN — Ricky Davis meant no disrespect, he just couldn’t help himself.

He and the rest of Youngstown State’s senior class wanted to go out with a bang on Senior Day — likely the final game of the season as they await today’s playoff field. The senior quarterback had just put the finishing touches on a 38-10 victory over Missouri State with a 10-yard touchdown run, and he emphatically spiked the ball.

Sure, it cost the Penguins (6-5, 4-4 Missouri Valley Football Conference) a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, but it also expressed a celebratory end to a successful era of football for him and the other 19 YSU seniors.

“I was just too excited,” he said. “I do want to apologize to Missouri State. It had nothing to do with trying to belittle them. … There were a lot of emotions. Like I said, I do feel bad. (The touchdown) was just something that was a great way to end this whole journey that I’ve been on. Just to share it with my teammates was fun.”

All good things must come to an end.

The Penguins are holding onto hope they can sneak into the 24-team FCS playoff, but those chances are slim after several close defeats led to a four-game losing streak midway through the season. Finishing with three straight wins — including a thoroughly dominant performance against the Bears — does provide a glimmer of optimism.

“If you look at our conference and how tough it is, I guess you could say we could be,” said YSU senior offensive lineman Justin Spencer of whether YSU is a playoff team. “Our record doesn’t show it, but obviously all of us hope so. We’ll just see what happens.”

The FCS committee is holding a selection show at 11 a.m. today, with a live stream on ESPNU.

YSU did its best to impress that group on a rainy day at Stambaugh Stadium. The Penguins were exceptional in all three phases. On offense, the line was dominant, as YSU ran for 284 yards and four touchdowns. On defense, they allowed just 10 points (seven of which came late in the fourth quarter with the outcome already decided) and held Missouri State (3-8, 2-6) to just 223 total yards. And special teams scored on an MSU botched punt attempt and later recovered a muffed punt return.

Even hard-to-please YSU coach Bo Pelini was satisfied with the effort, especially with an offensive line that has struggled at times this year but didn’t yield a sack to go along with the rushing performance.

“We had a good plan, and I thought they executed it very well,” he said. “We thought there were certain things there that we could take advantage of, and the offensive line executed very well.

“It’s hard to throw the ball consistently in that (rain), so obviously it’s important to be efficient in our running game, and I think we were. I thought, defensively, we played really well. That team’s been putting a lot of yardage on a lot of people.”

Tevin McCaster paced the rushing attack with 181 yards (three shy of his career high) and two TDs. Sophomore Joe Alessi, a South Range High School product, added 54 yards and one TD on five carries.

Starting quarterback Hunter Wells was efficient, completing 13-of-21 passes for 105 yards. The defense held MSU quarterback Peyton Huslig to 5-of-21 passing for 45 yards and zero TDs. It was the type of gameplan YSU would have liked to deploy more often this season.

Coming off a trip to the FCS Championship game last year, there were high expectations for a team bringing back several key players, but injuries and a rough stretch in October appear to have derailed another postseason run. If by some chance the Penguins do make the playoffs, they could be dangerous.

“Right now we’re feeling like anything is possible,” said senior YSU safety and Warren G. Harding graduate Jalyn Powell of making the playoffs. “Coming off three nice wins, we’re just hoping things fall our way.

“I definitely think we deserve to be in the playoffs” he added. “We got so much better throughout the season, and I feel like we’re one of the better teams now. Earlier in the season we weren’t playing that well, but we got it together and got hot now, so I feel like if we make it in, we’re going to do some damage.”

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