YSU storms back in 2nd half to down No. 9 North Dakota
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YOUNGSTOWN -- On Halloween, Youngstown State turned the "Ice Castle" into North Dakota's own personal house of horrors.
The Penguins had plenty of tricks for the ninth-ranked Fighting Hawks and delivered one big holiday treat for the roughly 10,000 YSU faithful in attendance at Stambaugh Stadium.
After trailing by 14 at halftime, the Penguins narrowly avoided the Halloween scaries, rallying in the second half to hold off North Dakota 31-28 and solidify their place atop the Missouri Valley Football Conference standings.
"Adversity sometimes reveals the truth. You have to go through adversity, and you have to go through some tough times," YSU head coach Doug Phillips said. "It reveals who your guys are and what you can fight through.
"They definitely came out and they took it to us in that first half. But to see our young men respond in the second half and stay in the fight, the highs and lows of a football game -- there were some moments that weren't pretty. But to stay together and fight for 60 minutes, I couldn't be more proud of this team and the young men that are part of the team."
Facing fourth-and-19 from the UND 20 with 2:09 left after a holding penalty negated a 10-yard touchdown pass on the previous play, YSU quarterback Beau Brungard delivered a Walter Payton Award-type moment by finding Lynn Wyche-El over the middle of the field for the 20-yard game-winning touchdown.
"We saw that penalty, and it was just get back in the huddle, be poised and level-minded, that's the mentality," Brungard said. "It is what it is, let's just get back to work. Those guys didn't flinch for a second. We got back in the huddle, we got the play call, and I told those guys, 'Hey, flush it. We're going to score this one.' That's just a testament to our guys believing and executing the play amidst all those emotions that could have taken over.
"I'm just so proud of the guys and how they executed that final play on fourth-and-20. That was just awesome to see and be a part of."
On the ensuing drive, the Penguins needed one more stop from a defense that had turned on a different gear after a sleepy first half.
After the Fighting Hawks were backed up by an intentional grounding penalty, Max Johnson picked off UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski on fourth-and-20 with 1:21 to go to seal YSU's come-from-behind victory.
But that go-ahead score might never have happened if not for a daring play call earlier in the drive.
YSU reached into its bag of tricks and elected to try a fake punt on fourth-and-4 from its own 20. Just like he had earlier in the season on a fake punt against Southern Illinois, Mike Wells' number was called, and he picked up 26 yards on the fake to keep the drive alive for the Penguins.
"It's just something we do to get some momentum, and I'm glad the coaches trust me enough to run it," Wells said. "It wasn't in until Friday, I believe, and it was great because I asked coach earlier in the week -- I was like, 'Hey, we should run a fake this week,' and it was right after I messed up an assignment on a punt. He was like, 'Let's just worry about getting our jobs right first.' I don't know, I love that play. Every time we get to call it, it's awesome."
Just a few plays earlier, Wells had to come off the field after appearing to injure his arm on a tackle. But he eventually returned, and the rest was history.
"It was the elbow, but I just wanted to win so badly today," Wells said. "They would have had to scrape me off that field. I would have literally had to die to come off that field tonight. It's just something you gotta do to get to where you want to be."
That wasn't Wells' only signature moment against the Fighting Hawks. On the opening drive of the second half, he picked off Kaminski on a tipped ball and returned it near the goal line.
YSU capitalized on the takeaway with a 5-yard touchdown run by Jaden Gilbert that made it a one-possession game.
It marked the end of a critical momentum-shifting sequence that began at the end of the first half.
North Dakota got the ball back with under four minutes till halftime, holding on to a 21-7 lead. The Fighting Hawks were also due to receive the second-half kickoff, so UND had a chance to create some separation on those two possessions.
But instead, the Penguins blocked a 32-yard field goal at the end of the first half and Wells intercepted Kaminski to start the second half, which kept YSU in the game.
"I think we wanted to go in the second half and just leave everything that happened in the first half in the past," Wells said. "[The blocked field goal] was huge, and it obviously gave us a little bit of momentum. But we wanted to go in at halftime and just completely mentally reset ... because that was not YSU football that we were playing. They were firing on all cylinders and it felt like we couldn't really stop them. We just wanted to forget that because that's not us at all."
Coming off the open week, YSU looked rusty and a step slow in the first half.
Kaminski had the offense humming, as North Dakota led 21-7 at halftime and had 252 total yards on 41 plays, while sustaining long drives with 17:20 time of possession.
The Fighting Hawks had just 115 total yards in the second half, as the Penguins limited them to seven points, outscoring UND 24-7 after halftime.
"Just like coach talked about, we just strained mentally and physically. We really wanted to be tougher in the middle of our defense, and I feel like we were in the second half. It was just strain, and you gotta figure out ways. It's the team who wants it the longest. We had a quote, I think it was, 'The good teams strain, but the better teams strain longer.' So I feel like that's what we did tonight and that's what it took to get the win."
In a battle between two of the top quarterbacks in the MVFC, Brungard outdueled Kaminski when it mattered most.
Brungard completed 19-of-29 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns, while Kaminski was 18-for-33 for 195 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. However, Kaminski also had a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown.
The MVFC's leading receiver, Wyche-El had his third straight 100-plus yard receiving performance and his sixth overall of the season, hauling in six receptions for 148 yards and three touchdowns.
"I just kept praying to give me strength to lead these guys and give this team the strength to step up and make a comeback," Brungard said. "We never doubted for a second. We got in that locker room and it was confidence. It was poise. We were level-headed. I'm just so proud of this team. This is what we play for. This is why we practice all year. To play in front of your home crowd, home city and get to play a good opponent like that, to have your team rally and see the fight on our team, I just love those guys. It's just so exciting."