The Youngtstown State football team held its first major scrimmage of the fall on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium. The defense played well throughout while the offense worked on getting the quarterbacks as many reps as possible in the workout.
Each of the top three quarterbacks - Dante Nania, Hunter Wells and Ricky Davis - had their shots with the top and second-team units. Reserve tailbacks Demond Hymes, Ryan Moore, Raekown Washington and Sidney Sandidge performed well. The four backs combined for 32 carries and 210 yards with Moore busting a 70-yard run for a touchdown.
The defense held the upper hand early stopping the offense on five consecutive third-down plays. Wells connected with tight end Shane Kuhn for a seven-yard gain on a third-and-3 play for a first down.
Two series later, Moore took a pitch 70 yards for a score on a second-and-10 play from the 30-yard line. He had a nice stiff arm against safety Kenny Bishop inside the 20 to cap off the run.
After that play, the defense allowed just three first downs in the next four series, including one three-and-out.
In red-zone work, the defense stopped the offense seven times in 10 attempts. Highlighting the sequence was a 100-yard fumble return by linebacker Kevin Wilson and an impressive strip of Moore by Jameel Smith. The offense managed three scores as Davis connected with Andrew Williams on a 16-yard score, Sandidge scored on an eight-yard carry up the middle and Washington ended that portion of the workout with a three-yard TD run.
YSU worked on third-down situations for 14 of the next 16 snaps. On the two fourth-down plays the defense held twice while in the 16 third downs, the offense picked up a first down 11 times. On third-and-medium/long plays, the offense converted six of eight attempts.
The scrimmage was capped off with two-minute drill situations. Both times the defense rose to the occasion to make stops. On the first sequence, Jacob Studdard's intercepted as time expired ended the drive. On the second drive, the defense made a stop on fourth down on the final play of the scrimmage.
Defensively, Antoine Cox led the way with seven tackles while Jaylin Kelly was credited with six. Nathan Pittman, Tre' Moore, Smith and Kevin Rader all finished with five stops apiece.
The Penguins are off on Sunday before resuming practice on Monday morning.
Penguin Club memberships and season-ticket packages are still available to support the team. For information on Penguin Club memberships contact Tom Morella at tmorella@ysu.edu and for details on season-ticket packages call the Athletic Ticket Office at (330) 941-1978.
