Youngstown Wins 4th Championship Penguins Use Improvised Play To Squeeze By Mcneese State

The Youngstown State offense couldn’t move on McNeese State’s defense most of the day. That’s when the Penguins decided to try something brand new.

Demond Tidwell’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Renauld Ray with 8 minutes left Saturday - on a play Youngstown’s coaches made up seconds before on the sidelines - lifted the Penguins to a 10-9 victory over McNeese State and their fourth Division I-AA championship this decade.

“Coach (Jim) Tressel probably drew that play up in the dirt,” said Tidwell. “Truly, we had never run that play all year long. You just have to improvise sometimes, and that’s what we did.”

On third-and-goal at the 9, the Penguins sent receiver Mark Cox into motion and had Tidwell call for the snap just as Cox passed behind receiver Renauld Ray.

“We thought there would be a possibility of a miscommunication because they were playing man (-to-man coverage in the defensive secondary),” Tressel said. “We snapped the ball, they miscommunicated, and that’s the difference in the championship game. One mistake.”

Both defenders went with Cox, while Ray loped all alone to the back left corner of the end zone, where Tidwell lofted him the winning pass.

“The ball seemed like it was in the air forever,” Ray said. “It didn’t seem like it was ever coming down.”

Youngstown State (13-2), which also won titles in 1991, ‘93 and ‘94, won Saturday by capitalizing on the game’s only turnover, an interception by Penguins linebacker Jeff Fackrell in the fourth quarter that set up the winning drive.

“We turned it over and the momentum swung. You could feel it. Our kids felt it,” said McNeese coach Bobby Keasler.

After the interception, Tidwell, who completed 11 of 20 passes for 110 yards, drove the Penguins 66 yards in nine plays, accounting for a third of Youngstown’s 200 offensive yards.

It was lowest-scoring championship game in I-AA history, surpassing Youngstown’s 17-5 victory over Marshall in 1993.

YSU 10, McNeese St. 9

Youngstown St. 0 3 0 7 10

McNeese St. 3 0 6 0 9 MSUFG LaFrenz 22 YSUFG Griffith 21 MSUFG LaFrenz 37 MSUFG LaFrenz 46 YSURay 9 pass from Tidwell (Griffith kick) A14,771.

YSU MSU First downs 12 11 Rushes-yards 39-73 29-58 Passing 127 143 Comp-Att-Int 12-21-0 14-28-1 Return Yards 5 28 Punts-Avg. 9-33.1 5-36.6 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 3-20 3-35 Time of Possession 31:33 28:27 RUSHING-Youngstown St., Andreadis 16-35, Brown 14-34, Zwick 3-4, Tidwell 5-2, Harris 1-minus-2. McNeese St., Davis 19-54, Beavers 3-13, Ashley 1-3, Leger 1-3, Prejean 5-minus-15.

PASSING-Youngstown St., Tidwell 11-20-0 110, Zwick 1-1-0 17.

McNeese St., Prejean 14-28-1 143.

RECEIVING-Youngstown St., Tyrell 4-54, Ray 3-38, Marshall 3-22, Cox 1-14, Andreadis 1-minus-1. McNeese St., Ashley 4-45, Perkins 4-44, Morris 2-31, Fontenot 2-12, Davis 1-10, Bynum 1-1.