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Youngstown State University 2011 Penguin Spring Football Outlook |
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Backfield Returnees, New Opportunities Highlight Upcoming Spring Drills
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The Youngstown State football team returns sophomore quarterback Kurt Hess and a stable of tail-backs led by junior Jamaine Cook. However, there will be plenty of opportunities for the Penguins to step up at many positions when spring drills start on Wednesday.
Hess had an impressive first year as the Penguins' signal caller. In 11 games, he threw for 2,117 yards and 12 touchdowns as he completed 179-of-304 attempts. He was selected as the Missouri Valley Football Conference's Freshman of the Year. He was the first freshman quarterback to start all 11 games of a season since Tom Zetts in 2004.
Also at quarterback, senior Marc Kanetsky, sophomore Najee Tyler and redshirt freshman Patrick Angle all look to get reps during the spring session. Cook rushed for 1,276 yards on 241 attempts with 11 touchdowns on the year and had 973 yards on 199 attempts and scored eight touchdowns in eight league games. Sophomore Adaris Bellamy tied Cook for the lead in touchdowns and tied the school mark for TD rushes by a freshman with 11. Bellamy had 545 yards on 110 carries after joining the lineup last year. Other tail-backs who can step in are sophomores Allen Jones, Torrian Pace and Jordan Thompson. Thompson had 144 yards on 36 carries and scored four touchdowns. Jones had 85 yards on eight rushes and a TD while Pace added 13 carries for 53 yards. At tight end, senior David Rogers and sophomore Carson Sharbaugh will see the bulk of the action along with redshirt freshman Nate Adams. Sharbaugh caught 10 passes in 2010 while Rogers had seven. YSU will have one senior on the offensive line this spring, however Andy Colegrove has not played the position since his freshman year. Leading the way are junior left tackle Andrew Radakovich, who started all 11 games in 2010, junior right tackle D.J. Main, who started the first seven of the season before being side-lined with a broken foot, and sophomore Chris Elkins, who came on to start the final four at right guard. Brought in to help in January were linemen Lamar Mady and Mark Pratt. Mady is slated to play left guard while Pratt will take over at center. In the spring, junior Marc Stevens, sophomores Zach Larson and Andrew Sinko as well as redshirt freshmen Stephen Page and J.P. May will get their opportunity to crack the starting five. Fred Herdman transitions from defensive line to offensive line and will be given a chance to find a spot as well. At wide receiver, the Guins lost first-team all-league performer and security-blanket Dominique Barnes. Barnes had 37 percent (67-of-180) of the team's total receptions and four of the 12 TD catches. On the flip side, that means - with the exception of all but two by Kyle Banna - 111 of the receptions and eight touchdowns from last year return. But further numbers crunching shows that 38 were receptions by tail-backs and 17 came from tight ends. The top returning receiver entering the spring is senior Ely Ducatel. Ducatel had a break-out year with 27 catches for 336 yards and two touchdowns last season. The second most by a receiver was 12 by Juilian Harrell, followed by Kevin Watts' 11 and three each by Andre Barboza and Josh Lee. The Guins lost Jelani Berassa early in fall camp and look to have him back as a major contributor in 2011. Senior Pat White, senior Dionte Snow and redshirt freshman Jake Dragovich will be looking for opportunities this spring as well. On defense, senior linebacker and 2010's leading tackler John Sasson will spearhead the unit. Last year, 21 different players started at some point on defense and 13 of them are back this season. On the defensive line, seniors Obinna Ekweremuba and Andrew Johnson return with the most experience up front combining to start 14 contests. YSU will be without 11-game starters from last year in Torrance Nicholson and Luke Matelan, but that will open opportunities for others. Senior Daniel Stewart and sophomore D.J. Moss started a game each in 2010. Sophomore Kyle Sirl, redshirt freshman Brandon Green will push for action in the spring. Junior college newcomers Nick DeKraker (tackle) and J osh Fenderson (end) joined the team in January following strong junior-college careers. At linebacker, Sasson started all 11 games last season finishing with 89 total tackles, including 44 solo stops. Senior Deonta Tate returns following a 52-tackle campaign while sophomore Dom Rich had 15 starting the final three games. Junior Will Shaw moves from the safety slot to linebacker after recording 48 tackles. A hungry group of underclassmen will get their shot this spring. Sophomores Ali Cheaib, Thomas Sprague and Mark Brandenstein all were special-teams contributors in 2010 along with junior Ethan Slark. Sophomore Taylor Hill returns after red-shirting in 2010. Hill was a major contributor in 2009 being named to the league's all-newcomer squad. Redshirt's Kevin Johnson and Danny Fernback and transfer Chuck Lengyel also will get looks in the spring. Lengyel impressed in the fall after transferring from Mount Union. In the secondary, YSU has five seniors with corner-back Randy Louis leading the way. Louis had 32 tackles in eight starts last year. The other seniors are Grant Mayes, Scott Sentner, Deionte Williams and Lee, who is converting from wide receiver. Sophomores Jamarious Boatwright and Donald D'Alesio combined to start 10 games as true freshmen last year. D'Alesio ranked second on the team in tackles with 69. Sophomores Josh Garner, Matt Romeo and Gannon Hulea will also be looking for an opportunity this spring. At punter, Nick Liste - an all-newcomer team and honorable-mention All-MVFC pick - returns after a freshman campaign in which he averaged 41.4 yards a kick and had six boots of 50 yards or more. At place-kicker, junior-college transfer David Brown steps in for Stephen Blose. Brown joined the program in January and takes over after Blose made 12-of-14 FGs and 38-of-40 PAT tries. Barnes had 11 of the team's 15 punt returns with Boatwright returning the other four. Cook and Boatwright combined for 37 kickoff returns. Kanetsky returns as holder and senior Nate Schkurko returns as the squad's holder. Drills, which start on Wednesday, conclude on Saturday, April 16, when the Penguins will hold their annual Red-White Spring Game at Stambaugh Stadium. Kickoff is set for 12:05 p.m. |
