Jeremy Chandler and Dennis Mitchell reached the end zone with long returns while Lerron Moore finished with a game-high 134 yards rushing to lead seventh-ranked Western past Youngstown State, 37-13, in Gateway Football Conference action at Stambaugh Stadium.
The Hilltoppers (8-3, 5-2 Gateway) closed the regular season with wins in four of their last five contests, while the Penguins (5-7, 2-5 GFC) fell for the fourth straight week. WKU has won all three meetings between the two teams since joining the league in 2001 and has a 9-4 advantage overall in the series.
Western must now wait until the playoff field is announced on Sunday, Nov. 23.
“We came out with a lot of confidence after another good week of practice,” said Topper head coach David Elson. “Things got a little sticky after the opening kickoff, but I’m proud of the way the guys responded. Youngstown State played and battled as much as they could with their injury situation.”
It didn’t take long for Western to get on the board, as Chandler returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to give WKU a 7-0 lead at 14:47. It was only his fourth return of the season and the first touchdown of his four-year career.
The Penguins answered with a 13-play, 56-yard drive that culminated with a 42-yard field goal from Nick Terracina that made the score 7-3 with 9:54 left in the opening quarter.
The score remained that way until early in the second quarter when the WKU rushing attack finally got on track. Moore had three first-down rushes of more than 10 yards to help the Hilltoppers get as far as the YSU-9, but after a stop on third down Matt Lange kicked a 29-yard field goal with 9:28 to go as Western regained a touchdown lead. Moore carried six times to account for all 41 yards on the three-minute, 41-second march.
Again, the Penguins immediately came back down the field for a score. Josiah Doby capped a seven-play, 80-yard march with a 12-yard touchdown run at 6:04 that evened the scored one play after Aaron Marshall found Shawn Carlson for a 26-yard pass.
YSU appeared to gain momentum when Waymann Peters intercepted a Justin Haddix pass and returned it to the WKU-36 to give the Penguins the ball back. After a first-down pass by Marshall, however, Mitchell stepped in front of a pass intended for Cody Clark and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown and a 17-10 Hilltopper advantage with 4:03 remaining in the first half. From that point on, the Toppers never looked back.
WKU got the ball back and drove to the YSU-1 to set up Lange’s 18-yard field goal as time expired in the half, making the score 20-10 at break. With his second three-pointer of the afternoon, Lange became the first player in WKU history to hit 20 field goals in a season.
The two teams were separated by just three yards of total offense following the first 30 minutes, with WKU holding a 183-180 advantage.
Another turnover set the tone for the second half as Western continued to build on its advantage. Ronnie Lilly forced a fumble by Josh Cayson on the kickoff to start the third quarter, which was recovered by Brian Claybourn. Five plays and 38 yards later, Moore gave WKU a 27-10 lead with a 17-yard touchdown run at 12:48.
Terracina and Lange traded field goals from over 40 yards leaving the score 30-13 at the end of the third period, and Moore closed out the scoring with a 33-yard touchdown run midway through the final period.
He collected 83 yards in the second half, helping WKU control the ball for 18-and-a-half minutes after the break. The Toppers rushed for 285 yards as a team and ended the contest with 398 yards of total offense.
The Western defense, on the other hand, only surrendered 83 yards in the second half. Erik Dandy led WKU with nine stops, with Mitchell adding eight, and Chad Kincaid and Charles Thompson collecting seven each. Kincaid recorded six tackles behind the line of scrimmage and Brandon Smith chipped in with three stops for loss as five Toppers posted multiple tackles for negative yardage.
Marshall was 17-of-28 for 154 yards before being lifted in the fourth quarter, although his two interceptions were the first he has thrown in league play all year. Mike Roberts had a game-high four catches, and Doby paced the Penguins with 64 yards on the ground.
Haddix was 5-of-11 passing for 113 yards, needing only two targets all afternoon. Casey Rooney caught three passes for 63 yards while Shannon Hayes added a pair of receptions for another 50.
