As Gateway Football Conference play opens across the Midwest tomorrow afternoon, there’s no better matchup to illustrate the league’s traditional strength moving the ball on the ground than the sixth-ranked Hilltoppers’ contest against Youngstown State at L.T. Smith Stadium/Jimmy Feix Field. Two programs that annually rank among the best in the nation in rushing will meet with aspirations of getting an early jump in the race for the conference title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.
The Hilltoppers — who are second in the conference and 25th in the country with 200.33 rushing yards per contest — are led by Lerron Moore, who is coming off a season-best 113-yard performance with three touchdowns in the “Battle of the Bluegrass.” Moore is ably supported by reserves Stephen Willis (22 carries, 158 yards, two touchdowns) and Brian Porter (21 for 115 with a pair of scores).
Youngstown State enters the game having defeating Liberty, 27-17, last week after rushing for a season-high 223 yards. Sophomore transfer Monquantae Gibson, who is familiar with the Commonwealth after appearing in seven games at Kentucky in 2003, led the Penguins with 160 yards in the victory on his way to earning Gateway Conference Offensive Player-of-the-Week accolades. It was his third straight contest with more than 100 yards after sitting out YSU’s season-opening win over Slippery Rock.
That’s not to say the two team’s passing attacks can’t hold up their end of the bargain. While each team doesn’t have the yardage through the air to instill fear in opposing defenses, both units have proved to be very efficient.
The two offenses share a common trait that has helped their success in 2004 — a player in his second year on campus leading the charge.
Sophomore Justin Haddix has thrown for 448 yards and two touchdowns in three games this season, as he currently ranks first all-time among Topper quarterbacks in passing efficiency. Haddix is averaging 164.8 yards per game over the last five contests after recording 179 in Western’s victory over rival Eastern Kentucky Sept. 18. Redshirt freshman Tom Zetts has taken over the reigns of YSU’s attack, completing 61.3 percent (46-of-75) of his attempts. He ranks 25th nationally in passing efficiency after an 11-of-16 performance last time out.
It hasn’t taken long for each signal caller to find a favorite target, either. Maurice Perkins has a team-leading 12 receptions for 212 yards and a touchdown through three games for the Hilltoppers, which is three times as many catches as any of his teammates have posted. Matt Rycraft paces the Penguins in the category with 17 receptions in four YSU contests.
The two schools not only share a history of powerful running games, but one of solid defense.
Neither team is allowing more than 370 yards per outing, and the Western unit ranks in the top half of the Gateway in four of five categories.
Individually, the Hilltoppers are among the league leaders in virtually every category. Charles Thompson — the winner of the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week award in two of the first three weeks of the season — leads all players with 11.5 tackles per game, while fellow linebacker Deont Smith is tied for the league lead with 1.33 stops for loss per contest and Antonio Thomas is one of four individuals in the conference averaging an interception a game. Brandon Smith is tied for fourth with 0.5 sacks per appearance, while Artis Neal and Thomas are among the top five in the league in passes defensed.
The Penguins have seven players who have posted 20 or more stops in the first month of the season, led by Jeremiah Wright (31 TT). Preseason all-conference selection Mike Bracken has 30 tackles and Jason Perry 28 to go along with the team’s only two interceptions.
Special teams play will be highlighted by Brian Claybourn — who ranks eighth nationally with an average of 43.3 yards per punt — and Nick Terracina, who stands fourth in the country with seven field goals in four games. Both squads are among the top seven in the nation in net punting, as both have allowed less than two yards per return.
There is one glaring difference to watch between the two teams — ball control. The Hilltoppers lead the country with a plus-4.00 turnover margin and have forced 15 opponent miscues, while YSU ranks last in the Gateway in turnover margin.
History is in favor of the Penguins, who have opened Gateway Conference play with a win in six of their seven seasons in the league. On the other hand, Western has dropped all three league openers, although this will mark the first time since joining the conference in 2001 that the Toppers will face someone other than Western Illinois to start Gateway action. History also shows that YSU’s lone league-opening loss was a 13-7 defeat at the hands of the Hilltoppers in September 2002.
The warning lamp has been hung, the participants tested in preconference action. Fans beware — Gateway Conference Football and its physical nature are back.
