YOUNGSTOWN, OH -- No. 6 Youngstown State had its third-best offensive day in school history Saturday, amassing 609 net yards in a 45-7 victory over Elon on Saturday afternoon at Stambaugh Stadium.
The 609-yard outburst ranks behind a 637-yard effort against Wayne State in 1974 and a 618-yard output vs. Bloomsburg in 1990. The Penguins (8-2) tallied 373 rushing yards and 245 passing yards while averaging 9.8 yards per snap.
Youngstown State took command early as P.J. Mays scored two first-quarter touchdowns to build a 14-0 Penguin advantage. Mays finished the game with 170 yards rushing giving him 1,245 on the season, which ranks as the eighth-best single-season total in school history. He also has 19 touchdowns on the season, including 18 rushing.
In the second quarter, Mike Burns rambled 44 yards for his first touchdown of his career. Burns finished with 116 yards rushing after entering the contest with 197 on the season.
Before the half, the Penguins picked up a key touchdown as quarterback Jeff Ryan threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Sean Guerriero with nine seconds left in the half. On the drive, the Penguins covered 62 yards in 22 seconds on four passes from Ryan to Guerriero.
For the game, Ryan completed 8-of-13 passes for 164 yards and moved into to second place in all-time passing yardage at YSU. Tight End Dennis Dlugosz finished the game with a career-best 135 yards receiving on four receptions.
In the third quarter, Jake Stewart kicked a 31-yard field goal to open the second-half scoring. Ryan threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Mintze to put the Penguins ahead 36-7. Before the end of the quarter, Darius Peterson blocked a Beau Wegmann punt out of the end zone for a 38-7 advantage.
Rashaud Palmer scored for the Phoenix with 11:32 remaining in the game. YSU's Colby Street scored on an eight-yard touchdown run with 8:50 remaining to determine the game's final margin.
The Phoenix (2-9) was held to an uncharacteristically-low 223 yards of total offense (198 rushing, 25 passing) in its season finale. Of Elon's nine losses this year, seven were to teams that appeared among the top 15 in The Sports Network's NCAA-IAA Poll this fall.
Game Box Score
--ELON--
