Redbirds Fall to Penguins in Battle of FCS Playoff Hopefuls

Image courtesy of Redbird Athletics

NORMAL, Ill – After a shivering, windy, and rainy start to Saturday’s Illinois State University football game, both teams took to the scoreboard early. With a Redbird touchdown from quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse at around the twelve-minute mark of the first quarter, the Penguins were quick to match that with a two-yard run into the end zone four minutes later by Youngstown State quarterback Mitch Davidson. Not too long after at the five-minute mark, Redbird kicker Ian Wagner hit a 43-yard field goal to put the Birds up 10-7 at the end of the first.

The second quarter had quite a bit to offer as well. Youngstown kicker Colt McFadden nailed a 38-yard field goal to tie the game early on in the quarter with 14:07 on the clock. But with a little over a minute left in the quarter, ISU found their luck again with Rittenhouse, as he took the ball for a 1-yard run into the end zone. Not long after with 34 seconds left in the half, Youngstown’s kicker McFadden hit another field goal from 48-yards to end the half only trailing 17-13.

For the third and fourth quarters, neither team was able to add any more points to the board until the final seconds. With under 30 seconds left in the game, Youngstown quarterback Mitch Davidson took a chance toward the far left side of the end zone and it resulted in a Penguin touchdown. While ISU had 5 seconds left in the game to convert, it was soon declared a Penguin win against the Redbirds, 19-17 being the final score.

The Redbirds fall to 5-4 on the season with two weeks to go in the regular season. They’ll visit South Dakota State next week before returning home and hosting Western Illinois.