Senior tailback P.J. Mays set a school-record with his fourth career 200-plus yard game and also eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive year helping lead the Penguins to a 21-9 victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.

Mays finished the game with 210 yards ranking as the 11th-best single-game total in school history and now has 1,001 yards rushing on the season. As a team, YSU rushed for a season-high 376 yards as Mike Burns added a career-best 123 yards on the ground. The Penguins defense came up big holding the top scoring offense in Division I-AA to just nine points.

The Penguins (5-4 overall and 3-3 in the Gateway Football Conference) amassed 461 total yards while SIU (4-6 and 2-3) had 345 yards, including 188 on the ground playing without its leading rusher Mo Abdulqaadir. The Salukis came in averaging 41.7 points per game.

Head Coach Jon Heacock said the effort against the Salukis was impressive coming off two tough losses to Northern Iowa and Western Illinois.

"The credit of this victory goes to the character of our seniors and the way they have kept us together," Heacock said. "They played with enthusiasm tonight, they played with emotion tonight and are playing to the very end. That is a great tribute to our senior class and the way they lead us."

YSU took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Burns raced 44 yards for a score. In the second, SIU's Scott Everhart kicked a 32-yard field goal to close the gap to 7-3.

The Penguins got a break in the third with SIU driving trying to take the lead.

But on first-and-goal from the YSU seven, Russell Stuvaints forced a Courtney Abbott fumble and Waymann Peters recovered.

On the ensuing drive, the Penguins extended their lead to 14-3 on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Marshall to Jerald Burley. Marshall finished the game completing 6-of-10 passes for 85 yards and the touchdown.

SIU pulled within 14-9 with 6:05 when Brandon Robinson tossed a 20-yard halfback pass to Abbott for a score. It marked the second straight season that Robinson had thrown a halfback pass for a touchdown against the Penguins.

YSU answered again with a 4-play 77-yard drive that was all Mays. On the scoring march, he had runs of 59, one, three and a 14-yarder where he found the end zone with 3:45 remaining.

SIU was led by Robinson who had 98 yards rushing and 68 yards receiving. SIU quarterback Joel Sambursky was 12-of-27 for 137 yards on the afternoon.

The Penguins play their final road game of the 2002 season at Illinois State next Saturday. YSU has won two straight meetings against the Redbirds. Kickoff at Hancock Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time.