The Youngstown State football team held its first major scrimmage of the fall at Stambaugh Stadium on Saturday morning.

The defense started strong before the offense caught fire towards the end of the scrimmage.

In two of the first three drives, the defense forced three-and-outs. On the fourth drive, YSU took advantage of two defensive penalties to move to the 20-yard line. After the drive stalled, Andrew Lastovka came on to connect on a 37-yard field goal.

The next drive started with a 39-yard run by Cephus Harris. On fourth-and-five at the 35, Beau Brungard's pass was under pressure and his pass was grabbed by linebacker Mike Wells who returned it 55 yards for a touchdown.

The offense scored on a three-play drive as Matt Davidson and Bryce Oliver had a long connection. The duo picked up a 55-yard gain on first-and-10 from the 25-yard line. After an incompletion, Davidson found CJ Charleston for a 20-yard touchdown toss.

On the next possession, Beau Brungard led the offense on a 12-play, 75-yard march. The drive opened with a pair of runs by Da'Shaun Whatley that gained eight and then 23 yards. On fourth-and-two from the three, Harris scored on a run up the middle for TD.

On the final drive featuring the top two units, Lastovka boomed a 46-yard field goal during the two-minute drill.

Defensively, Jordan Trowers had seven tackles, four of which were solos. Gage Salyers, Preston Zandier, Michael Voitus, Logan Pasco and Alex Howard each had three tackles. Jaylen Castleberry led the secondary with three pass breakups.

King rushed for 30 yards on seven carries, Dante Walker had five carries for 31 yards, Harris added 40 yards on seven attempts and Whatley rushed for 48 yards on six totes.

Davidson was 13-of-20 for 135 yards and completed six of his last seven attempts. Late in the workout, Max Blanc found Joey Farthing on a 31-yard touchdown toss.

The Penguins open the 2023 season against Valparaiso on Thursday, August 31 at Stambaugh Stadium.