Youngstown State vs. Mercyhurst
August 28, 2025 | Stambaugh Stadium
Youngstown, Ohio | 6 p.m.

Broadcast Information
TV – ESPN+ (Drae Smith, Chris  Sammarone)
Radio Network – 570 AM WKBN (Bob Hannon, Steve Leslie, Anthony Romo, Mike Orto)
Internet Radio – 570wbkn.iheart.com
App Audio - iHeartRadio App

Penguins
2025 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Doug Phillips (Sixth Season)
X (Formerly Twitter): @ysufootball

Lakers
2025 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Ryan Riemedio (Fourth Season)
X (Formerly Twitter): @MercyhurstFB

Series History
All-Time Series: First Meeting
 

Opponent	Date	Location	Video	Audio	Live Stats
	Thursday August 28 | 6 PM	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, Ohio	ESPN+	570 WKBN	Live Stats

        The Youngstown State football team opens up the 2025 campaign with a Thursday night contest against Mercyhurst. Kickoff at Stambaugh Stadium is set for 6 p.m. The game is available on ESPN+, WKBN 570 AM and iHeartRadio.
    • YSU posted a 4-8 overall record in 2024 with all four victories coming at Stambaugh Stadium, two of which came in overtime.
    • The Guins return first-team All-MVFC standouts in QB Beau Brungard and WR Max Tomczak. 
    • Top returning starters from the 2024 campaign include Brungard (12), Tomczak (12), OT Desmeal Leigh (12), OT Shane Keenan (12), DE Michael Voitus (11), DB Makai Shahid (11) and LB Preston Zandier (8).
    • YSU also returns the 2024 FCS Punter of the Year, Brendon Kilpatrick. Last year on 40 punts, Kilpatrick averaged a school-record 46 yards an attempt.  He would have ranked fifth in the FCS, but didn't meet the minimum requirement standares. Kilpatrick has 86 punts for an average of 44.6 yards in 25 games.
    • PK Andrew Lastovka is back for his third year as kicker while Pittsburgh/Buffalo LS Byron Floyd will assume snapping duties. Lastovka has made 29 field goals in 25 career contests. Floyd has started 38 games (25 at Pitt and 13 at Buffalo). 
    • Tomczak has caught 155 passes for 2,003 yards and seven scores in 36 games played.
    • Brungard was two yards shy of a 2,000-1,000 campaign. He passed for 2,141 yards while rushing for 998 yards. He ran for 16 scores while adding 12 passing TDs.
    • YSU has led the FCS in time of possession each of the past two seasons. Last year, the Guins averaged 36:11 and in 2023, had 35:06.
    • Mercyhurst was 4-7 in its first year as an FCS program in 2024 and closed the campaign with wins over Lincoln University and Saint Francis. The Lakers dropped two other games by one point during the year.
    • The Penguins play their second straight foe from the Keystone State on Sept. 6 when they entertain Robert Morris.

Grinding Down the Clock

    The Guins have led the FCS in the time of possession in each of the past two seasons.
    In 2023, YSU ranked first averaging 35:06 per game in 2023. That number actually increased to 36:11 per game in 2024.
    The Guins held the ball for more than 40 minutes in three games last season (Duquesne, Missouri State and South Dakota State).    

Returning All-MVFC Performers

    The Guins bring back four All-MVFC players from a year ago.
    Highlighting the group is first-team WR Max Tomczak and QB Beau Brungard, who earned first-team accolades as an all-purpose player.
    Punter Brendon Kilpatrick was a second-team honoree while OT Desmeal Leigh was an honorable-mention pick.

Specialists Bring Experience

    The Penguins' specialists group features an impressive array of experience entering the campaign.
    YSU has third-year starters in punter Brendon Kilpatrick and placekicker Andrew Lastovka. New to the lineup is long snapper Byron Floyd, who started for two seasons at Pitt and one at Buffalo, before transferring into the program.
    Last season, Kilpatrick was selected as the FCS Punter of the Year by the Augusta Sports Council. In 2024, on 40 punts, Kilpatrick averaged a school-record 46 yards an attempt.
    Lastovka has made 29 field goals in 25 career contests. Floyd has started 38 games (25 at Pitt and 13 at Buffalo). 
    YSU led all of FCS in net punting at 43.9 per attempt.

Brungard Shows Off Run Skills

    Junior QB Beau Brungard set the school single-season record for rushing yards by at quarterback a year ago.
    Brungard rushed for 998 yards on 159 carries and scored 16 touchdowns in 2024. He averaged 83.2 yards per game and an impressive 6.3 yards per rush.
    Four times last season he has rushed for more than 100 yards.
    In the final two games of the campaign, he threw for 522 yards on 49 completions and three scores. He also rushed for five combined scores in those games.
Tomczak Over 2,000
    WR Max Tomczak enters the year with 2,003 yards receiving. He ranks 10th in school history in career receiving yardage but is just 267 from second place.
    His 155 career receptions already rank him third behind Dominique Barnes (168) and Jim Ferranti (180). Ferranti owns the school record with 3,103 yards set back in 1979.
    A year ago, he had 73 grabs for 904 yards and four touchdowns. He had 56 catches for 669 yards in 2023 and 26 for 430 yards in 2022.
    In the final two games last year he had 20 receptions for 255 yards. 
    He's has at least four receptions in 16 of the last 18 games. 

O-Line Features Experience

    YSU's offensive line returns three starters from last season in tackles Desmeal Leigh and Shane Keenan and center Van Keen.
    Leigh has the most starting experience on the team with 25 starts. Keenan started all 12 contests at right guard but has moved out to the right tackle spot.
    Keen started 10 times last season with the final eight coming at center. He has 12 starts, including 10 in league play in his career.
    The Guins added Colgate transfer Isaac Perkins who started 15 games and fourth-year junior Joe Sferra will be on the line.

Harris Saw improvement

    CB DJ Harris was named to the MVFC All-Newcomer squad last year as a safety.
    This year Harris is now playing corner for the Penguins and has looked tremendous during fall camp, including a pick six in a scrimmage. 
    Last season, Harris led the team with 57 total tackles and was second with 36 solo stops. He also led the team with 47 tackles in MVFC play with 28 solos and 19 assist.
    He ended the season with 35 tackles in the final four games.

PSAC Offense Additions

    YSU picked up three playmakers from the PSAC in the offseason with TB Tahir Mills and WRs Ky "Flash" Wilson and Mike Solomon.
    Mills rushed for 855 yards on 149 carries and scored eight touchdowns. On three occasions, he ran for more than 100 yards. He also caught nine passes for 93 yards and a TD.
    Solomon had 56 receptions for 786 yards and eight touchdowns. He was the Rock's leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns and had a breakout 26 catches for 304 yards in four postseason games.
    Wilson recorded 1,524 all-purpose yards with 32 kickoff returns for 842 yards and a touchdown while catching 57 passes for 637 yards and four touchdowns.

Hodge, Hickey Step In

    YSU bolstered the secondary with experienced additions Dathan Hickey and Dayne Hodge. 
    Hickey missed the campaign last season with an injury, but had appeared in 28 games throughout his career at Yale. Since the 2022 season he has played in only five games after appearing in 23 from 2018-21.
    Hodge played in 28 games and started 19 contests at safety for Tulsa since 2021. 
    In 2024, he played and started 11 games. Hodge finished second on the team with 60 tackles (30 solos and 30 assists) with three pass breakups. In 2023, he played in all 12 games and started eight contests and registered 57 stops.

Tomczak on Senior Bowl List

    WR Max Tomczak has been named to the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl Top 300 list, the organization announced last week.
    Tomczak is one of just five FCS players on the list that includes 276 players from Power Four programs. He is joined by UIW WR Jalen Walthall, North Dakota State WR Bryce Lance, Stephen F Austin DB Charles Demmings and Harvard QB Jaden Craig.

Familiar Faces on Defense

    YSU returns LB Preston Zandier, LB Michael Wells, and DE Michael Voitus who have been key contributors for the program.
    Zandier had 45 tackles last season and has 55 in 34 career games played. Wells has 28 tackles in 27 games played, highlighted by 23 in 2024. Voitus has played in 30 games and registered 39 total tackles. He had a career-best 28 last year, including 3.5 sacks.

Familiar Faces on Offense

    YSU returns WR Luke Hensley, TE Colt Sechrest, TE Austin Bray, TB Jaden Gilbert and TB Da'Shaun Whatley.
    Hensley has 36 catches for 392 yards and three touchdowns in 34 games played. Sechrest has 17 catches for 112 yards in 24 contests. Bray played in all 12 games last year registering eight catches and the game-winning two-point play vs. UNI. Whatley has rushed for 171 yards on 44 carries in 20 games. Gilbert has played in 13 games totalling 119 yards on 18 carries with a score.

2025 Team Captains

    YSU has elected five team captains for the 2025 season. 
    The five players voted captains for the year are QB Beau Brungard (12), TB Ethan Wright (2), Punter Brendon Kilpatrick (40), DE Michael Voitus (42) and DB Dathan Hickey (11).
    Votius has been named a team captain for the second straight year.

The Wright Stuff

    TB Ethan Wright proved to be a huge addition after transferring from Cincinnati.
    Wright started at tailback in seven games for the Penguins in 2024. Six times last year, Wright rushed for 61 yards or more. In the win over North Dakota, he had a season-high 93 yards on 16 carries.
    In 32 career games played at UC from 2020-23, he had 215 yards on 44 attempts and caught five passes for 44 yards. In 11 games at YSU, he has 136 carries for 677 yards and 18 receptions for 114 yards.
    For his career, he has played in 43 contests rushing for 892 yards on 180 carries and scored seven touchdowns.

Father-Son QB Starters

    QB Beau Brungard joined his father, Mark, as starting quarterbacks for the Guins. 
    Beau Brungard, a fourth-year junior, started for the first time in his career at Villanova. He  started every game for YSU last season.
    Mark made his starting debut on Sept. 2, 1993, at Western Michigan. He started every game of the 1993, 1994 and 1995 season.

Numbers of Note

• Turnover Margin: Since 1996, YSU is 158-49 when they win or tie the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 32-95.
Since 1990 YSU is:
• 179-22-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.
• 159-24 when rushing for 200-plus yards.
• 184-35 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 97-14-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 213-24 when leading entering the fourth.
• 95-3-2 holding opponents to 10 points-or-less.
• YSU is 21-6 when a back rushes for more than 200 yards in a game.

Up Next:

    YSU is back at home on Sept. 6 when it plays host to Robert Morris at Stambaugh Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.