Second half miscues sink Valparaiso

FB: Beacons give up 35 unanswered points in season-opening loss to Youngstown State

There was a brief moment on Thursday night when the unthinkable was starting to become possible.

When the scholarships and the budgets and the facilities and everything else was thrown out the window and it was just 22 guys on the field playing football.

Mikey Appel Jr. had just hit Solomon Davis for a 53-yard gain and moments later Ryan Mann plunged in the end zone as Valparaiso scored a touchdown to cut Youngstown State’s lead to 17-10 just before halftime. The Beacons were set to receive the second half kickoff and there was a moment where it felt like Valpo was finally going to get over the hump against a nationally-ranked program.

The moment didn’t last.

Youngstown State, a fully-funded FCS scholarship program, forced three turnovers in the third quarter, each more backbreaking than the previous miscue, as the Penguins scored 35 unanswered points to run up a 52-10 blowout at Arnold D. Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown, Ohio.