YOUNGSTOWN - It's been awhile since Warren G. Harding graduate Demond Hymes visited an end zone. More specifically, the date was Oct. 29, 2010 against Cleveland Heights.
That all changed on Saturday. The now redshirt freshman for the Youngstown State Penguins took the ball 1-yard into the end zone for his first career touchdown against Valparaiso.
"It made me feel so good because I haven't crossed the touchdown line since I've been in high school," Hymes said. "I enjoyed it."
With the Penguins in complete control of the game, it was possible for players like Hymes, who are lower on the depth chart, to see some quality snaps in real, game-time speed.
The first series that Hymes was featured in was YSU's third of the second quarter. Hymes' first carry of his career was a 12-yard run that took the Penguins down to the 1-yard line. Hymes punched it in on the next play.
"It felt good, it felt like I was back in high school again," Hymes said. "I had to brush the dust off and get back into what I do well."
Though Hymes was glad to get the score, he knew he could have got it on his first run.
"I thought I was going to have it and my boy told me he missed his block, so I wasn't really mad I just knew I had to push it in the end zone."
He made another trip to the end zone in the fourth quarter. At this point, the third-string quarterback was in, and almost the entire drive was handoffs to Hymes. He rushed six of the seven plays in the series, and capped it off with a 5-yard touchdown.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING: With his 24-yard pass in the first quarter to Christian Bryan, junior quarterback Kurt Hess extended his streak to 13 straight games with a touchdown pass.
Hess continues to move up the record books at YSU. Even though he only played a little over a quarter on Saturday, he now has 42 career touchdowns, which ranks him third in the YSU record books.
LOPSIDED: To say the first half of the game was all YSU might be an understatement. The halftime stats looked like a game of "Madden." The Penguins had 19 first downs, 388 yards of total offense and 49 points. On the other side, Valpo had three first downs, 60 yards of offense and zero points.
ROUGH DAY FOR CRUSADERS: While the Crusaders were trying to do something on offense, it just wasn't happening. Valpo didn't even cross the 50-yard line into YSU territory until 7:22 left in the third quarter.
IT'S BEEN AWHILE: Posting a shut out is not something Youngstown State does often. Until Saturday, the last time the Penguins' defense posted a shut out was on Sept. 26, 2009 at Indiana State. That scored was 28-0.
