By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State withstood a snowstorm, two allowed kickoff return touchdowns and an injured quarterback, but nothing was getting in its way on Senior Day, as the Sycamores sent its senior class out on top thanks to a game-winning field goal as time expired by Eric Heidorn to seal a 27-24 victory over Youngstown State at Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Sycamores (5-6, 3-5 MVFC) were without sophomore starting quarterback Matt Adam for the final two drives of the game, but ISU didn't miss a beat with backup Isaac Harker as the signal caller. The redshirt freshman led two consecutive drives totaling 21 plays, 66 yards and 7:28 that each ended with Heidorn field goals to push ISU to victory over Youngstown State (5-6, 3-5 MVFC).

“I'm very excited about the future of this football program,” said ISU head coach Mike Sanford. “I think we have a lot to build on from today. We found out about a lot of guys today.”

The game got off to a bad start, though, and quickly. After winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half, ISU – amid a steady stream of snow that accumulated at least an inch or two on Memorial Stadium's field over the course of the game -- allowed YSU running back Jody Webb to run the opening kickoff back 93 yards for a touchdown.

ISU responded in kind with a return touchdown of its own later in the quarter. At the 5:25 mark in the first quarter, YSU running back and 2013 MVFC Freshman of the Year, Martin Ruiz, dropped the handoff amid the slick conditions, and senior cornerback Alex Stowers was there for the 37-yard scoop-and-score – his first defensive touchdown in 38 career games played at ISU. Indiana State finishes 2015 having scored on an interception return (100 yards), fumble return (37 yards) and a punt return (42 yards).

YSU's Webb – who ended the day with an absurd 243 all-purpose yards and three total touchdowns – scored on the next drive at 2:31 on a 26-yard scamper to cap off a seven-play, 75 yard drive in response to ISU's fumble return for a TD.

And then, Indiana State unleashed Matt Adam's running ability on the Penguins. Both teams weren't going to throw very much today anyway considering the weather (both teams combined for 135 total passing yards), but a bum shoulder also forced Adam to grind it out on the ground.

And grind it out he did. Adam was ISU's leading rusher on the day with 110 rushing yards and two scores – a 14-yard run with 6:41 left in the second quarter and a 74-yard run at 4:37 in response to yet another 93-yard kickoff return touchdown by Jody Webb.

Adam's shoulder soreness hit critical mass in the fourth quarter, when Coach Sanford handed the reigns to redshirt freshman backup Isaac Harker, who scored his first-career touchdown last week vs. Western Illinois.

“Matt Adam's shoulder is beat up, he can't throw,” Sanford said. “No surgery for him, but he was in a lot of pain and it got worse as the game went on, which affected his throwing. We just felt like we needed to run the ball and do some quarterback run type of things with Harker, and Isaac did a great job.”

Harker ended with 30 yards rushing and 18 passing, and he also had the biggest first down of the game late in the fourth quarter that set up Heidorn's game-winning field goal.

Also instrumental in ISU's ground attack was running back Roland Genesy, who totaled 91 yards on 22 carries (again in relief of the injured LeMonte Booker), and was able to acquire some crucial first downs for ISU along the way.

However, the story of the day (and the season) was the clutch play of All-MVFC candidate Matt Adam. He ends this year with 2,592 total yards of offense, the third-best season in ISU history behind Mike Perish's 2014 season (3,309) and Blayne Baggett's 2005 season (2,814). Adam's 2,098 passing yards ranks as the fourth-best passing season in ISU history and his 19 passing touchdowns ranks as the third-best season ever.

The win is ISU's first on Senior Day since 2000 (vs. Southern Illinois, 23-22), and it is a meaningful one considering the class that is moving on. ISU loses TE Jamar Brown, TE Logan Buske, LB Nick Cody, OL Evan Goebel, DL Conrrad Nicholls, WR Gary Owens, All-MVFC safety Mark Sewall, All-MVFC cornerback Travis Starks, DB Alex Stowers, P Osborn Umeh, All-American linebacker Connor Underwood and LB Kendall Walker.

“It's great for the seniors to go out like that,” Alex Stowers said. “It's awesome to go out with a big win, but then it builds momentum for next year. We lost a lot of close games that we could have won. But now we go into next year with a little bit of momentum.”

“I want to give a lot of credit to our seniors,” Sanford said. “We had a great senior class. I'm going to miss those guys. I give great credit and honor to them for their leadership and for what they've done and what they've been through. The transition in coaches, the 1-11 season, then fighting back from that and taking us to the playoffs. They stayed steady and left us a positive foundation to build upon.”

The foundation laid by those seniors and others before them have paved the way for a young and talented Sycamore team that stands poised to return in 2015 with hopes of returning to the playoffs again.

“I think the accomplishment of our season is that we kept fighting and kept hanging in there and we kept coming back,” Sanford said. “We've had some disappointing losses, and to be able to come back from those close losses where you fight for your life and you come up short, I believe that those are things that have a lot to do with the character of this football team moving forward. The fact that we went through adversity and fought back from all the negative things that had happened to us over the course of the year and find a way to win this game, I think that's huge.”

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