Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Youngstown State players begin to celebrate after Colt McFadden (19) hit a game-winning 42-yard field goal to send the Penguins past Western Illinois, 28-27.

Twice in the last two seasons, Western Illinois has managed a fourth-quarter rally to knock off Youngstown State. On Saturday, the Penguins reversed their fortunes in the same manner.

Trailing by 10 with 3:09 to play, YSU staged an improbable — potentially season-saving — comeback, capped by a Colt McFadden 42-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Penguins to a 28-27 victory over Western Illinois in Macomb.

The win snapped a 2-game losing skid to the Leathernecks, and was YSU’s first win in Macomb since 2015. It also marks the first time in the Doug Phillips era that Youngstown State has won consecutive conference games.

“It’s good to get it off our backs and know our kids fought to the end and made plays when they needed to make plays,” Phillips said. “… So our kids never quit. It wasn’t pretty. You could tell when you come to Macomb, it’s a business trip, and you have to play good. We didn’t play great, but at the end of the game when we needed to make plays, our kids made plays and walked away with a hard-fought Missouri Valley Football Conference win on the road.”

Western (0-7, 0-4) had taken a 27-17 lead on a 5-yard fade hauled in by Naseim Brantley, the MVFC’s receptions leader. He was a thorn in YSU’s side all day, as he caught five passes for 66 yards and two scores.

On the ensuing drive, the Penguins (4-3, 2-2) started in reverse after an illegal block in the back call put YSU behind the sticks at first and 20. But Mitch Davidson hit Brandon Alexander deep for a 48-yard gain on the next play, and then connected with Bryce Oliver for a 40-yard touchdown a play later.

Then, on the ensuing extra point, the snap was bobbled by holder Paddy Lynch, but he managed to get a 2-point pass off to Trenton Gillison to draw the Penguins to within 27-25.

“We actually practice that throughout the week,” McFadden said. “In all honesty, I’m going to have to watch on film to see what happened, but we train for moments like those. So that training just kind of sets in and we’re rolling.”

Still, the Penguins needed to get the ball back with only 2:29 to play and one timeout. McFadden attempted an onside kick, but it bounced too far and into the hands of Brantley, who immediately stepped out of bounds once he had possession.

With its season on the brink, the Youngstown State defense delivered a three-and-out, though, and Western’s final play was an incomplete pass that preserved the Penguins’ timeout.

With 50 seconds to go, YSU took over at its 17 yard line. Davidson began with a 19-yard completion to Oliver, and then ran for 8 yards to the YSU 44. On second down, Davidson hit Max Tomczak for a 16-yard gain to the Western 40, and then Jaleel McLaughlin rushed twice to the Western 25 before YSU took its timeout to set up McFadden’s field goal.

And as he has before in his YSU career, McFadden delivered on his clutch 42-yarder.

“It just comes down to our training. We prep for moments like these all year,” McFadden said. “Coach Phillips does a great job of testing us throughout the season and putting us in difficult situations, so when the time like that comes, quite frankly, we’re prepared for it, and we’re ready to roll. It was just an unbelievable way to come away with a win here on the road.”

For as frenetic as the Penguins’ final two drives were, the YSU offense had struggled for much of the day.

Youngstown State took a 10-7 lead into halftime, built on a McFadden field goal and then a McLaughlin touchdown run, a 14-yarder with 16 seconds left before halftime.

After the Leathernecks took a 13-10 lead in the third quarter, YSU regained control on a 14-yard touchdown run by Dra Rushton with 8:37 left in the contest to go up 17-13.

But Western answered with back-to-back touchdowns to Brantley, the second set up by an interception, before YSU staged its comeback.

McLaughlin ran for 207 yards and a score on 31 carries, while Rushton had 78 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts. McLaughlin’s 200-yard performance was his fourth in a YSU uniform, tying a program record.

Davidson, meanwhile, shook off a mostly sluggish day to finish 16-of-29 for 221 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He completed passes to seven different players. Oliver had four receptions for 76 yards, and Tomczak had four grabs for 37 yards.

“We did (struggle offensively), and you kind of get a feel for it in the first half,” Phillips said. “But then you feel good, and you always feel good with handing off to (McLaughlin) or (Rushton), but we knew at the end we had the wind there in the fourth, which was huge. … We connected on our two big post plays (to Alexander and Oliver) on the last drive before the field goal, and we knew now to get into field goal range.”

He added, “Colt was hitting 62-yarders with the wind prior to the game, so we knew offensively all we had to do was get to the 45, and we’d have an opportunity, and (McLaughlin) got us a little bit closer for a 42-yard field goal.”

YSU hosts South Dakota next week.

jwhetzel@tribtoday.com