Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU right tackle Jaison Williams (54) blocks during a play against Southern Illinois last week. Williams is one of 14 seniors playing their final game this week for the Penguins.

YOUNGSTOWN — The final game week of the regular season is an emotional one for 14 of Youngstown State’s seniors.

This week will be their last film study, their last team meeting, their last practice, their last walkthrough and then finally, their last game.

“I woke up this morning and got a little teared up, but I just said, let’s go get after it,” said senior long snapper Sam Merryman, who will make his 52nd career start for YSU this week. “I’m just happy. I’ve played this game for so long. Going into start No. 52, and I can’t be more grateful for what I’ve had. … My entire life I’ve played this game, and this is my last, probably my last game I’ll ever play. I’m just so excited. I’ve got a lot of family coming up, so I can’t be more excited than what I am. So hopefully we come out with a win on Saturday.”

Saturday’s season-finale at noon against Northern Iowa at Stambaugh Stadium will be the final time that those 14 Penguins seniors take the field and suit up in the red and white.

“Definitely a lot of feels. It’s an excitement, it’s a good feeling just to know you played in almost 50 games,” senior defensive end Hunter Allen said. “Knowing that this is the last game in my career, it’s emotional. But I would just say I take pride that this is my last game (because) I played five seasons here, so I take pride in that. Just a little bit sad this is my last game, but a little bit excited (too). I’m excited to see what’s next and what I can do from there.”

It’s a group that has experienced plenty of highs and lows during its time in Youngstown.

Many of them were part of the 2020 COVID season that was postponed from fall 2020 to spring 2021 when YSU went 1-6 and the 2021 fall season when the Penguins went 3-7.

But they also were able to experience the 2022 season when the Penguins went 7-4 and the 2023 season when YSU went 8-5 and made it to the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2016.

After two years of highs, the 2024 season has been another struggle for the Penguins as they currently sit at 3-8 heading into the final week. But despite all that, Allen doesn’t look back on this season with negative feelings.

“A lot of people say stuff like this is the most disappointing season in YSU history, but I don’t look at it like that,” Allen said. “This is my fifth season here. We started out in a low, built the program up. This might be another low season, but I wouldn’t say — I mean, I enjoyed every moment. Just being able to get out to go practice and play football every day, I can’t sit here and say this is terrible when there’s people out there working their 9-5 and they hate their job. So I’m not going to sit here and be like this was a terrible season. It wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but I still loved every moment of it.”

Head coach Doug Phillips hopes the seniors utilize the lessons they’ve learned as part of the Penguins’ program as they prepare to take the next step in their respective lives.

“They’re going to go on and have a great life,” Phillips said. “I hope this helped them deal with how you deal with adversity, how you deal with success and keep friendships that last a lifetime. Their lives are now going to take off, and that’s what gets me most excited. Their careers take off, and they’re going to be great fathers, great husbands. As a coach, that’s what you try to do.”

While sending the seniors out on a high is important to the Penguins, a win would also give YSU some much-needed momentum heading into the offseason.

“I look back to three years ago and we limped into Southern Illinois,” Phillips said. “At that time, probably nobody knew who Bryce Oliver was. Bryce Oliver had a great game and I think that kind of propelled him. We were able to win, and it propelled us for the next two years. For me, the young guys, it’s how do you want to be remembered? What do you want to take into this offseason to get us some momentum going into the offseason?”

To get that momentum, the Penguins will have to beat a Panthers team whose season has mirrored YSU’s in many ways.

UNI currently sits at 2-8 overall and is 0-6 this season in Missouri Valley Football Conference play. Since starting the season 2-0, the Panthers have lost eight straight games.

Longtime Panthers head coach Mark Farley announced on Sunday that this year would be his last as he would retire at the end of UNI’s season. Farley is the winningest coach in Panthers and MVFC history with 182 wins since 2001.

“He’s been doing it a long time, [I] have all the respect for him,” Phillips said. “He’s taken them to a national championship. I don’t know him that well, but I do know I have respect for the program he’s built. To me, they’re a blue blood of this league year in and year out — playoff contenders and big, physical with how they recruit and how they develop. Those are the programs that you try to aspire to.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Neel Madhavan by email at nmadhavan@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @NeelMadhavan.