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By KERRY NAYLOR You see it a lot against Tyrone: a team looking to spring an upset deviates from its game plan in an effort to make the play that provides the spark that leads to a win. More often than not, at least as long as John Franco has coached the Golden Eagles, those plays backfire. It happened on a couple of occasions last night in Tyrone’s game against Bald Eagle Area. But while the plays BEA attempted – and misfired on – are bound to be questioned, Eagle coach Jack Tobias stood behind them. And Franco endorsed them. Either way, whether they were the right calls at the right time or plays that strayed from Bald Eagle’s offensive character, they ultimately were the keys to Tyrone’s 21-0 victory at Alumni Stadium in Wingate. The play that led to Tyrone’s first touchdown came on fourth-and-1 from BEA’s own 44. Bald Eagle had already watched a pair of running plays get stuffed for losses on the drive, but Justin Taylor’s 16-yard completion to Kyle Womer on third down brought the ball near midfield and was enough to convince Tobias and offensive coordinator Gawen Stoker to go for it. The play never had a chance from the beginning. Running back Coleman Hoffman bumped into Taylor on the exchange and was then dropped at the line of scrimmage, turning the ball over to Tyrone on downs. Eight plays later, the Golden Eagles led 7-0 after Steve Franco hooked up with Nick Patton for a 10-yard score on the final play of the first quarter. “It was a time to make a big play, maybe get momentum, and give these kids that confidence,” said Tobias. “We still got close to getting the first down. If it’s a clean handoff, I think we get the first down. “(We were) trying to get momentum swings and get things moving in our direction.” Instead, it swung the pendulum in favor of the Golden Eagles who, while not finishing off drives to Franco’s liking, still managed to post their second straight shutout and improve to 7-0 (3-0 Mountain League Nittany Division). It was a shutout preserved, perhaps, by an earlier call, on Bald Eagle’s first drive, which may have taken points off the board for BEA. If BEA’s coaches scripted their first series, it was a masterpiece for eight plays, when they beat Tyrone off the ball and marched the ball 51 yards using only the ground game. But on first down from the Golden Eagles’ 29, BEA went to the air for the first time. It was a play-action rollout pass intended for Womer, but Steve Franco sniffed it out from the start and was able to make a leaping interception at the 5. “The key play was when we intercepted that pass on the first drive,” Coach Franco said. “They were pushing us back quite a bit. I thought that was a good call. I would have done the exact same thing. Our guys stepped up and did a nice job on the play.” Tyrone’s ensuing possession yielded only six yards, but the damage was done, if only psychologically, according to Tobias. “We were moving the ball well, but then you get that turnover, and we’re still at that turning stage of our program where kids doubt themselves a little but at times. Against a team like Tyrone, you can’t make those kind of mistakes. You’ve got to be on top of it from start to finish and be confident, and we lacked that tonight, but these guys have come a long way.” If the first-quarter turnover dampened BEA’s confidence, Taylor’s interception at the start of the second quarter may have doused it for good. Markus Wagner picked him off after he threw a pass behind Hoffman, setting the Golden Eagles up at their own 47. After a 22-yard catch-and-run by Derrick Emigh on second down advanced the ball to BEA’s 29, Tyrone turned to running back Christian Getz, who carried five straight times for 29 yards, including the last three into the end zone. The second of Jared Templeton’s three PAT kicks made it 14-0 with 7:59 left in the first half. The Golden Eagles’ last score came on their first drive of the third quarter, after Getz returned the second half kickoff 46 yards to the BEA 34. Tyrone went as far as the 18 before Steve Franco was sacked for an 11-yard loss to the 29, but on third down he hit Emigh for 16 yards to set up a 5-yard run by Getz on fourth-and-2 to keep the drive going. Getz capped the march three plays later with a 2-yard run. But while the Golden Eagles showed their effectiveness working with a short field, Franco wasn’t completely happy with their ability to finish longer drives. In the second quarter, Tyrone moved 70 yards on 9 plays, including a perfectly placed pass to Getz down the seam of the defense that went for 40 yards, but the drive stalled at the 5, and Templeton’s 22-yard field goal try was no good. Tyrone had another shot at the end zone using its two-minute offense late in the half, but after three Steve Franco completions to three different receivers took the Eagles as far as BEA’s 18, he threw incomplete as time expired. The Golden Eagles watched a 14-yard drive go for naught in the fourth quarter, stalling out with two straight incompletions from the 11. “Our offense was efficient, but I’m really upset that three times in the red zone, we come out with zero points,” Coach Franco said. “Give their defense credit. They shut us down. So we did some good things on offense, we had some key third down conversions, but we still have a lot of work to do.” Steve Franco finished with over 190 yards passing for the third consecutive week, completing 14 of 22 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown. Getz posted the best single-game rushing totals of his career, running for 135 yards on 27 carries while scoring his 13th and 14th touchdowns this season. GRID TIDBITS: Entering the game, BEA was .500 in Week 7 for the first time 17 years. Now 3-4, they’ll try to even their record once more next week against Penns Valley … after he ran for 41 yards on Bald Eagles first series, the Eagles held Jake Taylor to seven yards the rest of the game … the Eagles held BEA 227 yards below its per game average … Emigh led Tyrone with 5 receptions for 78 yards … Steve Franco went over 1,200 yards passing for the season. He now has 1,238 yards, the ninth-best single season total at Tyrone. Tyrone 21, Bald Eagle Area 0 Second Quarter Receiving |
Tyrone Golden Eagles Football 