By KERRY NAYLOR
Daily Herald Sports Writer

Through two games, the Bellefonte Red Raiders had made their mark with fourth-quarter poise and character.

The Raiders were 2-0, and both victories required critical drives as the clock wound down.

But Tyrone's near-flawless first half last night at Rogers Stadium made that a non-issue. 

The Raiders could have had the fourth-quarter poise of John Elway, and it wouldn't have made much difference.  It can only take you so far when you're down six touchdowns and watching the minutes melt away like butter on a frying pan.

Tyrone scored on five of its six first-half possessions, opened the second-half with a 90-yard kickoff return for a score by Derrick Emigh, and went into cruise control from there en route to a 42-8 victory that had the game clock running the entire second half thanks to the mercy rule.

The Golden Eagles improved to 3-0 heading into their Nittany Division game next week at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field against undefeated Huntingdon.

And while the game had the complexion of a vintage Golden Eagle victory, it also had the markings of the latest incarnation of Tyrone football, the one built on speed and dash.  Tyrone blasted the Raiders for 172 rushing yards in the first half, powered by shifty junior Christian Getz, and used its big-play passing offense effectively, while sparingly.

Getz ran for 116 yards on 17 carries and scored three touchdowns to boost Tyrone to a 35-0 halftime lead.  His numbers included four carries for nine yards or more.

Quarterback Steve Franco, meanwhile, attempted only 8 passes, completing 5 for 85 yards.

"(Christian) is a very good, instinctive cutter," said Golden Eagle coach John Franco.  "Our offense did a nice job, and our passing game, when we needed it, came through.  We were definitely better this week than we were last week.

The books are still out on the Red Raiders in comparison to their first two weeks.  Coach Duffy Besch said his team was looking at its game against Tyrone as a measuring stick of sorts, but it was apparent quickly that the two teams were on different planes.

"There were so many emotions, it was our first home game, and I think that showed," said Besch, who inherited a team that went 1-9 a season ago.  "That's a good football team . it was a great test for our kids, and we're going to take this and learn from it."
Certainly, there are lessons the Raiders can take away that will pay dividends down the road, but between the lines last night, what they learned was Tyrone is a tough team to deal with when its offense gets on a role.

On their first possession, the Eagles overcame two procedure penalties to drive 55 yards for the game's first score.  Getz covered most of the ground, carrying the ball three times for 27 yards and displaying a seasoned field vision - a common theme on Getz's carries throughout the game - with sharp cutbacks against the grain of Bellefonte's defense.  He moved Tyrone to the 5 with a 15-yard run on first down five plays into the series, and scored on a 5-yard run.  Jared Templeton's first of 5 PAT kicks made it 7-0 with 8:39 to play.

Tyrone's defense then held Bellefonte to one of its six three-play possessions, and the Eagles took the ball back at their own 42 following a 15-yard punt return by Emigh.  On first down, Steve Franco hooked up with Nick Patton for a 43-yard gain to the Bellefonte 20, and two plays later Getz scored from the 7.

The Golden Eagles scored three more times in the second quarter, with the first capping an 11-play, 65-yard drive that began with 4:>06 left in the first.  Getz started it with a 27-yard scamper on another cutback run, and carried eight times on the series for 60 yards, including the last three to make it 21-0.

Emigh's second long punt return, this one for 27 yards, set up Tyrone's next series at the Bellefonte 9, and three straight rushing plays by Zach Burke covered that distance, with Burke getting the touchdown on a 1-yard run with 8:18 left in the half.

Tyrone's last touchdown of the first half came on a 53-second drive that covered 68 yards.  It began with a 27-yard pass from Steve Franco to Markus Wagner and was kept alive with a pair of Franco scrambles that netted 13 and 11 yards.  Franco scored with 3 seconds left in the half on a 5-yard run to put the mercy rule in effect.

The Eagles made it 42-0 after Emigh scored his second special teams touchdown on the season on the opening kick of the second half.  He fielded it at the 10, cut to a wall to his left, zipped through a  gap and outraced the coverage team to the end zone.

Tyrone's defense, meanwhile, registered nine tackles for loss, including sacks by Templeton, Corbin Nevling-Ray and Shaquille Williams.

"That's a high-powered offense.  They have a lot of weapons," said Franco.  "I think we didn't give them an opportunity to use the weapons because our defensive line did a nice job of holding them and forcing three-and-punts early on."

Grid Tidbits: Charles Adams had an interception in the second quarter . Emigh averaged 44 yards on three combined kick and punt returns .

Tyrone 42, Bellefonte 8
Tyrone        14 21 7 0 - 42
Bellefonte           0 0 8 0 - 8

First Quarter
T - Getz 5 run (Templeton kick) 8:39
T - Getz 7 run (Templeton kick) 6:19
Second Quarter
T - Getz 3 run (Templeton kick) 11:45
T - Burke 1 run (Templeton kick) 8:18
T - Franco 5 run (Templeton kick) :03
Third Quarter
T - Emigh 90 kick return (Ripka kick) 11:48
B - Thompson 1 run (Thompson pass to Miller) 3:49
Team

                                                T              B
First Downs                              11             10
Yards Rushing                         179             17
Pass Att.-Comp.                      5-8         14-28
Pass Yards                               85             105
Total Yards                             264            122
Fumbles/Lost                          1-1             2-2
Interceptions by                         1                 1
Penalties/Yards                    10-90            4-30
Punts/Avg.                         4-29.7         6-30.2
Rushing
Tyrone - Getz  17-116; Franco 5-42; Dorminy 2-14; Burke 5-7; Taylor 2-0; Hampton 1-1; Swartzendruber 2-0.
Bellefonte - Thompson 7-42; Lucas 7-(-10); Quay 2-4; Struble 3-6; Grieb 1-0; Holderman1-(-12); Shultz 1-3; Turner 3-(-1); Team 1-(-16).
Passing
Tyrone - Franco 5-8-85, 0 TD, 1 Int.
Bellefonte - Lucas 8-16-51, 0 TD, 1 Int.; Thompson2-5-22, 0 TD, 0 Int.; Fye 3-3-24, 0 TD, 0 Int.

Receiving
Tyrone - Patton 2-57; Dorminy 1-11; Getz 1-13; Wagner 1-28.