By KERRY NAYLOR
Daily Herald Sports Writer

When is a loss a win of sorts?  Maybe when you're the Lewistown Panthers, and you've lost to Tyrone 16 straight seasons, the last 15 of which have come by an average margin of 32 points.

In that case, you would have to think just playing well and keeping the score close would be a kind of moral victory.

When is a win a loss of sorts?  Never.  And that's why, whether the Golden Eagles played up to their level of expectations against the Panthers last night or not, they've got to be feeling good this morning after escaping Gray-Veterans Memorial Field with a 21-14 win over much-improved Lewistown.

It wasn't the kind of game you'd put your signature on and hang on the wall, but when playoff points are tallied at the end of the season, nobody asks, "How many did you win by?"  Instead, they only ask, "How many did you win?"

And for the Eagles, that makes two.  Despite two costly interceptions, four trips inside the Lewistown 30 that yielded zero points, and a paltry performance defensively on third-and-long situations, Tyrone is 2-0 and 1-0 in the Mountain League's Nittany Division.

"I'm not pleased at all and we have a lot of improvement to make," said Tyrone coach John Franco.  "I like how we fought with our backs to the wall.  We pulled out a win and made some key plays in the fourth quarter.  Our conditioning was key.  Our execution was pitiful.  Our playmaking was pitiful. My coaching was pitiful.  But our conditioning was excellent.  So at least we had one good thing."

Perhaps the biggest play of the fourth quarter was turned in by diminutive defense back Markus Wagner, one of the few big plays delivered by a Tyrone secondary that was torched by Lewistown quarterback Nathan Martin.  Down 21-14, the Panthers had a drive with under five minutes to play extended by an encroachment penalty against Tyrone on third-and-five.  That allowed Lewistown to continue a march that advanced as far as the Golden Eagles' 45-yard line.

But on third-and-6, Wagner jumped a pass to Danny Wheeler in the flat and came up with a tide-turning interception with 2:30 to play.

That allowed Tyrone to kill two minutes of game clock and pin the Panthers at their own 11 after a 38-yard punt by JD Dorminy.  On Lewistown's ensuing series, the Panthers went with a wide-receiver pass from Wheeler on fourth down that was intercepted by Nick Patton to end it.

So for the Panthers, who had not even had a winning season since 1975 entering 2010, there must have been some gratification in being a play away from extending a game against the No. 4 ranked AA school in Pennsylvania according to the Pennsylvania Football News, right?

Not if you ask their coach Steve Guthoff, who until two seasons ago was a highly successful defensive coordinator at Tyrone.

"I told the kids, (for) the old Lewistown, this would have made their season," Guthoff said.  "We had them back on their heels with a couple seconds left . it would have been a victory.  But I told them, we're better than that.  We should be proud of this, but close wins aren't good enough."

 Especially not in a league as competitive as the Mountain League where, despite their effort through two weeks of the season, the Panthers find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation: 0-2 overall, 0-2 in the league, and in a battle for wins and respect over the next eight weeks.

At least they have this - they earned the Eagles respect quickly last night, starting with their first series.  After taking the opening kick, the Panthers drove 81-yards in 12 plays to forge a 7-0 lead that would stand most of the first quarter.  Martin was 3-for-4 on the drive, but the key play came when Brandon Moist dashed 37 yards through a hole on the left side of the line down to the Tyrone 4.  Two plays later, Martin floated a pass to Wheeler in full extension for the score.  Alex Leight's PAT made it 7-0 at the 7:18 mark.

The Eagles answered with an 8-play drive that went as far as the Panthers' 12 before Steve Franco was sacked for a 14-yard loss.  On the next play, he was picked off at the 5 by Moist, who returned it 10 yards to the 15.

But as quickly as Lewistown took over, they handed the ball back to Tyrone.  On second-and-4, Moist fumbled after a 2-yard run, and it was quickly gobbled up by Derrick Emigh at the 23.

The Eagles got the game-tying score a minute later on a 15-yard pass from Franco to Christian Getz on fourth-and-2.  Jared Templeton's kick tied the game with 1:50 left in the first quarter.

Tyrone used a second Panther turnover in the second quarter to grab a one-touchdown lead by halftime.  After the Panthers stopped Tyrone on downs at their own 18-yard line, Lewistown marched 32 yards to the 44.  But on second down, Corbin Nevling-Ray batted a Martin pass in the air and chased it down for an interception that gave the Eagles the ball at the Lewistown 44.

Franco hit Patton for an 11-yard gain on first down, and three plays later jetted 34 yards to the 3 on an option keeper.  Getz punched in his second score of the night on a 1-yard run two plays later, giving the Eagles a 14-7 lead at halftime, but not before the Panthers drove inside Tyrone's 20 in the final minute of the second quarter.

Even with the lead, there were distressing undercurrents for the Golden Eagles.  They totaled just 75 rushing yards in the first half, with 34 of them coming on Franco's late run.

But any problems with the running game were quickly remedied on Tyrone second possession of the second half, a series devoted almost exclusively to Getz and the run.  The 5-foot-9 junior carried 8 times on an 11-play drive, totaling 55 yards.  At one point, he had consecutive gains of 16, 11 and 10 yards respectively.

Getz blasted in from the 2 with 2:05 left to give the Eagles a 21-7 lead.

"I know exactly what Coach Franco told them at halftime," said Guthoff.  "He said we're going to go out there and where going to play Tyrone smash-mouth football.  And they did it.  On that drive, they were able to push us around a little bit."

Getz finished with a career-high 114 yards on 28 carries, with 101 yards coming in the second half.

"(The run) was there," Franco said.  "We were getting some push up front, so we thought that we could do that.  Our line did a nice job in the second half, and Christian ran well.  We just weren't able to finish off our drives like we did last week." 

But far from packing it in after Tyrone took its two-touchdown lead, Lewistown responded with a methodical drive that lasted into the fourth quarter to pull back within seven points.

The Panthers were forced to convert once on third down (a 19-yard pass to Harry Lowber on third-and-11) and once on fourth down (an 8-yard pass to Coleman Welham on fourth-and-5).  Moist capped the 11-play drive with a 1-yard run at 7:55.

But Tyrone was only able to take three minutes off the clock when it got the ball back, and turned it back over to Lewistown on downs after driving as far as the Panthers' 28.

That's when Wagner came through with a play that - if not preventing the biggest upset in Franco's career - at least prevented the Panthers from sending the game into overtime.

"We forced some things, and our ball security was horrible in a lot of ways," Guthoff said.  "I think we gave them some opportunities to capitalize on.  But with (Martin), no guts, no glory.  He can't play scared.  He's got to play aggressive."

GRID TIDBITS: Franco finished 12-for-19 for 158 yards and a touchdown . Martin completed 17 of 29 passes for 195 yards . the Panthers converted 6 times on 13 third-down opportunities . Patton had six receptions for 71 yards . Nevling-ay had two tackles for loss.

Tyrone 21, Lewistown 14
Lewistown   7 0 0 7 - 14
Tyrone        7 7 7 0 - 21

First Quarter
L - Martin 6 pass to Wheeler (Leight kick) 7:18
T - Franco 15 pass to Getz (Templeton kick) 1:50
Second Quarter
T - Getz 1 run (Templeton kick) 1:21
Third Quarter
T - Getz 1 run (Templeton kick) 2:05
Fourth Quarter
L - Moist 1 run (Leight kick) 7:55
Team Statistics
                                                T              L
First Downs                      17              17
Yards Rushing                    175         108
Pass Att.-Comp.                               12-19     17-30
Pass Yards                      158              195
Total Yards                    333               303
Fumbles/Lost                 0-0             2-1
Interceptions by                3            2
Penalties/Yards             3-15           3-20
Punts/Avg.                   1-38              2-33

Individual Statistics
Rushing
TYRONE - Getz 28-114; Franco 5-33; Patton 1-17; Dorminy 2-9; Burke 1-2.
LEWISTOWN - Moist 18-81; Peachey 4-18; Lowber 7-12; Martin 1-(-3).
Passing
TYRONE - Franco 12-19-158, 1 TD, 2 Ints.
LEWISTOWN - Martin 17-29-195, 1 TD, 2 Ints.; Wheeler 0-1-0, 1 Int.

Receiving
TYRONE - Patton 6-71; Getz 2-37; Murray 2-44; Romano 1-6.
LEWISTOWN - Wheeler 8-67; Welham 5-78; Moist 2-35; Lowber 1-19; Peachey 1-2.