So here’s the skinny on the Lewistown Panthers.
At 0-2, they haven’t enjoyed the kind of success to start the season that coach Allen Muir had anticipated after the Panthers qualified for the District 6-AAA playoffs for the first time in school history last year.
And not only have they lost twice, they’ve lost rather ugly, as well. The Panthers have scored just one touchdown this season while being plagued by untimely turnovers and penalties.
But never was it worse than last week, when Lewistown fell to Bald Eagle Area 13-6, amassing only 143 yards of total offense while turning the ball over three times.
Now here’s the lowdown on Tyrone coach John Franco and the Golden Eagles: none of those issues have been discussed so far this week in any of the team’s practices or meetings, nor will they be. After two games in which the classic game-at-a-time approach worked rather well – producing two wins over Tyrone’s top opponents despite the absence of two of the Eagles’ best players – Franco rightly feels a similar approach is his squad’s best tactic heading into Week 3 as well.
The Eagles will square off against Lewistown tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Mitchell Field in Lewistown.
“We’re approaching it like the last three weeks. We have to be more concerned with ourselves than with what our opponents are doing,” said Franco. “We’re more conscious of getting ourselves prepared. We respect every opponent, but we’ve got to be more concerned with righting ourselves.”
Judging by the results thus far, it’s easy to see where Franco is coming from.
In two games, Tyrone has looked like what Huntingdon coach Jim Zauzig called a well-oiled machine after the Eagles demolished the ‘Cats last Friday 35-13 on the road. The Eagles have rolled up over 600 yards in total offense, scored on more than 66 percent of their trips inside the Red Zone, forced five turnovers and allowed a single offensive touchdown.
And they’ve done it all without the services of starters Doug Morrow and Tyler Gillmen – two of the Eagles’ most experienced players heading into the season. Morrow will be out for a while with his broken collar bone, and Gillmen received word yesterday that he would not be able to play for at least one more week. (“It’s killing him, without a doubt,” Franco said.)
Now add one more to the list. Senior Johnny Barlett, a do-it-all running back who was playing fullback in absence of Gillmen, will now miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL. Barlett was as promising a sophomore rusher as Tyrone had in 2004 before missing last season with a broken hand. This season, he had rushed for 53 yards on 16 carries while clearing the way for Johnny Franco to lead the team in rushing.
“He had really played so well after recovering from injuries,” said Franco.
Senior lineman Aaron DeLay will also be out with what Franco called an infection.
“Each week it’s something different, but that’s part of the game. We’ve found a way to keep the offense rolling. The kids have risen to the occasion,” he said.
Next in line to rise to the challenge is Mark Mingle, the 5-10 sophomore brother of last season’s leading rusher, Brinton Mingle. Franco said that he, along with Shayne Tate – who had been fitting in nicely as a wide receiver – will see their roles in Tyrone’s backfield expanded this week.
But the unexpected additions and adjustments won’t change the Eagles’ approach to the Panthers or the rest of the season.
“We’ve tried to stress from the beginning of the season that there are no excuses,” Franco said. “It would be easy to say we don’t have Gill, we don’t have Doug, we don’t have Barlett. That’s the easy way. We’ve been fortunate in the past with injuries, but now we’re facing more adversity than normal. To the kids’ credit, they’ve stepped up.”
Tyrone’s defense, in particular, has taken its game to another level. Behind tackle Tyler Hoover and linebacker James Updike, the Eagles are allowing just over 160 total yards per game while admitting their opponents inside the 20-yard line just four times (converting one trip into a touchdown). Hoover leads the team with five tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks, with sophomore Johnny Shaffer not far behind (3 TFL, 2 sacks).
“Tyler Hoover has been our foundation and James has just done a great job,” said Franco. “They offer us the stability and we can fit pieces in around them. Defensively, we’re playing very fast and aggressive. We’ve been able to switch our defense around to take advantage of kids like Jason Reese, Jordan Good, Josh Bradley and Johnny Shaffer.”
The test they’ll receive from Lewistown’s offense is yet to be determined. The Panthers have struggled through two games and their leading rusher – senior Nick Knable – has rushed for only 88 yards.
Defense is another story. The Panthers have allowed only 20 points this season while showing some susceptibility to the run.
The run has been Tyrone’s biggest asset despite the loss of Gillmen, with the younger Franco totaling 287 yards on 44 carries while rushing for three touchdowns. He also hauled in a 65-yard touchdown pass last week.
His ability to find seams in the defense and accelerate through them has opened up Tyrone’s offense, and last week quarterback Tyler Golden – finally using a dry football – reaped the rewards of play-action fakes when he completed 8 of 9 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown. Senior Justin Schopp caught five balls for 143 yards, and the Eagles moved the ball at will against a defense Zauzig thought would be pretty good, going in.
Franco would like to see the offense continue on a similar trail this week, but he has other goals for his team, as well.
“We want to play better,” he said. “We’d like to have no penalties and not put the ball on the ground once,” he said. “We want to take the next step on our ladder, and we’re not going to look down the road.”
Hitting Hard
One constant for Tyrone throughout Franco’s tenure has been his players’ ability to deliver a blow at the point of attack.
That hasn’t changed this season, with Updike, Johnny Franco and Shane Emigh among the players who have already made a name for administering high-impact tackles.
According to Franco, the Eagles’ ability to hit is the perfect union between players who love to mix it up and coaches who believe hitting can be taught.
“It’s a little of both,” he said. “Tyrone kids are naturally tough, but hitting has always been a main focus of any team I’ve coached. We preach hitting. Not a day goes by that we don’t talk about it and preach it and coach it at practice. You can coach it and you can teach it.”
Streaks
Tyrone has not lost to Lewistown since dropping a 26-7 decision in 1993 at Mitchell Field. Since then, the Eagles have won 12 straight against the Panthers, including six in a row on the road.
The Eagles lead the all-time series with 34 wins, 23 losses and one tie.
Since 1995, Tyrone has outscored Lewistown 402-74, registering four shutouts while scoring 40 or more five times.
Tyrone won last year’s game 47-6.
