Few teams have come up bigger in championship games than the Tyrone Golden Eagles under coach John Franco.
Six times he’s led them to the District 5-6 championship game, and six times the Eagles have come away with a championship trophy, and only one of those games was decided by less than two touchdowns.
But if Tyrone is to win its seventh title under Franco – eighth overall – it will require perhaps the greatest effort in the face of the greatest adversity a Franco-coached championship contender has ever faced.
That’s because tomorrow, when the 10-1 Eagles face off against Laurel Highlands Conference runner-up Bishop McCort (9-2) at Mansion Park (7 p.m.) in the 5-6 AA title game, they’ll be facing the team with the most speed and depth they’ve seen in the last two seasons.
But that doesn’t begin to explain the extent of the adversity Tyrone will be up against. As many as three starters may be watching the game from the sidelines as the result of injuries and ineligibility, putting the Eagles in an unenviable position even before the coin toss.
“What we’re losing is going to be very difficult to make up,” Franco said. “Everyone on the team is going to have to give something extra.”
Senior Ben Gummo, who leads the team in receiving yards and is third on the squad with 60 points, is out with a knee injury he suffered in the third quarter of last week’s 34-0 win over Philipsburg-Osceola in the semifinals. With him gone, Tyrone loses a versatile player who this season alone has played two different spots on both offense and defense, not to mention a kicker-place kicker who has started the last three seasons and spent this season booming kick-offs anywhere from the five to the goal line.
Classmate Shane Christine, who starts on all of Tyrone’s special teams while subbing for Gummo and fullback Brinton Mingle, is questionable after spraining his ankle against the Mounties in the fourth quarter. His loss not only puts a gaping hole in the Eagles’ special teams, but also takes away the most experienced and natural filler for Gummo at defensive end.
Ralph VanAllman, a senior two-way lineman who has started since his sophomore season, is also out due to academic ineligibility. VanAllman’s play on the line is part of the reason Tyrone’s running game has so thoroughly dominated teams over the last two seasons, and his absence dramatically changes Tyrone’s line rotation.
“We have an extra obstacle to overcome that McCort doesn’t,” Franco said. “But it’s also called opportunity. It’s a chance for some other kids to show what they can do. I can see only good things happening from this. We need some adversity.”
In the face of potentially devastating losses, Tyrone will draw on its own depth. Rotating on the line in place of VanAllman will be 300-pound sophomore Tyler Hoover, a defensive bull who has eight tackles for loss this season. Also joining him in the rotation – along with regulars Jake Houck, Terry Tate, Ron Miller and Tad Chamberlain, will be junior Thad Graham and senior Mike Jones.
Gummo may be the toughest player to replace simply for his versatility, and Franco said it can’t be done with one or even two players. The Eagles will look to use three receivers – regulars Josh Crabtree and Trey Brockett, along with multi-talented Brandon Maceno – to fill two spots in Gummo’s absence. Brice Mertiff, who made two extra points a week ago, will handle all kicking duties along with returning kicks.
Tad Chamberlain will see an expanded role on defense in place of Gummo, while sophomore Tyler Gillmen may also shift down from his cornerback position to provide relief.
They’re not exactly the kind of adjustments Franco had in mind for a championship game.
“We’ve got to have people step up and I think we will,” he said. “I believe in this team.”
One coach who doesn’t necessarily feel sorry for the Eagles is McCort’s Ken Salem. He’s leading the Crimson Crushers into the District finals for the third time in the last four seasons, but he may be doing so without one of his top players in senior Shawn Lewis.
Through 10-and-a-half games, Lewis rushed for 1,024 yards on 150 carries before suffering a knee injury in a first-round win over Forest Hills that required arthroscopic surgery. Salem reported that Lewis was moving well on the knee as of Wednesday, and that the coaches were “hopeful he might get cleared to play.”
If he does, it would only boost a Crusher team brimming with depth and speed. Consider that in place of Lewis, two McCort running backs – Jake Livella and Josh Varga – went over the century mark in last week’s 29-14 win over Central Cambria in the semis.
“We’ve worked hard to develop our depth,” Salem said. “Varga and Livella are seniors who have played in Shawn’s shadow, and they stepped up and played very well.”
Livella and Varga, combined with a healthy Lewis, are the kind of players Salem’s program is built around – fast kids who can make plays on both sides of the football. Only Lewis’ numbers stand out, but everyone contributes.
Offensively, four different Crushers have gained over 250 yards receiving, led by Lewis (366) and Matt Spangler (361). On defense, McCort linebackers and DBs have combined on 21 interceptions.
“It’s the fastest team we’ve had in a while,” Salem said. “Offensively it allows us to stretch the field and give a defense enough to look at to slow down their defensive style.
“Defensively, field position and scoring off of turnovers have been big. We try to play well enough against the run to make a team pass, and then our speed helps.”
But if there’s one area where Bishop McCort doesn’t stack up with the Eagles, even with their personnel deficiencies, it’s size. The Crushers, like every team Tyrone has seen this season, will be at a size and strength disadvantage, and both coaches are aware of it.
“We just don’t match up physically,” Salem said. “That’s the only way we can look at it. We hope to neutralize some of that size with our speed, and by presenting a lot of different looks on defense.”
“We’re not going to change our style,” Franco said in reference to his team’s physical play in the trenches. “We’re still going to do the same things.”
Quarterback Comparison
Quarterbacks Leonard Wilson and Mike Sherridan have something in common beyond leading their teams into a championship game on Friday.
Both are graduates of Franco’s summer passing clinics, often attended by some of the top signal callers in the state – Quarterbacking 101 for the region’s top prospects at the position.
Wilson has been everything the Eagles have needed him to be. Leading one of the top rushing offenses in the region, he’s completed 60 of 125 passes (48 percent) for 907 yards and nine touchdowns. Most importantly, he’s been picked only twice this season, both of which came in a loss to P-O in Week 5.
Sherridan has been called upon to shoulder a bit more of the offensive burden, and the 5-10 junior has responded with a season Salem called the best at McCort since Joe Arcurio, the school’s all-time leading passer who played from 1999-2001.
Sherridan has completed 99 of 149 passes (66 percent) for 1,297 yards, 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions, and he’s done it in a West Coast-style passing game that relies mostly on the quarterback reading a defense rather than looking to a set receiver.
“He works hard, and studies film, and he’s a pupil of John Franco,” Salem said. “He’s done a tremendous job for us.”
Gummo’s Impact
Consider that the last time Ben Gummo wasn’t called upon to make a significant contribution in a varsity football game was sometime around the third or fourth week of his freshman season, and you begin to understand his importance to the Eagles’ fortunes.
Since his sophomore season, Gummo has accounted for 23 touchdowns, 95 extra points, seven field goals, and 1,831 total yards (1,234 rushing and 597 receiving). He’s also played nearly every position on defense, and this season leads the team in sacks with 5.5.
“Ben doesn’t get a lot of credit because you can’t measure what he does with statistics,” said Franco. “He’s sacrificed his own glory for the team’s success by switching his position so many times to help us win. Whatever we’ve asked of him, he’s done, and he’s never put himself above the team.”
Playmakers
From a highly-touted class of seniors that entered the varsity program three seasons ago with as much hype as any class in recent memory, Franco is hoping some playmakers will emerge to alleviate the pressure of losing three starters for a title game.
Two players he singled out were Mertiff and Tate.
Mertiff leads the team with 1,754 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns, while Tate, a returning all-state defensive tackle, has 17 tackles for loss to go along with 3.5 sacks.
Tate has been an unstoppable force in both playoff games, as has Mertiff, who in two postseason tilts has rushed for 376 yards, scored 10 touchdowns and picked off two passes.
“Brice thrives in big games like this one when the spotlight is on, and Terry is another one who does that,” Franco said. “They will be at their best. This is a time when these guys will step up.”
