What we didn’t want to happen, at least for another week has occurred. The end of the football season!
We were looking forward to writing about the Tyrone football team in Hershey next Saturday at 12 Noon. High Noon came a week early for the Golden Eagles and began at 1 p.m. at State College.
In northern Blair County, many of us understand when other people say they like the four seasons we enjoy in this area of Pennsylvania-Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. We just smile and agree with them, but with a silent thought about the only true seasons around here.
For all die-hard high school football fans (remember fan is short for fanatic), there are only two seasons-football season and waiting for football season.
We were treated to two wonderful tales on the football field this fall. Both the Tyrone and the Bellwood-Antis football teams made us very proud to live in this area.
Tyrone was the talk of just about everybody as the season approached. The talk said that this was the year for a return to Hershey. Coach John Franco drilled into the heads of the players that each game had to played and won on the field. The talent, size and athleticism on the 2004 Golden Eagles football team has seldom been seen around these parts. The guys all bought in to Franco’s work ethic and the season opened with a big victory over backyard rival Bellwood-Antis and except for a reminder that even the Eagles were human against Philipsburg-Osceola, victories and yardage kept pilling up.
This was a team that won big and moved on. Senior running back Brice Mertiff became only the third runner in Tyrone history to rush for 4,000 career yards, finally ending the 2004 campaign with 2,041 yards rushing and 33 touchdowns. Those figures are a good career for most athletes, Brice accomplished them this year.
Junior fullback Brit Mingle added 921 yards and never seemed to get stopped before making positive yardage. Junior quarterback Leonard Wilson passed for 1,169 yards and has over 2,000 yards through the air in the last two seasons. Those two should form a potent one-two punch for 2005. For those football fanatics we mentioned above, that’s just around the corner.
The 2004 Orange defense limited 14 opponents to an average of less than 100 yards rushing as Tyrone outscoring the opposition 448-111.
It was a season of big plays and big wins. Although the road to Hershey stopped just a game short, the season should not be measured by the loss at State College Memorial Field on a controversial ruling by the officials. The game leaves a bitter taste in our mouths, but Tyrone was 12-2 in 2004. Remember only four teams in the state that qualify for the playoffs win their last game.
The game was close to being a battle for the ages, a ballgame that except for the score at the end was one of the most exciting in a long, long time.
It was a game marked by big plays by both squads. Play after play could with good reason be described as “The Play Of The Game.”
Brice Mertiff’s 51-yard sprint for the first score of the afternoon stands out. Leonard Wilson’s five straight pass completions to move the Eagles down the field for Ben Gummo to kick a 22-yard field goal battling the clock as well as the opponents. Gummo’s field goal with 0:00 on the clock at the end of the first half was crucial, giving Tyrone some much-needed momentum. Mertiff fielding a low snap in punt formation and subsequent second effort on a 8-yard jaunt on a fourth and seven situation. Wilson pulled the ball down and scampered 19 yards on a third down play that moved the ball to the GC-9. Wilson later bulled the final yard behind center Terry Tate and the Eagles “O” line for the go-ahead score with five minutes to play in the final quarter. Wilson hit senior wide out Gummo for passes of 11, 13 and 14 yards to move the sticks when Tyrone was trying to score down 21-17 with under a minute left in the game. Tate and his teammates on defense kept coming up with huge plays. Grove City found out the only way to keep Tate out of the backfield was to double and triple-team him.
On the other side, quarterback Jim Jaskowak continually used his feet and arm to get his team another set of downs after Tyrone seemed to have those other Eagles stopped.
The only thing missing from making this a game for the ages was the ending as a fellow sports writer pointed out. Regardless of the finish however, this was a season for the ages. The game site, was of course, closer to Tyrone than to Grove City. However, the fans in Orange and Black, chanting and yelling and screaming, outnumbered the Grove City throng by clearly a four-to one majority. These gifted young men gave us their all, and their all was incredible. They picked us up and carried us on their youthful, broad and strong shoulders for an entire season. We will be eternally proud of them. They didn’t let us down. They just ran out of time.
Grove City 21, Tyrone 17
Tyrone 7 3 0 7- 17
Grove City 6 8 0 7 -21
First Quarter
GC – Vallely 12 run. (kick blocked) 5:09.
T- Mertiff 51 run. (Gummo kick) 2:51.
Second Quarter
GC – Jaskowak 8 run. (Jaskowak run) 1:30.
T – Gummo 22 field goal. 0:00.
Fourth Quarter
T – Wilson 1 run. (Gummo kick) 5:00.
GC – Wise 10 run. (Hay kick). 1:11.
Team
T GC
First Downs 18 17
Yards Rushing 35-212 38-151
Pass Att.-Comp. 12-20 9-19
Pass Yards 131 111
Total Yards 343 262
Fumbles/Lost 1-1 2-1
Interceptions Thrown 1 0
Penalties/Yards 2-26 3-21.5
Punts/Avg. 3-40.7 3-29
Rushing
Tyrone – Mertiff 18-127 (1 TD), Mingle 11-55, Wilson 6-30 (1 TD).
Grove City – Jaskowak 11-72 (1 TD), Wise 10-46 (1 TD), Vallely 9-27 (1 TD), Alfreno 5-12, team 3 -(-6).
Passing
Tyrone – Wilson 12-20, 131 Yds., 1 Int. 0 TD.
Grove City – Jaskowak 9-19, 111, 0 Int., 0 TD.
Receiving
Tyrone – Gummo 5-67, Mertiff 2-29, Chamberlain 2-7, Mingle 1-12, Crabtree 1-11, Brockett 1-5..
Grove City – Waxenfelter 2-32, Rudolph 2-26, Wise 2-25, Sonntag 1-12, Alfreno 1-11 Vallely 1-5.
