Tyrone coach John Franco has never been a coach to hand out superfluous praise. When he coached Jesse Jones from 1997-2000 – a running back that gained over 6,000 career yards and broke every rushing record on the books – Franco rarely went beyond saying that Jones was a natural talent who had an outstanding offensive line.
Yeah. And Michael Jackson was just a talented singer who had an outstanding group of brothers.
That’s why it’s interesting to hear the 10-year Tyrone coach talk about his current group of talented underclassmen. As reserved as he is in lauding his players – particularly young ones – Franco often isn’t shy in discussing the tremendous potential of this group of players.
But that praise came with a warning and a plea this week as Tyrone (3-1, 2-1) prepared for tomorrow’s Big 8 Conference game against 2-2 (1-1) Bald Eagle Area in Wingate.
“My problem is, because I’m not in the school and don’t hear what’s being said, I have to guard against people telling them how great they are,” said Franco. “That kind of talk hurts our team. What we have to get the whole community to do is what I try to get the team to do: focus on one game at a time. I hear people talking about Bishop Guilfoyle and what a great game it will be when we play them, and I say ‘Remember 1998.’”
Nineteen ninety-eight is a year many Tyrone fans would rather forget. That was the season when a talented group of underclassmen, who had in many ways overachieved in compiling a 9-1 record and advancing to the District semi-finals, lost sight of the task at hand. When looking a week ahead to a possible showdown with Forest Hills in the championship game, they were clocked by United at Gray Memorial Field in what remains Tyrone’s only home playoff loss in school history.
“That’s why we started hanging the ladder in our locker room,” said Franco. “The only thing put on the next rung of the ladder is the team we play this week. The idea is as soon as you look ahead, you get beat. When you look at the playoff picture, no one game is more important than another. All of them give you points towards seedings. Bald Eagle is an improved team and they are good enough to beat us, especially if we overlook them.”
Tyrone has not lost to Bald Eagle since 1994 and since 1999 the Golden Eagles have outscored BEA 183-22. But the 2003 version of Bald Eagle Area is certainly a different breed from the patsies the Eagles have faced in the past.
BEA opened the season 2-0 with wins over Lewistown and Milton. They barely lost to Class A power Sharpsville on the road in Week 3 despite a ferocious second-half rally and were thoroughly dominated by Indian Valley Monday 44-12.
“This is the best team we’ve seen from there in the last several years,” Franco said. “They always have big, tough kids and I respect them for that. They are very good at running the ball and they can control the clock.”
Smashmouth Football
Neither team is secretive about what it would like to do offensively. Both Tyrone and BEA have established running games that are the framework for everything they would like to do when they have the football.
Bald Eagle is led by senior Montey Rockey, who has gained over 300 yards and scored two touchdowns. He’s rushed for over 100 yards twice on the season, including a season-high 148 on 29 carries against Milton.
Tyrone, meanwhile, has ridden the legs of juniors Brice Mertiff and Ben Gummo, who have combined to gain over 800 yards in four games. Mertiff has gotten the majority of the carries, and leads the team with 550 yards and seven touchdowns on 86 carries (6.3 yds. per carry). Gummo has 254 yards on 37 carries and has caught five passes for 65 yards.
But while both teams have centered their offenses around their running games, Franco said his staff is anticipating a few wrinkles from BEA this week.
“They have put in some shotgun over the last couple of weeks, and that surprised us a little,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see them come out and try to throw the ball against us.”
Based strictly on numbers, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. In their last three games, the Golden Eagles – while facing three of the conference’s top passers – have surrendered 161 yards per game through the air, including a season-high 219 against Lewistown’s Nathan Heider.
Smothering Defense
Despite Tyrone’s numbers against the pass versus Big 8 opponents, Franco is pleased with his defensive unit, which is currently surrendering just over 10 points and 170 yards per game.
“We’ve been outstanding at shutting down the run,” said Franco, whose defense has allowed just 187 yards rushing this season. “We’ve given up some passing yards, but but a lot of that was against Lewistown and Bellefonte after the game had been decided. The biggest difference between this year and last year is that our defense has been playing so well, and (defensive coordinator) Steve Guthoff deserves the credit for that.
“What our defense does more than anything is give our offense time to develop. They also give us opportunities. We ran 25 more plays than Bellefonte. Teams don’t have long drives against us. Our front seven is very solid, we have exceptional defensive ends, our linebackers are second to none, and our secondary is improving.”
The Eagles have also forced eight turnovers, keeping Tyrone on the positive side of the takeaway-giveaway ratio at plus-2.
Foundation
Franco said the performance of Gummo and Mertiff rushing the ball has given sophomore quarterback Leonard Wilson the time he needs to develop in his first season as a varsity passer. Wilson had his best game in last week’s 28-6 win over Bellefonte, completing seven of eleven passes for 57 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
“Throwing the ball has always been my forte,” said Franco. “My teams have always been able to develop a passing game and I’m confident this team will be no different.”
Gummo and Mertiff have been a big reason why Wilson has been afforded a honeymoon period. They’ve been able to move the ball against teams geared to stop the run, which has given Wilson more opportunities when he drops back to pass.
“Every team has to have something that is the foundation that they plan to build around,” Franco said. “Brice and Ben are the foundation. We’ve tried to build and expand our offense from there so the defense can’t focus on one thing.
“But there is great room for improvement. We can’t feell that because we’re 3-1 we’ve made it. I expect our offense to be the best around and I won’t be satisfied until it is.”
Tyrone’s offense is averaging 275 yards per game, with 232 of that coming on the ground.
Unsung Heroes
Franco praised two players he felt often go unnoticed despite their efforts on the field.
Surprisingly, one was Gummo, who despite playing every down at running back, linebacker and kicker, is often thought of as “the other guy,” in the Eagles’ backfield.
The other was senior Jason Wilson, a 5-6, 150-pound defensive back-receiver who Franco says has a “Ph.D. in football knowledge.”
“He won a starting job because he overcame his lack of size with intelligence,” said Franco. “He can make a key block or run a complimentary route to free another receiver and that isn’t seen in the statistics. He can place defenders anywhere they’re supposed to be. He just doesn’t make mistakes.”
