For the first time in 11 games, the Golden Eagles ran out of answers on offense.
That had been the one constant for Tyrone during a season filled with injuries and near-misses – the Eagles’ offense was always able to move the ball and put points on the board.
But after bolting to a 13-0 lead last night against the top-seeded Forest Hills Rangers in the District 5-6 AA semifinals at G.H. Murphy Memorial Stadium in Sidman, the well went dry.
Starting on their last series of the first half, the Rangers scored touchdowns on three of four possessions to march off with a 21-13 victory. They will now face the winner of today’s Bishop McCort-Bedford game next week in the District championship game at Mansion Park.
“We had the lead and we had them where we wanted them, but we just couldn’t stop them,” said coach John Franco, who has guided the Eagles to the District semifinals in six of his nine years at Tyrone. “I thought we would be the people to make the big plays, but sure enough, we weren’t and they were.”
The Rangers’ big-play ability in crucial situations certainly hurt the Eagles last night. Forest Hills converted on four of six fourth-down conversions, including a four-yard touchdown pass from Bryan Kudlaweic to Eric Trout one minute into the fourth quarter that put the Rangers up by eight.
But Tyrone had bounced back against quick-strike teams before. Against a physically imposing Ranger defense that limited the Eagles to a season-low six yards rushing, the opportunity was never there.
“They were very strong and very powerful. They used their strength advantage against us,” said Franco. “They did a nice job using their power running game and they won the field position battle. They deserved to win. They outplayed us tonight.”
To get a feeling for how well Forest Hills kept in check an Eagle offense that had been averaging 26 points and 321 yards in total offense per game, consider this:
– the Eagles’ six rushing yards were 164 below their season average
– Tyrone managed just six first downs
– the Eagles ran the ball only 14 times
– Tyrone was limited to one offensive touchdown for the first time since October of 2000.
– the Eagles ran just 36 offensive plays, as compared to 69 by the Rangers
“We were able to get a very good pass rush. We were playing against an outstanding quarterback in Tyler Mertiff,” said Forest Hills coach Don Bailey, whose team will now shoot for its sixth District championship. “Tyrone lost to a lot of good teams this season. You can be sure they’ll be back next year.”
Tyrone’s bright future did little to spell the pain of last night’s loss, which ended an emotional roller coaster ride for the Eagles, who began pre-season workouts following the death of teammate Randy Estright last May and then began the regular season with two straight losses.
“It was a team that wasn’t really considered to do a whole lot,” said Franco. “I’m really proud of this group because I really think they got everything out of themselves they could have despite all of the adversity early on.”
The Rangers were the team forced to overcome adversity last night, and they responded to every challenge with fire and grit.
It started on the first play of the game, when Tyrone junior Tommy Crowl took the opening kickoff, burst through a seam in the middle of the Forest Hills defense, and raced virtually untouched for an 85-yard touchdown. Boyd Taylor kicked the extra-point and the Eagles led 7-0 14 seconds into the game.
Tyrone struck again early in the second quarter when Mertiff hit Aaron Jeffries on a fade rout down the sideline. Jeffries pulled the ball down in front of Jason Papcunik and cut back against two would-be tacklers on the way to a 53-yard touchdown. The extra-point attempt was no good, but Tyrone had a 13-0 with 10:18 left in the half.
“We just kept saying, ‘This is early. We can still come back and win,’” said Bailey.
The Eagle defense held Forest Hills in check for most of the first half, sacking Kudlaweic three times and registering nine plays for zero or negative yardage.
But the Rangers’ last series of the first half was a momentum changer. It was an 85-yard drive that was pushed back as far as the FH-10 following an illegal substitution penalty. The drive lasted 12 plays and took more than five minutes off the clock.
The big play came on second-and 15 from the 10 when Kudlaweic hit Warren Burton for a 48-yard completion behind the Tyrone secondary to the T-42. Five plays later, Cody Gallaher sprinted for 20 yards on fourth-and-two to the 15.
The drive ended with 38 seconds left in the half when Gallaher powered in from the three. Cody Carpenter kicked the first of three extra points to cut Tyrone’s lead to 13-7 at the half.
“We got a lot of momentum from that score. It was big,” said Bailey. “We knew if the score was 13-6 or 13-7 we still had a chance.”
The Rangers’ surge continued at the start of the third quarter when Forest Hills took the second half kick and marched 59 yards in 11 plays for the go-ahead score.
Kudlaweic had two big pass completions on the drive for 28 and 13 yards and ran for nine yards on fourth-and-eight from the 15. On third down from the one, Kudlaweic snuck in for the game tying score, and Carpenter’s kick gave Forest Hills its first lead with 7:34 left in the third.
Tyrone responded by driving to the Ranger 16, but the drive stalled and Taylor’s 33-yard field goal attempt fell short.
The Rangers’ game-clinching score came at the end of a 62-yard drive that went from 1:19 of the third to 10:59 of the fourth.
GRID TIDBITS: Tyler Mertiff completed 9 of 22 passes for 138 yards and was picked off twice … Jeffries finished with five receptions for 92 yards, allowing him to eclipse Steve Johnson as Tyrone all-time single season receiving yarage leader. He ends his season with 838 yards … Gallaher led Forest Hills with 22 carries for 89 yards … Crowls kickoff return was Tyrone’s first since Jamal Owens returned a kick for a score against Punxsutawney in 1999 … Forest Hills outgained Tyrone 255-144 … Tyrone ends its season 7-4 … Forest Hills is now 11-0.
Forest 21 Tyrone 13
Score by quarter
Tyrone – 7 6 0 0- 13
Forest Hills -0 7 14 0 -21
Scoring summary
first quarter
T- Crowl 85 kick return (Taylor PAT) 11:46
second quarter
T- Jeffries 57 pass from T. Mertiff (PAT Failed) 10:18
FH- Gallaher 3 run (Carpenter PAT) :38
third quarter
FH- Kudlaweic 1 run. (Carpenter PAT) 7:34
fourth quarter
FH- Trout 4 pass from Kudlaweic. (Carpenter PAT) 10:59
Team Statistics
T FH
First Downs 6 18
Rushes 14 47
Rush yards 6 147
Pass Att. 22 19
Pass Comp. 9 9
Pass Yards 138 108
Interceptions 0 2
Fumbles lost 0 0
Penalty yards 3-29 6-40
Punts/Avg. 4-26.75 5-27.4
Total Offense 144 255
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Tyrone: B. Mertiff 5-8, Gummo 2-0, T. Mertiff 7-(-2).
Forest Hills: Gallaher 22-89, Mays 13-55, Kudlaweic 11-3, Trout 1-0.
Passing
Tyrone: T. Mertiff 9-21, 138, 1 TD, 1 Int, Gummo 0-1, 0, 0 TD 1 Int.
Forest Hills: Kudlaweic 9-19 108, 1 TD, 0 Int.
Receiving
Tyrone: Jeffries 5-92, Crowl 1-21, Gummo 1-13, B. Mertiff 1-7, Clark 1-5.
Forest Hills: Papcunik 6-37, Burton 1-48, Gallaher 2-19.
