{"id":2992,"date":"2007-10-18T13:43:05","date_gmt":"2007-10-18T17:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/v3\/?p=2992"},"modified":"2008-09-04T13:58:07","modified_gmt":"2008-09-04T17:58:07","slug":"indian-valley-brings-the-top-mafc-offense-against-golden-eagles-league-best-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/?p=2992","title":{"rendered":"Indian Valley brings the top MAFC offense against Golden Eagles league-best defense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jeremy Barlett<\/td>\nJared Templeton<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Game-planning is the ultra-prepared John Franco\u2019s specialty. It\u2019s one of the reasons you can count on one hand the number of times the Golden Eagles have been beaten by more than two touchdowns in the more than 170 games that he has coached at Tyrone.
\nSo when pressed on how his team would ready itself for what would certainly be its most challenging game of the season tomorrow against Indian Valley what was the mastermind\u2019s strategy?
\n\u201cPray a lot,\u201d Franco said in a tongue in cheek moment.
\nBut funny as it may sound, that\u2019s the only option most teams have had against the versatile Warriors this season. At 6-1 and atop the Seven Mountains Division standings, Valley has scored 30 or more points four times this season, and done it with a versatility that has been unmatched at Indian Valley. Quarterback Jarrett Kratzer has completed 61 of 117 passes for 1,023 yards, while running back Thad Rosenberry has piled up 653 yards and 12 touchdowns on 82 carries. The Warriors have three players with over 250 receiving yards and five players with at least two touchdowns.
\nIn short, it\u2019s enough talent to bring Franco to his knees, Rosary beads in hand.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s the best Indian Valley team I\u2019ve seen,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is probably the first time we\u2019ve been the underdog at home, and they deserve it. They\u2019ve beaten some good teams. But we like that. We like being the underdog.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s hard to imagine a 7-0 team that is ranked in the top 10 in Class AA by all of the state\u2019s top polls and riding a 30-game regular-season winning streak being the dog in a home game, but if Vegas put a line on tomorrow\u2019s game, that\u2019s probably be about right. The Warriors have the edge on Tyrone in every area, from experience to size, from speed to skill players.
\nBut Franco\u2019s not ready to concede just yet.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll give it a shot,\u201d Franco said. \u201cIt will be difficult, but we have a pretty good defense. We\u2019ll battle. The thing for us will be to read our keys, to get aligned correctly, and to play hard. Our guys have to beat the man across from them.\u201d
\nIf anything, the Eagles know Valley is not invincible. The Warriors are coming off their first loss of the season a week ago to Clearfield, 19-13. It was a game where Kratzer managed to complete just 6 of 25 passes, and one in which IV coach Gawen Stoker said the Warriors were simply outplayed.
\n\u201cWe ran into a team that performed very well,\u201d Stoker said. \u201cThey did more things right than we did. Clearfield has a nice team, but we\u2019ll rebound, and we\u2019ll be fine.\u201d
\nThe key to Valley\u2019s success has been its ability to spread the ball around to its talented skill players. Kratzer and Rosenberry, along with receivers Jay Hartman (29 receptions for 413 yards), Austin Long (14 receptions for 282 yards) and Zach Mannino (7 receptions for 252 yards) are the main cogs in a big-play offense that is averaging over 28 points per game and scores points quickly.
\n\u201cBalance is critical for what we want to do,\u201d Stoker said. \u201cWe anticipated having a balanced attack this year.\u201d
\n\u201cThese guys have so many athletes,\u201d Franco said, \u201cit\u2019s amazing there are enough footballs to go around.\u201d
\nThat\u2019s one reason why Franco said a ball control offense will be in the Golden Eagles\u2019 favor.
\n\u201cWe need to keep the ball out of their hands,\u201d he said. \u201cWe told the guys already this week, our offensive line has to control the game. The more our offense is on the field, the less time their playmakers are on the field. But time of possession isn\u2019t the only key because they have so many big plays and can score so quickly.\u201d
\nTyrone has shown it can eat up clock with the run and it\u2019s confident enough in its defense to put a game in its hands.
\nShayne Tate went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark last week in the same game that the Eagles limited Philipsburg-Osceola\u2019s high-octane offense to two scores.
\n\u201cThey move people around on defense,\u201d Stoker said. \u201cThe big thing is they all move well and tackle well. They give you a number of different looks.\u201d
\nFranco said it will also be important to continue to play error-free football. In their 14-13, last-second win over the Mounties, Tyrone went without a penalty or a turnover, giving them two straight games without a pre-snap offensive penalty.
\n\u201cWhen you have zero turnovers and zero penalties, it\u2019s pretty hard to lose that game,\u201d Franco said.
\nBut in the end, it boils down to a match up of the MAC\u2019s best offense against its best defense.
\n\u201cTyrone\u2019s kids are disciplined and they believe they can win,\u201d said Stoker. \u201cThat\u2019s a heck of a combination for an opponent.\u201d
\nRewind
\nTomorrow\u2019s game is reminiscent of the Eagles\u2019 first two games against the Warriors under Franco. In 1994, Tyrone needed a win against Valley in its home finale to clinch a share of the Big 8 championship, but Valley dominated the Eagles in a 15-0 victory.
\nA year later, Tyrone was on the verge of its first unbeaten regular season in almost 50 years when the Warriors pulled off a stunning 13-7 upset at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field.
\nSince then, Tyrone is 10-1 against the Warriors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeremy Barlett Jared Templeton Game-planning is the ultra-prepared John Franco\u2019s specialty. It\u2019s one of the reasons you can count on one hand the number of times the Golden Eagles have been beaten by more than two touchdowns in the more than 170 games that he has coached at Tyrone. So when pressed on how his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area","category-excerpts-from-the-tyrone-daily-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}