{"id":3488,"date":"2007-09-14T10:48:34","date_gmt":"2007-09-14T14:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/v3\/?p=3488"},"modified":"2008-09-11T10:50:41","modified_gmt":"2008-09-11T14:50:41","slug":"battle-of-top-defenses-highlights-tyronepenns-valley-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/?p=3488","title":{"rendered":"Battle of top defenses highlights Tyrone\/Penns Valley contest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Brock Anders<\/td>\nJosh Bradley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

A year later, you can see why Tyrone might not been at the top of its game last October, when the Eagles squeaked by Penns Valley 21-14 in Spring Mills.
\nTyrone was nearing the end of a long regular season where blowouts were the norm, even against the best opponents. The Rams didn\u2019t appear to fit into that category, but there was one on the horizon in once-beaten Johnstown a week later.
\nThen there was the weather. The game was played in a steady rain that made passing the football \u2013 the Eagles\u2019 forte in 2006 \u2013 nearly impossible.
\nWhen you combine that with Penns Valley\u2019s slim playoff hopes, which teetered on whether or not they could dethrone the Eagles, you could see an upset just waiting to happen.
\nBut it didn\u2019t.
\nThanks to Johnny Franco\u2019s career-high 222 yards and three touchdowns, Tyrone was able to leave Centre County with its unbeaten season intact, but the residual effects of that game could well be on display at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field tonight when Penns Valley visits in a MAC Nittany Division game.
\nThat game, according to Rams coach Martin Tobias, helped to lay the groundwork for what Valley has grown into over the first two weeks of 2007: an undefeated football team with a dominant defense that\u2019s playing with confidence.
\n\u201cIn the off-season, it helped to motivate the kids,\u201d Tobias said. \u201cI think they realized how sound a football game they played. In that game, I think they learned to trust each other. It brought them together as a group, and that helped them during off-season workouts.\u201d
\nHow good is the Rams\u2019 defense? Try these numbers:
\nThrough two games they\u2019ve allowed just 105 total yards, only 11 of which have come on the ground.
\nThey\u2019ve also forced seven turnovers, three of which led to scores.
\nIn the Nittany Division, they\u2019re one of only two teams that is yet to surrender a point.
\nThe other, of course, is Tyrone, whose defense has been every bit as formidable as Valley\u2019s. The Eagles have given up just 134 yards and their opponents have penetrated their 20-yard line only twice.
\nSomething has to give.
\n\u201cThis is one of the top defenses we\u2019ll see,\u201d said Tyrone coach John Franco. \u201cThey have a veteran unit back with nine of 11 kids who started or played a lot against us in our game last year. It\u2019s a complete defense, and they play a 4-3 as well as anyone.\u201d
\nTobias said it\u2019s the group\u2019s cohesion that has contributed most to its success.
\n\u201cOur players have been playing well as a unit. We don\u2019t have just one player who you would say is a difference maker,\u201d said Tobias. \u201cIt\u2019s just an entire unit coming together.\u201d
\nSome stand out, like 6-6 defensive end Matt Johnson \u2013 a four-year starter \u2013 and linebacker Ty Corl, whose sack of Tyler Golden last season led to a fumble he returned for a score to give Valley the lead in the second quarter.
\nCorl is one of three returning starters at linebacker for the Rams, a group Franco said is \u201cone of the best I\u2019ve seen in a long time.\u201d
\nValley\u2019s defense has done more than keep the Rams in games. It\u2019s also been the catalyst for the team\u2019s anemic offense. The Rams average just 8.5 points per game and last week accumulated just 64 yards of total offense in a 10-0 win over Bald Eagle Area.
\nHowever, they\u2019ve won because their defense has put the offense in a position to be successful. In Week 1 against Central, an interception by Cody Stover set up Valley\u2019s only score, and set the stage for a dramatic goal-line stand when the Rams turned the Dragons away on four plays inside the 5.
\nLast week, a botched BEA punt and a fumble led to a touchdown and a field goal.
\n\u201cWe know how good they are,\u201d Franco said. \u201cOur kids have talked about it for a long time \u2013 how tough they were going to be this season. They\u2019ve really come together and they present quite a challenge. We know that.\u201d
\nAnother thing Franco knows is that his own defense is pretty good, too. Through two games, it has stopped 13 plays in the opponents\u2019 backfield and allowed just eight first downs.
\nWhat\u2019s not as apparent is how good the offense is, or how good it could be. For the third straight game, running back Johnny Franco will watch from the sidelines, out with a broken left fibula that is making progress, according to coach Franco, but not enough to risk further injury by playing.
\nIf things go as smoothly as they have in wins over Bellwood-Antis and Huntingdon, that may not be a problem. In Johnny Franco\u2019s absence, Tyrone\u2019s ground game has been as potent as ever, churning out 555 yards and four touchdowns.
\nShayne Tate has been a major reason why. After shifting to running back from wide receiver one day before the season-opener, Tate followed up a 120-yard performance in Week 1 with 204 yards on 24 carries last week in an 18-0 win over Huntingdon.
\nJunior Mark Mingle also eclipsed the 100-yard mark against the \u2018Cats.
\n\u201cOur offensive line fired off the ball and blocked well,\u201d said Franco. \u201cThe foundation is there. Now we\u2019ve got to get the other things in order. We have to execute.\u201d
\nSome of the other things might include turnovers. Tyrone committed three last week, more than in any single game in 2006.
\nIt might also include the passing game. Sophomore Levi Reihart, after passing for 92 yards in Week 1, threw two interceptions against Huntingdon and completed just two passes for 17 yards.
\n\u201cLevi is making progress,\u201d Franco said. \u201cA lot of times we weren\u2019t doing a good job of running pass patterns, and that involves sharper routes and quicker reads. We\u2019re getting there, but not at the rate I would like to see.\u201d
\nDespite the kinks, Tobias is still impressed.
\n\u201cIn watching them on film, their running game, the formations they work from\u2014they\u2019re sound,\u201d said Tobias. \u201cThe quarterback will continue to get better, and even though he\u2019s had some growing pains, he\u2019s a playmaker. So you can\u2019t just focus on one facet of their game. Even without Johnny Franco, they\u2019re firing on all cylinders.\u201d
\nQuarterback Struggles
\nIf Reihart has had growing pains as a sophomore, it\u2019s nothing compared to the struggles of Johnson, who has started at quarterback for the Rams since he was a sophomore, with mixed results at best.
\nHe\u2019s thrown for just over 400 yards each of the last two seasons. He\u2019s also thrown for more than 10 interceptions each of those seasons.
\nThis year, Johnson has completed 3 of 15 passes for 10 yards.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s a strong senior leader and a great kid,\u201d Tobias said. \u201cWe rely on him so much on defense. He\u2019s so good on that side of the ball. If he could have focused more on being a good quarterback, you might have seen him progress more.\u201d
\nSilver Lining
\nFranco said he saw some positives in the injury that has kept his son on the sidelines since the second week of camp.
\n\u201cI\u2019m hoping this makes the team better,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of people were expecting to see Johnny be the big leader. Every game we\u2019ve won without him has been a big boost for the team psychologically. Other people have stepped up. Hopefully, when he comes back, it will really give us the boost to do some things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brock Anders Josh Bradley A year later, you can see why Tyrone might not been at the top of its game last October, when the Eagles squeaked by Penns Valley 21-14 in Spring Mills. Tyrone was nearing the end of a long regular season where blowouts were the norm, even against the best opponents. The […]<\/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-3488","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\/3488","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=3488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}