You\u2019d like to think that after an unbeaten regular season, the Tyrone Golden Eagles would enter their game tomorrow against Chestnut Ridge in the District 5-6-AA with a little bit of confidence.
\nBut confidence isn\u2019t the right word according to Eagle coach John Franco.
\nIt\u2019s hunger.
\n\u201cThese guys want to prove that their names deserve to be mentioned up there along side some of the great Tyrone teams of the past,\u201d Franco said.
\nIn case you\u2019re wondering how a team like Tyrone \u2013 which completed back-to-back undefeated seasons last week with a 35-7 win over Johnstown \u2013 could possibly feel malnourished, understand that it\u2019s all relative. When you\u2019ve won seven District championships since 1995, it takes a little more to fill your belly.
\nBut the hunger for Tyrone is real, and it comes from two places, Franco said.
\n\u201cWhen you get knocked out like we did last year (a 23-20 overtime loss at home to Bishop McCort in the semifinals), and you\u2019re not expected to do much, it gives you a hunger,\u201d Franco said. \u201cIt\u2019s something I haven\u2019t noticed since 2003. They\u2019re playing with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder.\u201d
\nIn 2003, Tyrone fed its hunger with a District title \u2013 the program\u2019s first since 2000. This year, it\u2019s paved the way for the 10th unbeaten regular season in school history.
\nIronically, while Franco\u2019s team feels hungry, it\u2019s Chestnut Ridge that has enjoyed a surge in confidence. The Lions defeated inter-county rival Bedford last week for the first time in 14 seasons, and that\u2019s got Chestnut Ridge feeling, if not confident, relaxed, coach Dan Wilkins said.
\n\u201cIt gives us momentum and takes a monkey off our backs,\u201d said Chestnut Ridge coach Dan Wilkins. \u201cUnfortunately, it doesn\u2019t give us any points this week. It gave us confidence, or maybe a certain looseness, which is good.\u201d
\nThe No. 1 seeded Eagles and the No. 8 Lions play at 7 p.m. at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field. It\u2019s a rematch of sorts in that the teams played 12 weeks ago in Fishertown in a scrimmage following the first week of practice. In a practice game that seemingly meant little, Chestnut Ridge outscored Tyrone three touchdowns to two, and three months later the coaches differed on what bearing that game had on the one they\u2019ll play tomorrow.
\n\u201cBoth teams are very different now,\u201d Wilkins said. \u201cWe have guys playing positions now that they weren\u2019t playing then, and I assume Tyrone does, too. A scrimmage is not a measuring stick for who\u2019s going to win this game.\u201d
\nBut Franco saw it as a motivating factor. Tyrone players would like to prove they\u2019re better than what they showed after the first week of practice, and they know Ridge has the confidence to play well against them.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a chance for us to redeem ourselves because they took it to us,\u201d Franco said. \u201cWe have another opportunity, but they\u2019ll be confident because they know they can beat us.\u201d
\nThey\u2019ll also be confident because they\u2019re 7-3, and they were playing well even before last Friday\u2019s historical win. The Lions average nearly 28 points per game, and they have the kind of depth at the skill positions that makes coaches nervous.
\nRunning back Mike Tomovich leads the team with over 1,100 yards on the ground, while quarterback Jason Deffibaugh has passed for nearly 900 yards.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve felt good since the beginning of the season that we have five guys who \u2013 when they touch the ball \u2013 they can handle the ball. All five guys can do something with it, but it\u2019s the same for Tyrone,\u201d said Wilkins.
\nTyrone showcased its skill players in the blowout win over the Trojans. Quarterback Tyler Golden Hooked up with Justin Schopp for 121 yards and two touchdowns and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Tyler Gillmen rushed for 105 yards, and leading rusher Johnny Franco (174 carries, 1,274 yards), accounted for 92 yards of total offense and his 20th touchdown of the season.
\n\u201cThey have two very good backs in Franco and Gillmen and that\u2019s been a big plus for them,\u201d Wilkins said. \u201cTyrone is so well disciplined and well coached, they\u2019re not going to beat themselves. They know what they want to do and you\u2019re not going to talk them out of it.\u201d
\nWhat Tyrone would like to do against Ridge, Franco said, is win the battle up front, where the Lions are strong. After the Eagles\u2019 21-14 win over Penns Valley in Week 8, Franco said he saw the need to rotate more players in, especially on the line, which made for fresher bodies in the trenches last week, when Nick Wilson, Brock Anders and tight end Doug Morrow \u2013 in his first game back since a broken collarbone suffered in the scrimmage with the Lions \u2013 all allowed Tyrone\u2019s starters time to regroup.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not for a quarter or even a series, but just for a couple of plays,\u201d Franco said. \u201cThat\u2019s all you really need. Sometimes you need that as much mentally as physically.\u201d
\nOne thing Tyrone will have this season that Franco said was missing in 2005 is an edge heading into the playoffs. Last year, Tyrone went virtually unchallenged most of the season, and never played a big game after Week 6 until the postseason.
\n Now, despite a No. 4 state ranking, Tyrone enters the playoffs feeling like it has something to prove.
\n\u201cThe kids want to prove they can get back to Mansion and play for a championship,\u201d Franco said. \u201cWe know we\u2019re not as talented as some other teams out there and we may have to play harder than we have in the past. Last year, we were shocked when we lost. Sometimes you don\u2019t come in with the same hunger and passion. There\u2019s definitely a hunger this year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You\u2019d like to think that after an unbeaten regular season, the Tyrone Golden Eagles would enter their game tomorrow against Chestnut Ridge in the District 5-6-AA with a little bit of confidence. But confidence isn\u2019t the right word according to Eagle coach John Franco. It\u2019s hunger. \u201cThese guys want to prove that their names deserve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40068","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=40068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40068\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}