There\u2019s a lot to make coach John Franco happy about his football team, which at 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the MAC Nittany Division holds its destiny in its own hands heading into tomorrow\u2019s conference game at Gray Veterans Memorial Field against Philipsburg-Osceola (7 p.m.).
\nFor one thing, he loves its week-to-week approach to the schedule. The Golden Eagles have bought into Franco\u2019s high intensity message of gearing up for every opponent, which is one reason Tyrone looked sharp last Friday against hapless Bald Eagle Area.
\nThe Eagles have also impressed Franco with their work ethic in practice, which he describes as \u201coutstanding,\u201d and \u201ca big reason for our success.\u201d
\nBut if there\u2019s one thing that\u2019s tempered the eleventh-year coach\u2019s otherwise positive demeanor, it\u2019s the slew of injuries his players suffered in their blowout win last week in Wingate. Two key players, as of Wednesday,Golden Eagles were scheduled to miss tomorrow\u2019s game entirely, while another had his playing time severely diminished as a result of shots delivered by BEA that Franco said were outside the boundaries of clean football hits.
\n\u201cThe game of football is rough and violent enough without that kind of stuff,\u201d Franco said. \u201cThere\u2019s no place in the game for the cheap stuff. And now we\u2019ve basically lost six positions as a result of it.\u201d
\nSenior Robert Emigh suffered the most visible injury when he was knocked unconscious at the tail end of a 27-yard screen play in the first quarter. Emigh trailed the play by 10 yards but was blasted by a Bald Eagle player as the play ended.
\nEmigh went down and was out for several minutes. Trainers at first called for the ambulance, but then sent it back when Emigh came to. However the two-way starter at defensive tackle and center was not allowed to return to the game.
\n\u201cThe officials weren\u2019t in a position to see that one, but we clearly saw it on film,\u201d said Franco. \u201cThe kid came from sideline to sideline and hit Robert behind the play.\u201d
\nAs of yesterday, trainers said Emigh would not be able to play tomorrow. Also out for the P-O game is junior lineman Bo Latchford, who also went down in the first quarter against BEA after his ankle was injured by a chop block.
\n\u201cBo is a kid for us that rotates in at guard on offense, starts at defensive end, and plays on every special team,\u201d Franco said. \u201cHe leaves a big hole for us to fill.\u201d
\nSenior lineman and kicker Buddy Stotler will see limited action against the Mounties after suffering a leg injury during one of his seven extra-point kicks against Bald Eagle.
\n\u201cHe will only play one way,\u201d said Franco. \u201cBut what\u2019s upsetting is that all three injuries were the results of cheap shots. They weren\u2019t things that happen normally during the course of a game.\u201d
\nThe extent of Tyrone\u2019s injury problems means that several other players will have to step up, Franco said. Junior Josh Wright, who filled in for Emigh at center last week, will do so again this week, while the combination of sophomores Nick Wilson and Brock Anders, along with junior Aaron DeLay, will help sure up the hole left by Latchford.
\nSenior Matthew Lauder will start at defensive end in place of Latchford, while Wilson will see most of the action on the defensive line in place of Emigh.
\nTyler Gillmen will handle the kicking duties this week for Stotler, who has booted 16 extra points and one field goal.
\n\u201cWhile the injuries are unfortunate, they create another opportunity for another kid,\u201d Franco said. \u201cEveryone else now has to do a little more.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s unlikely P-O, at 1-3, is shedding any tears over the Golden Eagles\u2019 misfortune. That\u2019s because the Mounties are depleted themselves, particularly on offense, but it\u2019s not the result of injury. Instead, it\u2019s the effect of the graduation of the Class of 2005, one of the strongest groups of players in P-O history, which went 16-6 from 2003 through 2004 and advanced to the District semifinals twice.
\nThanks to players like Jeff Winters, Lou LaFuria and Bjorn Scoggins, the Mounties had already accumulated 126 points and over 1,500 yards by this time a year ago. Now, the offensively challenged Mounties have scored only 47 points, and their offensive production is down by more than 50 percent.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a fair comparison (to compare last year\u2019s team to this year\u2019s),\u201d said P-O coach Jeff Vroman. \u201cWe\u2019re a young football team this year and that lends itself to some of the mistakes we\u2019ve made. I have to remind myself that when I look out on the field on a Friday night and see eight or nine underclassmen playing.
\n\u201cBut our offense has lacked consistency.\u201d
\nAs a result, the Mounties have had to rely on their defense, and that part of the team has not disappointed. P-O has allowed only 11.7 points per game and has one shutout under its belt. The Mounties have also forced eight turnovers, while allowing more than two scores in a game only once, last week in a 20-7 loss to Bishop Guilfoyle.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s definitely their strength,\u201d said Franco. \u201cThis will be the best defense we\u2019ve seen to this point in the season. That will be our big challenge this week.\u201d
\n\u201cOur defense is solid, and there hasn\u2019t been much of a drop off there from last year,\u201d Vroman said.
\nTheir defense may also have one big benefit from Tyrone\u2019s injuries \u2013 P-O\u2019s best defensive player, nose-tackle J.B. Brown, will be playing across from a center that\u2019s starting his first varsity game.
\nSPREADING THE WEALTH
\nDespite losing three linemen to graduation who were named to All-State teams in 2004, Tyrone is continuing this season to get it done rushing the football.
\nTyrone is averaging 236 rushing yards per game, with an average of 6.9 yards per carry. The Eagles have collected 16 rushing touchdowns and have had a 100-yard rusher three times.
\nThose figures don\u2019t sound too dissimilar from numbers Tyrone posts every season, but what\u2019s different is how the Eagles are getting their rushing yards. Instead of the single-back approach that\u2019s been successful for Tyrone since 1995 \u2013 producing runners like Marcus Owens, Jesse Jones and Brice Mertiff \u2013 the Eagles are spreading the ball around to one of several backs that could be feature backs at other schools.
\nSenior Brinton Mingle is the team\u2019s rushing leader with 378 yards on 71 carries, and Gillmen is second with 278 yards on 34 carries. Sophomore Johnny Franco is bringing up the rear with 144 yards on 19 carries.
\nThe depth of the Eagles at running back and their other skill positions, along with their athleticism on the line, has caused opposing coaches to take notice. Last week, BEA coach Mike Markle said he thought Tyrone\u2019s athleticism made them better than a year ago.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re highly athletic,\u201d said Vroman. \u201cFrom a purely speed aspect or a skill aspect, they may be quicker than a year ago. Up front, they\u2019re not as big, but they are sound and experienced.\u201d
\nOFFENSIVE STRUGGLES
\nPart of P-O\u2019s offensive troubles has been the Mounties\u2019 lack of big-time playmakers. Another part has been turnovers.
\nYet another has been P-O\u2019s inability to sustain a running game. A year ago this week, the Mounties had already run for 978 yards, over than 500 more than they have right now.
\nElliot Davis leads P-O with 158 yards on 25 carries, while Ryan Marcinko is second with 100 yards on 33 carries.
\nQuarterback A.J. Czap is P-O\u2019s offensive leader with 289 passing yards and two touchdowns, hitting 20 of his 54 attempts.
\nCLOSING IN
\nTyrone quarterback Leonard Wilson is closing in on some hallowed passing records, and he\u2019s taking some of his teammates along for his historic ride.
\nA three-year starter, the steady Wilson enters tomorrow\u2019s game needing just one touchdown pass to tie the TAHS record for career touchdown passes of 27 set by Jarrod Anderson from 1994-96.
\nWilson also finds himself just 278 yards behind the career record for passing yards established by Tyler Mertiff from 2001-2002. Wilson has completed 28 of 47 passes for 489 yards this season, and now has 2,608 passing yards for his career.
\nTwo major beneficiaries of Wilson\u2019s work this season have been senior receiver Trey Brockett and junior tight end Doug Morrow, both of whom are having their best seasons catching the football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s a lot to make coach John Franco happy about his football team, which at 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the MAC Nittany Division holds its destiny in its own hands heading into tomorrow\u2019s conference game at Gray Veterans Memorial Field against Philipsburg-Osceola (7 p.m.). For one thing, he loves its week-to-week approach to the […]<\/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-42289","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\/42289","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=42289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42289\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}