By KERRY NAYLOR
\nDaily Herald
\nSports Correspondent
\nTyrone coach John Franco knows all too well how dangerous Indian Valley can be, regardless of their record. After all, in 11 years of coaching in a league that has come to be known as the Mountain Athletic Conference, no team has stung him more than the Warriors.
\nIt all started in 1994, Franco\u2019s first season at Tyrone. The Eagles were 4-4 and looking for a piece of its first Big 8 crown since 1988, and all that stood in the way was a game against Valley at Gray Veterans Memorial Field.
\nIt was a game the Warriors controlled from start to finish, and which they won 15-0. IV rode back to Mifflin County with a Big 8 championship, while Tyrone was left to wait until next season.
\nWhen that time came, the Eagles got off to their hottest start in 50 years, going 8-0 before a rematch against Valley, again at Gray Vets Field. The 2-6 Warriors knocked Tyrone from the unbeaten ranks with a 13-7 upset, although the Eagles eventually advanced to the PIAA semifinals.
\nValley added another win in 2001, and the all-time series between the schools stands at 9-7 in favor of Tyrone. Franco\u2019s record against the Warriors is 7-3, his worst record against any MAC team save Huntingdon.
\nThat\u2019s why you can bet Tyrone (6-1) will be psychologically ready to play the Warriors (1-6) tomorrow at Gray Veterans Memorial Field on Senior Night. Although the Eagles are ranked seventh in the state this week by the Pennsylvania Football News, Franco won\u2019t allow them to take the hapless Warriors lightly.
\n\u201cWe have a lot of respect for Indian Valley\u201d said Franco. \u201cI\u2019m always impressed with their talent. When they beat us in \u201895 when they were 2-6, that was no fluke. They were good. And Stoker is such a good coach. I wasn\u2019t surprised at all to see how he\u2019s resurrected that program.\u201d
\nBut while Valley teams of the past have impressed and burnt Franco, this Warrior team is somewhat different. The Warriors of 2004 are undersized, with only three players 220 pounds or above, and they have had serious difficulty scoring with consistency.
\nPart of the problem has been Valley\u2019s inability to sustain drives as a result of turning the ball over, coach Gawen Stoker said.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve had troubles with turnovers, but it varies. Some weeks it\u2019s fumbles, and other weeks it\u2019s interceptions. Some weeks it\u2019s both. It doesn\u2019t take many of those before you start losing offensive opportunities.\u201d
\nThe Warriors have been shut out three times this season, while scoring a single touchdown on three other occasions. They\u2019re averaging just 7.7 points per game.
\nTyrone, meanwhile, has gotten its offensive groove back after a bump in the road three weeks ago n Philipsburg. Tyrone has outscored its last two opponents 69-13 and is currently averaging 31 points and 340 yards per game.
\n\u201cWe\u2019d better tackle. We haven\u2019t done that very well at times this season,\u201d said Stoker. \u201cTyrone keeps coming at you and sooner or later they get loose and score. (Leonard) Wilson does an outstanding job running their offense and they have great backs and receivers. They mix the run and the pass effectively and they get timely play calling. Their offensive and defensive lines don\u2019t get a lot of press, but they get the job done.\u201d
\nIn fact, Wilson may not get credit enough. While senior Brice Mertiff is on the verge of his second 1,000-yard season, Wilson\u2014a junior in his second season as a starter\u2014is playing as steady as always. He\u2019s completed more than 50 percent of his passes for 597 yards and been picked just twice, both coming against P-O.
\nIt\u2019s all a part of the steady improvement to which Franco said the Eagles dedicated themselves after losing to the Mounties.
\n\u201cAfter P-O we wanted to go back to step one and try to improve each week,\u201d Franco said. \u201cWe have to do that because of the situation we put ourselves in. But IV will be prepared this week. I fully expect to get their best game of the year.\u201d
\nMilestone
\nEarlier this season, Mertiff went over the 3,000-yard mark for his career, and tomorrow, with 12 yards on the grounds, he would become only the third Eagle rusher to gain 1,000 yards in two seasons.
\nMertiff has 988 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns on 125 carries, and currently leads the MAC Nittany Division in rushing yardage.
\n\u201cBrice would be the first to say it\u2019s been a team effort,\u201d said Franco. \u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as doing it on your own. There are a lot of good backs that don\u2019t get 1,000 yards because their lines aren\u2019t any good, but Brice is an outstanding runner and he has an outstanding line.\u201d
\nMarcus Owens (1995-96) and Jesse Jones (1998-2000) are the only other Golden Eagle backs to gain over 1,000 yards more than once.
\nDistrict Changes
\nDistrict 6 has been already been affected by the entrance of Philadelphia public schools into the PIAA, with some schools being reclassified and others moving from the west region to the east region.
\nThe Mifflin County School District, for different reasons, has plans to shake up District 6, as well.
\nIndian Valley and Lewistown High Schools have twice petitioned the PIAA to be moved from District 6 to District 4, where they say they would be met with more favorable traveling conditions. Each time the move has been rejected.
\nFor his part, Stoker could see validity to both sides of the argument.
\n\u201cHow I feel doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Stoker said. \u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019re looking at and I want what\u2019s best for the school. Right now, we\u2019re on the edge of District 6, and we would be on the edge of District 4. It has its advantages and disadvantages, and our people feel the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. There has been some resentment from people in District 6, but how long will we be in District 6 before they say there aren\u2019t enough triple-A teams to have four go into the playoffs?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By KERRY NAYLOR Daily Herald Sports Correspondent Tyrone coach John Franco knows all too well how dangerous Indian Valley can be, regardless of their record. After all, in 11 years of coaching in a league that has come to be known as the Mountain Athletic Conference, no team has stung him more than the Warriors. […]<\/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-44032","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\/44032","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=44032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44032\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}