{"id":49176,"date":"2008-11-13T13:53:10","date_gmt":"2008-11-13T17:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/v3\/?p=49176"},"modified":"2008-11-13T13:53:10","modified_gmt":"2008-11-13T17:53:10","slug":"improved-tyrone-squad-primed-for-battle-with-central-cambria-in-6-aa-semifinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/?p=49176","title":{"rendered":"Improved Tyrone squad primed for battle with Central Cambria in 6-AA semifinals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cody Smith<\/td>\nJeremy Barlett<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Tyrone coach John Franco can run down the litany of events that led to last season\u2019s 21-10 upset at the hands of Central Cambria in the District 6 Class AA semifinals.
\nFirst there was the Eagles\u2019 inability to produce inside the red zone. Tyrone cracked the 20-yard line three times in the first half alone and came away with only three points.
\nThen there was Central Cambria\u2019s ability to make big \u2013 make that huge \u2013 plays at critical times. The Red Devils twice scored go-ahead touchdowns on plays of 65 yards or more, including the one that turned out to be the game-winner on a 65-yard screen pass from Shane McGregor to Adam Petrosky.
\nLost in all of that is the fact that the game was played in Altoona, despite Tyrone having earned home field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs, after a security scare closed the Tyrone Area School District for several weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. A Friday night home game at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field turned into a Saturday afternoon game at Mansion Park.
\nBut those incidents were mere scenery on the way to a loss that still had Franco irked as he reviewed the tape in preparation for tomorrow\u2019s rematch against No. 5 seeded Central Cambria at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field. This time, the No. 1 Eagles will get their home game, along with an opportunity to show if they\u2019ve grown in the last 365 days.
\n\u201cOur attitude is so much better,\u201d said Franco. \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest difference. We\u2019ve got better leadership. It\u2019s a harder working group, and I\u2019m pleased with our effort. We\u2019re definitely doing things the right way.\u201d
\nThe problem wasn\u2019t that last year\u2019s team made the ultimate mistake under the Franco Code and overlooked an opponent, like it had against United in 1998. Instead, the team imploded when personalities clashed over personnel decisions. It was something that had never happened during Franco\u2019s tenure.
\n\u201cWe were embarrassed,\u201d Franco said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t play the brand of football Tyrone is known for.\u201d
\nNow, Franco feels his team is a year older and a year wiser \u2013 not to mention a year better. And, he said, they will need to be against a squad he feels is the most talented in the AA bracket.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s definitely the best team we\u2019ve seen all year,\u201d he said.
\nIt\u2019s also a team that\u2019s getting healthy when it matters most. The Red Devils played most of the season without quarterback Jeff Wasilewski, who as a receiver last season had an 80-yard touchdown on a throwback pass in the semifinals. He broke his leg the first game this year and did not return until last week\u2019s 14-0 win at Huntingdon in the quarterfinals.
\nIf there were any lingering effects of his injury, they didn\u2019t show. Wasliewski ran for one touchdown and passed for 96 yards.
\n\u201cHaving Jeff back helps tremendously,\u201d said Central Cambria coach Ken Bussard. \u201cHe is an excellent athlete. He can run, throw and make good decisions. He hadn\u2019t played quarterback since ninth grade, so he\u2019s still in a learning mode. If he hadn\u2019t missed so much time, we\u2019d probably be in better shape.\u201d
\nStill, Central Cambria has found success on offense, mainly because of a strong offensive line and an experienced running back in Andrew O\u2019Saben. He leads the team in rushing with 1,521 yards on 229 carries, and he\u2019s scored 18 touchdowns. He\u2019s the main reason the Devils \u2013 without Wasilewski \u2013 have been able to average 28 points per game.
\nWasilewski and O\u2019Saben together make planning to stop Central Cambria tough, said Franco.
\n\u201cThey have a great running back in O\u2019Saben,\u201d he said. \u201cBut without the quarterback, we could just concentrate on stopping the run.\u201d
\n\u201cWe have people who are capable of doing some things because we have an offensive line that creates some big holes,\u201d Bussard said.
\nBussard said he\u2019ll have a pretty good feel for the direction of the game by watching how his lines on both sides of the ball perform against fronts from Tyrone that have been equally dominant. The Eagles average 258 rushing yards and 33 points per game, and they\u2019re led by two of the more formidable backs in the District in Larry Glace (181 carries, 1,314 yards) and Mark Mingle (135 carries, 855 yards).
\nDefensively, the Eagles have allowed just 901 rushing yards \u2013 about 82 per game.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re physical up front on both sides of the ball,\u201d said Bussard. \u201cI think what it boils down to is, whose line is going to win that battle? If their line sets the tone, we\u2019re in trouble.\u201d
\nOn paper, Tyrone is the more balanced of the two teams. The Eagles have passed for over 1,400 yards behind quarterback Levi Reihart (84-for-130, 1,335 yards, 9 TDs), and rushed for over 2,800. Where the Red Devils have playmakers, the Eagles have them, too, like Eric Desch (25 receptions, 567 yards), Ben Ingle (20 receptions, 223 yards) and John Shaffer (20 receptions, 294 yards).
\nBut Franco\u2019s concern is the quickness and aggressiveness of the Devils\u2019 defense and how it will affect Tyrone\u2019s ability to make plays.
\nCentral Cambria brings a strong pass rush with 28.5 sacks on the season, and is allowing just 11.5 points per game. The Devils have also forced 33 turnovers, including 23 interceptions, led by Ben Ridgeley and Marshall Lipnic, who have six each.
\n\u201cDefensively, they\u2019re very good,\u201d Franco said. \u201cThey have a very strong defensive line, and excellent linebackers and defensive backs. They\u2019re very tough to run or pass against.\u201d
\nBussard, who echoed sentiments that he and Franco are close both as competitors and friends, said Tyrone\u2019s defense presents the same concerns for his own offense, saying that if you matched each team player-for-player, \u201cit would be pretty even.\u201d
\n\u201cOur front is stronger this year. Many of the kids played last year, too,\u201d Bussard said. \u201cTyrone is really a carbon copy of the things we like to do. Both of us have very strong defenses. You might be looking at a 2-0 game. I don\u2019t know if John would like that.\u201d
\nRevenge
\nPayback can be a hefty motivating factor in the world of sports, but not so much in this game.
\nBoth coaches dismissed the idea that there could be a personal element to the game. For Franco, it\u2019s going to be about the Eagles proving they can compete against Central Cambria, while Bussard said these are two different teams from a year ago.
\n\u201cThe main reason we lost was because the Central Cambria kids kicked our butts,\u201d said Franco. \u201cOur kids backed down and quit. They whooped us, and our motivation is just to show that we can play with them. It might have been nice to play an easier team, but this is a game we had to play to compete and at least show we can hold our own.\u201d
\n\u201cBoth squads are different,\u201d Bussard said. \u201cIt\u2019s a totally different season. The one big positive for us is that we\u2019ve had to play some big playoff games on the road the last two seasons, including last week at Huntingdon. We\u2019re very comfortable playing on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cody Smith Jeremy Barlett Tyrone coach John Franco can run down the litany of events that led to last season\u2019s 21-10 upset at the hands of Central Cambria in the District 6 Class AA semifinals. First there was the Eagles\u2019 inability to produce inside the red zone. Tyrone cracked the 20-yard line three times in […]<\/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-49176","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\/49176","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=49176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}