 |
Old reliable
Though just a junior, Johnny Shaffer has been a very reliable extra point and field goal kicker over the past two seasons. On Friday night at Gray-Vets Memorial Field, Shaffer booted a 32-yard field goal and three extra points in a 24-21 win. (The Daiky Herald/Steve Michaels) |
There came a point in the second half of Tyrone’s game last night against Indian Valley at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field when Golden Eagle coach John Franco went to running back Shayne Tate to let the senior rusher know he was going to give him a rest.
Tate had run the ball 26 times through three quarters, two carries more than his season-high.
Tate’s reply: fat chance.
“I wanted to take him out to get him a blow and he didn’t want it,” Franco said. “He said this is my last game here in the regular season, and if we’re going to lose, I want to stay on the field. So I said, okay, you got it.”
Tate would carry the ball 10 more times for 28 yards in the fourth quarter, finishing with 215 yards and two touchdowns on 36 carries as Tyrone defeated the top-rated Class AAA school in District 6 24-21.
The win improved the Eagles record to 8-0 and ran their regular-season winning streak to 31 consecutive games. It also demonstrated the Eagles’ comfort playing from behind.
Like a week ago, when Tyrone was forced to drive the field in the closing minutes for a game-winning score against once-beaten Philipsburg-Osceola, the Golden Eagles again found themselves trailing in the second half.
This time, the Eagles were down 21-17 late in the third after Valley had driven 56 yards in five plays to take the lead on an 11-yard run by Thad Rosenberry.
Tyrone’s response was resoundingly swift. Tate started things off with a 21-yard run on first down to put the ball on the Valley 45. After running for seven yards on the next play, Tate broke loose for a 38-yard touchdown run built the lead back to three at 24-21.
\”We’ve been in so many (close games) this year,” Franco said. “This year, just about every game has been 7-7 going in at half or 7-0, so we’ve got to play full games. We’re a little more used to the tightness of the game, where in the past, we haven’t been.”
Tyrone can afford to feel a little more at ease when the game is close as long as their defense keeps making stops like it did last night. After the Golden Eagles took the lead in the fourth quarter, they gave up only two more first downs on the next three Indian Valley possessions.
On Valley’s final drive, which began at its own 14 with 1:42 left, Jay Hartman put the Warriors in Tyrone territory when he hauled in a 43-yard pass from Jay Kratzer to move the ball to the Eagles’ 45 with under a minute to play.
But on the next play, Johnny Shaffer came off the edge to hurry Kratzer, who slipped and fell backwards as he released a pass that was picked off by junior Ben Ingle to seal the game.
“When I saw him slip, I knew he was just going to throw it up,” said Ingle, whose pick was his third of the season.
It was the second straight loss for the Warriors, who fell to 6-2, and dropped behind Hollidaysburg in the race for the top seed in the Class AAA playoffs.
“We thought if we gave ourselves time with protection, we could get down the field on them,” said Warrior coach Gawen Stoker. “But then we got a slip and a throw, and he’s a high school guy. Sometimes you do things you wish you could pull back.”
The biggest key for Tyrone in the second half was its ability to limit the Warriors’ big plays, while pounding their defense at its strongest point. So while Valley had five plays that went for 10 yards or more in the first half – not including Rosenberry’s 33-yard punt return that set up the Warriors’ first score – it managed only three in the second half, the longest of which was Hartman’s fourth-quarter reception.
“They just shut us down,” said Stoker. “We couldn’t get out to the pitch in our offense because sometimes they were stuffing our fullback in the backfield, and we couldn’t even pull the ball out and take it outside.”
And when the Eagles had the ball, they were able to create holes for Tate against a defensive line that had them out-sized at every position. Tate gained 112 of his yards in the second half.
“I was ready to go. I love running the ball,” said Tate. “We wanted to run right at them.”
“We really felt like our offensive line has come along so well, and you always watch the first couple of series, and we really felt we were getting underneath them,” said Franco. “Of course, it’s pretty natural to get underneath them when they’re twice as big as you. But that’s the key against a bigger player, and the low man won tonight.”
The Eagles led 7-0 after their first possession after they marched 67 yards in nine plays to score with just over five minutes left in the first quarter. Tate carried six times on the drive, and sophomore Levi Reihart completed a 10-yard pass to Brandon Gehret to move the ball to the Valley 15. Two plays later, Tate took a sweep right and cut against the containment on an 11-yard touchdown run that made it 7-0.
Valley answered two possession’s later after Rosenberry’s punt return set the Warriors up at Tyrone’s 27. An 11-yard pass from Kratzer to Hartman put the ball at the Tyrone 1, and Rosenberry crashed in from there to tie it.
But Tyrone regained the lead on their ensuing drive when Shane Emigh took a screen from Reihart his own 45 and weaved his way through the Valley defense for a 55-yard touchdown reception to make it 14-7.
It took the Warriors just one play to get the score back. Valley took over at its own 30, and on its first play from scrimmage Kratzer and Rosenberry teamed up on a 70-yard touchdown on an option play for the tying score. Rosenberry did most of the work, taking the pitch at the 40 and then using his speed to split Tyrone’s defense down the middle.
The Golden Eagles went up 17-14 after a 10-play drive stalled at the Warriors 15. Shaffer came on and kicked his fourth field goal of the season from 32-yards out.
Valley was poised to take the lead just before halftime when it drove 52 yards to the Tyrone 10. Kratzer had runs of 12 and 14 yards, sandwiched around a 15-yard run by Rosenberry. But on third down from the 10, an option pitch by Kratzer missed Rosenberry and was gobbled up by Jesse Walk at the 15.
“It was big,” Franco said of Walk’s recovery. “They had a rhythm going, and one thing about that offense, when they have that rhythm going, it’s tough to break that up.”
After Tate’s score gave Tyrone the lead in the second half, the Golden Eagles nearly iced the game when they advanced 73 yards in 10 plays and scored with six minutes left on an 11-yard run on a reverse by Emigh, who leapt from the 3-yard line to beat the defense to the corner of the end zone. But the play was called back on a late holding penalty on junior Matt Murray 10 yards behind the play.
Franco withheld judgement after the game.
“No comment,” he said when asked if the call was too far behind the play. “I’ll have to look at the game film on that one.”
GRID TIDBITS: Tate moved into 10th place on Tyrone’s single-season rushing list. He now has 1,293 yards on 159 carries … Rosenberry finished with 114 yards on 13 carries. He managed only 33 yards on 8 carries in the second half … Reihart had his best day at quarterback, completing 7 of 12 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, while going without an interception for the second straight week … Tyrone was flagged for a false start in the first half, their first in three games … the Eagles went without a turnover for the second straight game … the Golden Eagles travel to Central next week. Indian Valley hosts Bald Eagle Area.
TYRONE 24 INDIAN VALLEY 21
TYRONE 7 10 7 0 – 24
INDIAN VALLEY 7 7 7 0 – 21
First Quarter
T – Tate 11 run (Shaffer kick)
I – Rosenberry 1 run (Barger kick)
Second Quarter
T – Reihart 55 pass to Emigh (Shaffer kick)
I – Rosenberry 70 run (Barger kick)
T – Shaffer 32 field goal
Third Quarter
I – Rosenberry 111 run (Barger kick) 3:45
T – Tate 38 run (Shaffer kick) 2:18
Team Statistics
T IV
1st Downs 15 11
Yards Rushing 228 203
Pass Att.-Comp. 7-12 8-13
Yards Passing 131 80
Total Offense 359 283
Int. By 1 0
Fum. Rec. 0-0 1-1
Punts-Avg. 2-32.5 4-40.8
Penalties/Yards 4-36 3-25
Individual Statistics
RUSHING
TYRONE – Tate 36-215; Emigh 2-14; Reihart 6-(-1).
INDIAN VALLEY – Rosenberry 13-114; Hartman 2-42; Kratzer 5-26; Romig 7-21.
PASSING
TYRONE- Reihart 7-12-131, 0 Int., 1 TD.
INDIAN VALLEY – Kratzer 8-13-80, 1 Int., 0 TD.
RECEIVING
TYRONE – Emigh 1-55; Mingle 1-28; Shaffer 3-23; Tate 1-14; Gehret 1-10.
INDIAN VALLEY – Hartman 5-67; Long 1-20; Rosenberry 2-3.
