Tyrone two-way lineman Tyler Hoover has been named to the AP PIAA Class-AA All-State Team for the second straight season.
Hoover, a Golden Eagle senior, was the only player on the defensive side of the football to repeat. The Eagles went 12-1 completing their second straight undefeated regular season in 2006, making it to the district championship game for the third time in four years.
“It means a lot to be selected two years in a row. It’s an honor,” said Hoover. “I played with Terry (Tate), when he got it two years in a row, but I didn’t expect to get it again really. People said we weren’t going to be good. That kind of helped if your team is really good and makes it far. I wasn’t really concerned about making it, because I wanted to focus on making our team better. We knew what we had to do. I wasn’t thinking about making it, because I didn’t want to unfocused from what we were planning on doing.
Hoover started in grand style, forcing a safety that ultimately allowed Tyrone to score nine of their 16 points in the closing minutes of the first half in the season opener against backyard rival Bellwood-Antis and then kept on the intensity from there. Hoover recorded a team-high 10 sacks, included among 18 tackles for losses, anchoring a defense that shut out five opponents and allowed just an average of 7.9 points per game during the regular season.
“To be selected again goes to my coaches,” said Hoover. “They pushed me to what I can do, to reach my potential. They made me all-state, to do my best on every play. I want to thank them first. They made it possible.”
Hoover hasn’t decided where he is going to school to continue his education and play college football. He has received interest from several division-I schools such as West Virginia, Pitt, Iowa, Toledo, Akron, and IUP.
“He is very deserving of the honor,” said Tyrone head football coach John Franco. “Tyler was a four-year starter for us, who for the last two-years has been the foundation upon which our team was built, of both sides of the line. He is a great kid, who did one heck of a job for us. He did a great job of controlling the line for us. He was selected for the defense, but Tyler did an equally good job for us on both sides of the line of scrimmage.”
