For Tyrone coach John Franco, there is only one major disappointment from the 2005 season, when the Golden Eagles went 10-1 and lost in the District 6-AA semifinals to Bishop McCort.
It wasn\’t that the Eagles failed to make it back to the District title game for a chance at a third consecutive championship.
It wasn\’t that they lost at home in the District playoffs for only the second time since home playoff games were first awarded in 1996.
It wasn\’t even the way in which Tyrone lost its last contest, in overtime, following a desperation play as regulation time expired that allowed the Crushers to tie the game after the Eagles had perched themselves on the threshold of victory.
What really disappointed Franco was that many of the players who made Tyrone\’s meteoric push through its 2005 slate possible looked back on the campaign as something of a failure – despite a 9-0 regular season, and despite a Mountain Athletic Conference Nittany Division championship.
“Barry Switzer said in his book that once you create a monster, you have to keep feeding it,” said Franco. “I guess that\’s okay in college and pro football, but not for high school athletes. I told the team when the season was over that they should be upset that we didn\’t achieve all of our goals, but at the same time be proud because of all we accomplished. I could tell not everyone felt that way.”
The delicate balance between never accepting failure and enjoying what success you do have is something the 12-year coach has tried to reconcile within himself for almost a decade now, and the facts always seem to be that no matter what happens over the course of the first nine or 10 games, a season that ends without a big gold trophy is second-rate to someone.
If that truly is the case with the players on the 2005 Golden Eagles, the sentiment would be misdirected. Consider:
• In 2005, Tyrone finished the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1999, when the Eagles won the PIAA championship. In the six years in between, three Tyrone teams won District championships, but none went unbeaten in the regular season.
• The Golden Eagles also captured their first outright Nittany Division crown. Tyrone hadn\’t earned an outright conference title since winning the Big 8 in 2000. Even during its run to the PIAA semifinals in 2004, a mid-season slip-up against Philipsburg-Osceola forced them to share the Nittany title with two other teams.
• During the 9-0 march, Tyrone defeated three of the best teams in their respective District 6 classifications. Bellwood-Antis made it to the Class A finals, while Bellefonte and Huntingdon faced off for the Class AAA championship. None of those teams were in the game against the Eagles for more than a half.
“Our standards are set by District championships, so in that way it\’s bitter-sweet,” Franco said.
The District championship never materialized, but in terms of team achievement and individual accomplishment Tyrone still managed to forge one of the more memorable seasons of the Franco Era.
Senior quarterback Leonard Wilson capped off his three-year career as the Eagles\’ starter with a record-setting season that catapulted him to the top of Tyrone\’s all-time passing charts. He finished the year completing 83 of 134 passes for 1,366 yards and 13 touchdowns, along the way breaking the record for career passing yardage and career touchdown passes.
Brinton Mingle, in his first season as Tyrone\’s feature back, became the school\’s 13th 1,000-yard rusher, gaining 1,132 yards on 182 carries while scoring 23 touchdowns. It was his third year starting in the Eagles backfield and his fourth starting at middle linebacker, where he was an all-conference selection for the second straight season.
Senior Robert Emigh emerged as one of the top defensive linemen of Franco\’s tenure, recording 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss, despite missing a game-and-a-half in the middle of the season following a head injury.
Junior Tyler Hoover recorded 14 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He was a two-way first team Nittany Division selection, and he became the 22nd player under Franco to be named to an all-state team earlier this month when he made the Associated Press All-State first team as a defensive tackle.
The Golden Eagles defense as a unit developed into a legitimate force, despite losing a core of key players from the season before, including all-state tackle Terry Tate. In all, the group forced 32 turnovers, made 85 stops behind the line of scrimmage, and held its opponents to 179 yards per game.
Sophomore Johnny Franco and junior Tyler Gillmen combined for nearly 1,200 yards of total offense and scored 18 touchdowns in their first season playing on a varsity offense, while seniors Trey Brockett and Shane Barr developed into deep-threat playmakers to compliment Wilson.
“It was neat to see them develop over the weeks,” Franco said. “It was fun coaching them. It was nice to see the seniors develop into leaders and I loved watching the offensive line come into its own. They never let down.”
If ever there was a concern it may have been that they achieved so much so soon. By Week 6 – a midseason showdown with undefeated Bellefonte – Tyrone had never really been challenged while posting offensive statistics that were outrageous for a team trying to rebuild an offensive line and a receiving corps. The MAC\’s Game-of-the-Year was a laugher by halftime, and the Eagles won 41-6. Until the District playoffs, there was no other team that – at face value – presented the same kind of outward challenge as the Red Raiders.
“I wouldn\’t say we peaked too soon, but I would say that we weren\’t challenged again until Penn Cambria in the first round of the playoffs,” said Franco. “That was the first time we were behind all season. By then, offensively, I think we were operating as good as any team we\’ve had here at Tyrone, but high school football comes down to matchups, and we didn\’t match up well with Bishop McCort.”
The Eagles showed just how prolific their offense had become against Penn Cambria. Trailing by 17 at halftime, Tyrone rallied to score 34 unanswered points in the second half and win going away. That set up a classic high school battle against McCort – a game that certainly should rank among Tyrone\’s all-time great playoff performances.
Tyrone scored in the fourth quarter to go ahead by a touchdown on a gutsy halfback pass from Mingle to Wilson and had McCort facing fourth-and-18 from the Eagles\’ 22 with 38 seconds to play. But the Crushers converted for a score to tie it, and finished the job in overtime.
“Bishop McCort could match us up front and I thought they had skill kids as good as ours,” said Franco. “That made two years in a row where we were one play away from advancing.”
But while Tyrone fell short of the District finals for the first time since 2002, the Eagles made the most of their 11 games. Along the way, they developed an offensive line as dominant as any in the conference, from which a number of key players return. While the Eagles will have to replace Emigh, Thad Graham and Buddy Stotler, they\’ll do so with a solid nucleus that includes Hoover and James Updike on the left side of the line, along with junior center Josh Wright, who got his feet wet this season in place of Emigh.
Tyrone also returns three-year starter Doug Morrow at tight end, along with tight end Donnie Conrad and lineman Nick Wilson, both of whom saw action last season.
Quarterback will be an obvious area of concern without Wilson, who in three seasons went 33-5 as a starter. Junior Tyler Golden has the inside track to the position, but Franco is hoping he\’ll take the spot and make it his own through his off-season habits.
“He seems to have the edge now, but he can play several positions” said Franco. “He\’s got athletic ability, but he has to live up to those expectations by how hard he works in the offseason.”
The Eagles\’ regular season success also allowed them to find time on defense for defensive backs Shane Emigh and Ethan Etters, who will bolster a relatively experienced defensive unit in 2006 that will include Gillmen, Morrow and Updike, all Nittany Division second team all-stars.
In short, there are pieces in place that could set the table for another strong run in 2006 if, as Franco said, the “next group steps up” and takes their turn.
If Franco\’s career at Tyrone has shown anything, it\’s that he will make sure the group is ready to do so. If it does, it will add to the legacy of Tyrone football, while at the same time feeding the monster.
