It’s been a long time since the Tyrone Golden Eagles have played in a game like the one they’ll play in tomorrow against Bellefonte at Gray Veterans Memorial Field (7 p.m.).
Both teams come in with heavy credentials – Tyrone is ranked No. 4 in the state among Class AA schools by the Pennsylvania Football News, while Bellefonte is one of the AAA Teams to Watch – but more importantly, both teams are unbeaten after five weeks of play.
Tyrone hasn’t been undefeated this late in the season since 1999, when the Eagles finished 15-0 on the way to a PIAA championship. That campaign marked the last time Tyrone matched unbeaten records with a squad this late in the season, defeating 13-0 Waynesburg in the PIAA Semifinals. Bellefonte, meanwhile, is off to its best start since 1968.
In a football-crazed town like Tyrone, and on a Homecoming weekend, there’s a special kind of energy that surrounds games like this.
“When you’re playing an undefeated Triple-A team that’s leading District 6 and you’re undefeated too, it’s something the kids get excited about,” said Tyrone coach John Franco. “We tell our players that when you play for Tyrone, you do it so you can play in games like this. More than anything, we want to test ourselves and see how good we are.”
For the 11-year coach who adheres to a routine approach like Crazy Glue, an admission that this game is different than others is somewhat unique. In fact, it was Bellefonte’s coach Tom Gravish who seemed determined to keep an even approach to the MAC Inter-Divisional showdown, despite the hype surrounding it.
“We’re not making that big a deal of it,” said Gravish, whose Raiders lost last season in the District 6-AAA finals. “We’re approaching this week like it’s the most important game of the season, just like we would any other game. We’re not changing anything or adding anything. In that way, we’re not approaching it any different than we approached Punxsutawney. If we win, it’s only one win, and if things don’t go our way, it’s only one loss. We’re trying to keep things in perspective and do what we do best.”
What the Red Raiders have done best through five games is run the football, which may seem odd considering Gravish, in his seven seasons at Bellefonte, has developed some of the top passers Centre County has ever seen.
It’s a little different this season. The Raiders come in averaging 254 rushing yards per game led by running back Josh Gentzel, who has accumulated 676 yards on 92 carries (7.3 yards per carry), and has a pair of 200-yard games to his credit.
Along with him, Bellefonte quarterback Chris Snare has racked up 343 yards on 58 carries (5.9 yards per carry), and it’s his speed and elusiveness that sets up everything else the Raiders want to do, according to Franco.
“Their quarterback operates a lot out of spread formations, and they get a lot of yards from their quarterback running,” said Franco. “He’s as good a quarterback as we’ve seen since Geoff Kozack from Huntingdon a few years ago. In fact, he has better receivers than Kozack had, so it’s a pretty formidable offense with outstanding skill players.”
If there’s one knick in Bellefonte’s offensive armor, it’s been the lack of a consistent passing game. The Raiders average only 52 passing yards a game, but with a running attack capable of pounding out over 400 yards, as it did last week in a 41-12 win over Indian Valley, it hasn’t been necessary to throw the ball much.
“I always said I wanted to hand it off and run more because that’s a lot more relaxing for a coach,” Gravish said. “Our goal coming into the season was to run the ball more effectively and I think we’ve done that, but one of these games people might be surprised to see us come out and throw the ball more.”
If the Raiders would decide to air it out, Snare has some capable receivers at his disposal, and at the top of the list is senior Nate Carson, who has four receptions for 109 yards.
“We haven’t seen skill kids as good as theirs this season,” Franco said. “It will be interesting to see how we match up because I think we have some good players, too. Our offensive line keeps developing and they have veteran defensive line. I’m anxious to see how we do against a team that will probably have more talent than us.”
EQUAL TREATMENT
One side benefit of quarterback Leonard Wilson’s record-breaking season has been a passing attack that spreads the wealth. After Week 5, three Golden Eagle receivers – Trey Brockett, Shane Barr and Doug Morrow – had more than 100 yards in receptions, and six had at least three catches.
In last week’s 39-7 win over Philipsburg-Osceola, when Wilson eclipsed the school’s career touchdown passes record, he connected with five different receivers on his way to an 11-for-12 performance.
Brockett, Wilson’s top receiver, currently leads the MAC Nittany Division with 256 yards on 11 receptions, while Wilson needs only 137 more yards to become Tyrone’s career leader in passing yardage.
More of the Same
For Gravish, the hard part about preparing to play Tyrone is never figuring out what the Eagles are going to do, it’s trying to stop the things they always do so well.
When speaking about this season’s Golden Eagle squad, Gravish said it was in some ways similar to the team of 1999.
“They’re so disciplined and they never make mistakes,” he said. “They’re like a carbon copy from 1999. They have a great tailback, great fullback and great quarterback. They run the same plays and do the same things, but they execute better than anyone.”
TYRONE KEEPS RUNNING
Considering the attention received by Snare and Gentzel, what could easily go unnoticed is that Tyrone has continued to batter teams with its running game this season, despite playing the last two weeks without some key contributors on its offensive line.
Against P-O, both Bo Latchford and Robert Emigh sat out with injuries, as they did for most of the game against Bald Eagle Area the week before. However, that hasn’t stopped Tyrone from gaining 574 yards running the football in the last two games.
Emigh will return to action this week after being cleared to play Tuesday following a head injury sustained against BEA. Latchford will not play and is still receiving treatment for a severe injury to his ankle area suffered in the same game.
Brinton Mingle still leads Tyrone on the ground with 465 yards and 10 touchdowns on 88 carries, while Tyler Gillmen, with a couple of big-number performances in Weeks 4 and 5, is second with 358 yards on 36 carries (9.9 yards per carry).
