If the Tyrone Golden Eagles felt they weren’t shown the proper respect by Seton-LaSalle in the days leading up to last night’s PIAA quarterfinal game at East Allegheny High School, their feelings were validated in the last minute of the first quarter.
On fourth-and-1 from their own 31-yard line with the score tied 7-7, the Rebels lined up to go for the first down against a defense that was giving up under 90 yards rushing per game. Brian Bogdanski, who in 13 games had run for over 1,500 yards, took the handoff and headed off tackle, but was swarmed over by the Golden Eagle defense without gaining an inch.
It was turning point in the game because the Eagles, working on a short field, used the next eight plays to move 31 yards and score the go-ahead touchdown on a 10-yard pass from Leonard Wilson to Ben Gummo. Tyrone never trailed again and defeated the unbeaten Rebels 28-7 to advance to the PIAA Western Finals for the fourth time in school history.
For LaSalle coach Lou Cerro, whose offense had spent the 2004 season putting up numbers only Peyton Manning could relate to, the run to Bogdanski was the right call against the defense Tyrone was showing, but for the Eagles, it was another sign that perhaps the Rebels weren’t taking them seriously.
“We have a lot of beef up front,” said Tyrone sophomore Tyler Gillmen, who was one of several Eagle defensive backs charged with defending LaSalle receiver Carmen Connolly, who entered the game in pursuit of a national record for single season receptions. “We just stuffed them. It was a great stop, and it gave us a lot of momentum.”
But it wasn’t Tyrone’s only defensive stand. The Eagles later turned the Rebels away from their own 1-yard line on fourth-and-goal, and came up with three second-half interceptions of WPIAL record-setting passer Bill Stull. Tyrone hounded Stull, who last week became the WPIAL’s first 3,000-yard single-season passer, into an 11-of-20 performance for 105 yards, 141 below his per game average.
Tyrone also sacked Stull three times, by Gummo, Terry Tate and Tyler Hoover, as part of a push by the Eagles’ defensive front that had Stull rolling further and further outside the pocket as the game wore on.
As for Connolly, who came in needing 20 receptions to tie the national mark, he finished with four grabs for 40 yards, and was never a factor.
“(Defensive Coordinator Steve) Guthoff thought that we had to take away (Stull’s) primary weapon, and force them to either run the ball to beat us, or use two receivers that they hadn’t really gone a lot to,” said Tyrone coach John Franco. “They would have had to really have adjusted their game plan to do that, and that’s hard for a high school team to do. We gave them four different coverages and tried to take away their favorite targets.”
And while the Eagles’ defense was stopping an offense that befuddled most teams in Western Pennsylvania – last week it established a WPIAL championship game points record – their offense was doing what it had all season – running the football behind its enormous offensive line. Tyrone pounded the Rebels for 234 yards on the ground, scored three rushing touchdowns, and physically manhandled a LaSalle front that averaged 254 pounds per player.
Junior Brinton Mingle carried most of the load, gaining 118 yards on 23 carries. Leading rusher Brice Mertiff had 47 on 15, Wilson totaled 69 on nine, and all three scored touchdowns.
In all, Tyrone outgained the WPIAL’s top offense by more than 120 yards before eventually taking a knee inside LaSalle’s five as time expired.
Tyrone (12-1) now advances to play District 10 champion Grove City, a 28-12 winner over Brookeville, next week at Mansion Park.
“The thing people have failed to look at down here is we have played WPIAL champions four times and won three of them,” said Franco when asked if he felt his team was overlooked. “We can hold our own in District 6. I don’t look at it as a surprise. We play quality football there.”
The Rebels started the game by scoring on their first possession and showed no signs of cooling from last week’s 42-point outburst against Aliquippa. LaSalle converted twice on third down – once on a 15-yard pass to Ryan Irvine and again on a 10-yard reception by Connolly – and moved ahead 15 more yards on a facemask penalty. Bogdanski covered the last 25 on a run up the middle, scoring with 8:52 left in the first quarter to make it 7-0.
Tyrone responded with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that used over 6:30 of game clock to tie the score. Tyrone ran the ball nine times on the series, but the key play was a 23-yard hook-up from Wilson to Gummo on third-and-10 that moved the ball to the SL-19. Four plays later, Wilson ran a keeper around the right end for a 4-yard touchdown that tied it a 7-7 at 2:29.
That set up the Bogdanski run on LaSalle’s next possession, and a game-changing play that Cerro stood behind afterwards.
“I thought we had a chance to make it,” said Cerro. “They were in a good defense that time and we tried to check out of it. It didn’t happen, and they made a play.”
“Had it worked, it might have been one of the gutsiest calls,” said Franco. “It might have switched the momentum of the game and everything.”
The Eagles punched it on the ensuing series, with Wilson rolling to his own sideline and hitting Gummo on a 10-yard pass with 8:24 to play in the second quarter, lifting Tyrone to a 14-7 lead.
The Rebels responded by marching as far as the Tyrone-1, but were again turned away on a key fourth down call. Stull ran for 19 yards on the drive, but on fourth-and-goal, he rolled left and found no receivers open. Brandon Maceno and Tyler Hoover pursued and nabbed him at the four with 3:22 left until halftime.
“When you have an offense that good, you can do things like that,” said Franco of Cerro’s fourth-down decisions. “Their offense is good enough to make that play. Unless you’re there and know what your offense needs at that time, you can’t criticize it.”
LaSalle turned the ball over three times in the second half, with two leading to Tyrone touchdowns.
The first came on a pick by Josh Crabtree at the 50-yard line, and Tyrone followed it up with an eight play drive shouldered by Mingle, who carried five times for 36 yards, and eventually blasting in from the four with 4:39 left in the third quarter to make it 21-7.
“(The turnovers) were huge because their offense is so good. They can always come back, so you can never let up at any point,” said Crabtree.
Crabtree had a hand in Tyrone second interception, as well, deflecting a pass that was intercepted by Tate.
The Eagles couldn’t cash in on that one, but they did manage to pick off Stull next pass on LaSalle’s following possession. Mingle was dropping back into middle coverage and was positioned perfectly to nip Stull for the third time, returning it 12 yards to the SL-20. Five plays later, Mertiff ran it in from three yards out, and Gummo’s fourth extra-point set the final with 9:54 left in the game.
“We had them covered perfectly all night,” said Mingle. “And we put a lot of pressure on him. When he was pressured, he just threw it up.”
“They made plays and we didn’t,” said Cerro. “Their defensive line gave us a lot of pressure. They had Billy scrambling back there.”
Grid Tidbits: Tyrone has not lost to a WPIAL team since Burrell in 1995 (34-13) … in Tyrone’s last Western Finals appearance, the Eagles defeated Waynesburg 17-14 … Wilson went over the 1,000-yard mark passing for the season, and threw his 10th touchdown pass … Tyrone was flagged eight times for 55 yards, with seven penalties coming in the first half.
Tyrone 28, Seton-LaSalle 7
Tyrone 7 7 7 7 – 28
Seton-LaSalle 7 0 0 0 – 7
First Quarter
SL – Bogdanski 25 run (Boland kick) 8:52
T – Wilson 4 run (Gummo kick) 2:29
Second Quarter
T – Gummo 10 pass from Wilson (Gummo kick) 8:24
Third Quarter
T – Mingle 4 run (Gummo kick) 4:39
Fourth Quarter
T – Mertiff 3 run (Gummo kick) 9:54
Team Statistics
T SL
First Downs 19 11
Yards Rushing 47-234 17-62
Pass Att.-Comp. 7-13 11-20
Pass Yards 74 105
Total Yards 306 167
Fumbles/Lost 1-0 0-0
Interceptions Thrown 0 3
Penalties/Yards 8-55 3-25
Punts/Avg. 3-37.3 0-0
Individual
Rushing
Tyrone – Mingle 23-118; Mertiff 15-47; Wilson 9-69.
Seton-LaSalle – Bogdanski 6-61; Waht 1-13; Stull 9-(-9).
Passing
Tyrone – Wilson 7-13-74, 1 TD
Seton-LaSalle – Stull 11-20-117, 3 Int.
Receiving
Tyrone – Gummo 4-57; Chamberlain 1-7; Mingle 1-6; Crabtree 1-4.
Serton-LaSalle – Connolly 4-40; Irvine 3-29; What 3-28; Roslonski 1-7.
