Were this a normal game week for John Franco, you might find the ninth-year Tyrone coach working on ways to outmaneuver Philipsburg-Osceola’s hefty defensive line, which includes a pair of 300-pounders.
Or you could see him working in new offensive wrinkles to test against a 1-5 Mountie squad player under a new system that hasn’t yet clicked on offense.
But this isn’t a normal game week. This is the Week After – the week after the Eagles lost their grip on a 14-0 lead at home against highly-touted Pius X. The week after Tyrone turned the ball over seven times and lost by 25-21 to a team that showed no ability to stop the Eagles offensive onslaught man-to-man.
That’s why the Eagles spent most of the past week working on fixing themselves, rather than worrying about the Xs and Os of defeating P-O.
“We’ve got to fix our own problems,” said Franco, who admitted his team was emotionally drained for most of this past week. “It’s been very tough to get through this week. We’re down and we’ve got to get back up quick. We don’t have the luxury of being able to dwell on that loss.”
You can understand the temptation for the Eagles this season to do just that – to play the game of “what if.”
It’s understandable because despite its 3-3 record, Tyrone knows that, were it not for uncharacteristic turnovers and mental errors, the team could well be at least 5-1 and eyeing a home game when the District playoffs roll around in four weeks.
Against Bellwood-Antis, in a 17-15 loss, Tyrone turned the ball over six times. Last week, it was seven. And after all of that, the Eagles lost both games by a combined seven points.
“We’ve tried to let the kids know this week that we still believe we’re a good team,” Franco said. “We’ve lost three games and it took two of those teams 13 turnovers to beat us by seven points. We’re not bad. The guys have been a little down at practice and we weren’t as sharp this week a we would like. But that’s a part of life. You’ve got to face your losses and come back from them.”
The temptation for his players to dwell on their mistakes and dwell on the loss to Pius concerns Franco. So does the temptation to overlook a Philipsburg team that only last week scored more than one offensive touchdown in a game this season.
“I expect a tough game with our state of mind being what it is right now,” he said. “I’m concerned we’ll take this team lightly and feel sorry for ourselves. The kids might want to mope, but we told them we still have three games and the District playoffs to worry about. They can mope about the Pius game but they’ll have to wait until January.”
The loss to Pius aside, the Golden Eagles did enough good things against the Royals to last a season. Tyler Mertiff completed 13 of 25 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns. Aaron Jeffries caught six passes for 163 yards and a score. Ben Gummo added to a touchdown scoring streak that has now reached five consecutive games. Tyrone’s secondary continued added to its stature as one of the toughest in the region, and the interior defense, put in bad situations all night, held strong enough for three-and-a-half quarters for the Eagles to be in a position to win at the end.
But in a bottom-line football world, those numbers don’t mean much when you blow a two touchdown lead. So while a Tyrone team led by seniors who won just one game as ninth graders continued to improve, the mood in the locker room has been somber since Saturday.
That’s somewhat different than in Philipsburg, where the Mounties are on a bit of an emotional high after pushing 4-2 Clearfield to its limits last Friday. The Mounties battled back from a 13-0 deficit to claim a 14-13 lead in the second quarter and competed until the end in a 48-21 loss.
It was a minor offensive explosion for P-O, which until last week had just one offensive touchdown to its credit under new coach Jeff Vroman’s system. Running back Adam White has been spectacular at times – like in his 197-yard performance against the Bison, and Tyler Chentella has been a consistently solid offensive performer. Zack Johns may be one of the top coverage corners in the conference, having already returned two interceptions for touchdowns.
However, in terms of pure talent, the Eagles – who have topped P-O six straight times by an average of 37 points per game – are still miles ahead of the Mounties. The trouble this week will be refocusing after a Pius game that drained Tyrone physically and mentally.
“Right now, we’re our own worst enemy,” said Franco. “We can’t win making as many mistakes as we’ve made. Over the years, that’s how we’ve won games – by not making mistakes and capitalizing off the mistakes of other teams.”
Numbers
Mertiff boosted his season passing totals to 1,052 yards on 64-of-121 with nine touchdown passes. He’s averaging 175 passing yards per game. Jeffries continued to climb up the single-season receiving charts and now has caught 32 passes for 579 yards and seven touchdowns. Franco called him “one of the best if not the best receiver in District 6.” Gummo lifted his scoring total to 73 points on nine touchdowns and 19 extra-points to lead the team in scoring.
Tyrone’s offense is averaging 27.8 points and 327 yards per game, while the defense is surrendering 273 yards and 17.5 points per game.
Confidence Unwavering
Franco said that despite Mertiff’s turnovers against the Royals (he fumbled twice and was picked off five times) the senior’s confidence remains high, as does the coaches confidence in his player.
“Tyler was very upset after the game and he took a lot of it on his shoulders,” said Franco. “He’s made so many big plays for us over the years and the mistakes he made were mistakes of hustle and trying to make plays. He’s too good to have his confidence shaken. He just needs to keep plugging away.”
Injury Report
Freshman Brinton Mingle has fully recovered from a hand injury suffered in Week 3 and will start at linebacker against P-O as a result of an injury suffered by Josh Good. Good sustained a concussion in the second quarter against Pius and did not return in the second half.
Tyrone’s starting linebacking corps against the Mounties will consist of one freshman (Mingle) and two sophomores (Gummo and Brandon Maceno).
Dan Grazier (broken fibula) is out for a least three more weeks.
