If you listen to the coaches, the Big 8 showdown tonight between Bellefonte (2-1, 1-1 Big 8) and Tyrone (1-2, 1-1) at Roger’s Stadium will be a match-up of two works-in-progress.
Both Eagle coach John Franco and Raider coach Tom Gravish have relied heavily in the early season on underclassmen. At Tyrone, two sophomores start in the offensive backfield, and no less than four see action on the offensive line. Meanwhile, Bellefonte starts a sophomore quarterback and last week had two freshmen start on defense.
That makes the conference match-up some what intriguing. Despite a vat of young talent and experienced skill players, Tyrone was unable to avoid an 0-2 start for the second straight season, and the Eagles can’t afford to lose another Big 8 game if they want to contend for a league title. And while Bellefonte is 2-1, the Raiders are yet to prove they can win the big game, as evidenced by last week’s 21-14 loss at home to Big 8 front-runner Huntingdon.
“We’re not satisfied with a 2-1 record,” said Gravish, who hasn’t beaten Tyrone in three tires at Bellefonte. “We’re really young and we’re still ironing things out We had higher expectations. We expected to be 3-0. We expected to beat Huntingdon and we didn’t. You could say we’re pleased maybe, and we’ll take a 2-1 record, but we’re not satisfied.”
Nor are Franco and the Eagles, who could easily be 3-0 had not untimely penalties and mental mistakes played such a huge role in their narrow losses to Huntingdon and Bellwood-Antis in Weeks 1 and 2. But a 35-0 win over Lewistown last Friday-a game that saw sophomores Brice Mertiff and Ben Gummo each rush for over 100 yards- did wonders for Tyrone’s confidence, and set the tables for a key Big 8 game.
“The key to high school football is that everybody has a job to do,” said Franco. “If everybody accepts their job and focuses only on that and not on trying to win a game by themselves, the big things will take care of themselves. We made big progress in that area last week.”
They also took huge strides on the line. Junior Justin Clark, who had missed all but the first several days of practice after dislocating his elbow, returned to the rotation with Brian McManigal, Blake Cowfer, Terry Tate, Dan Grazier, Ralph VanAllmen, Ron Miller and Jake Houck and the group controlled the line of scrimmage from start to finish.
So dominant was Tyrone’s play in the trenches that Gummo (132) and Mertiff (128) became the first pair of Eagle backs to rush for over 100 yards in the same game in five years. In all, Tyrone ground out 273 rushing yards, equaling the team’s total from the first two weeks of the season.
However, running the ball may not be as easy against the Raiders, who have what Franco called, “The best defense we will have seen to this point.”
A case in point was Bellefonte’s game last week against the Bearcats. The Raiders, who return four defensive starters, surrendered just 199 total yards, 123 of them coming on the ground. To put that into perspective, a week earlier, Tyrone allowed 302 yards to the ’ Cats on the ground alone.
“Our defense is a lot like our offense. It’s a work in progress every week,” said Gravish.
As a result, Franco said the Eagles will have to have a sharp passing attack this week, and with senior quarterback Tyler Mertiff at the controls, the odds are more than likely that will be in place.
Tyler Mertiff has completed 30 of 67 passes for 403 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions. His main target has been senior Aaron Jeffries, who has grabbed 12 passes for 211 yards and three scores. Dan Grazier is second on the team with 9 receptions for 108 yards and one touchdown.
Tyler Mertiff has also rushed for 71 yards and in two years as a starter has proven to be as difficult to defend outside of the designated offensive scheme as within. But Gravish said the Raiders have no “tricks up their sleeves,” to defend the play-making signal caller.
“We’re not going to change our scheme,” said Gravish. “We’re going to play fundamental, sound football and try to contain him with a strong outside rush and a good rush up the middle. He’s going to break some plays. Hopefully, they won’t be or touchdowns.
Tyrone’s got great running backs and a great line and tight end. They can skin a cat any way they want from week to week. Hopefully, it’s not this week.”
Bellefonte will counter on offense with a look unlike those of recent years. The Raiders feel they have a solid quarterback-in-the-making in sophomore Josh Mundy, but he’s not ready to post numbers like former Bellefonte greats Bill Witmer and Stewart Sampsel.
That’s forced Bellefonte to emphasize the run more than in years past, with limited success. Against Philipsburg-Osceola in Week 2, senior Corey Mislinski ran for over 200 yards, while last week he was limited to 74 yards on 25 carries as the Raiders gained just 23 yards on the ground.
“They’re more of a running team this year, but they’ve struggled to score points,” said Franco. “The strength of that team is defense. They definitely have the talent in that area to beat us.”
GRID TIDBITS: Tyrone watched another key player fall to injury Wednesday night when senior long-snapper Jonathan Sellers went down with a knee injury. Max Soellner will replace him tonight. Brandon Maceno has returned from his ankle injury but will not be ready to play significant minutes for another week. Freshman Brinton Mingle (hand) will likely miss another two weeks. Bellefonte has not beaten Tyrone since 1992-the Eagles are winless on the road since defeating Lewistown on September 14, 2001.
