The play that decided last night’s game between Tyrone and Huntingdon may have been a non-issue had the Golden Eagle defense not stood so tall just one play earlier.
Leading 22-20 with under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Bearcats were faced with a third-and-one call on their own 49-yard line. Junior quarterback Geoff Kozak rolled right on a keeper and was knocked out of bounds just inches shy of a first down.
Curious to find out just what his team was made of, Huntingdon coach Jim Zauzig made the decision to push ahead and go for the first down. With Tyrone’s defense crammed towards the line of scrimmage in a goal line formation, the ‘Cats handed off to senior Jon Riley, who broke one tackle at the line of scrimmage and was off to the races.
Fifty-one yards later, he was ripping through the endzone with the score that put the lid on Huntingdon’s 29-20 win in what was the Big 8 Conference opener for both teams.
The irony of the play was that, had Kozak tripped forward for just 12 more inches on his third-down carry, Tyrone may have easily held the ‘Cats on a fresh set of downs, gotten the ball back, and marched down the field much like they had done for most of the second half.
“I wanted to find out if we were a championship caliber team,” said Zauzig of his decision to go for it on fourth down. “We would put the game away if we got it, and if not I would be a big idiot.”
They got it and more, and consequently, no one in Huntingdon is calling Zauzig an idiot. Instead, they’re enjoying another 2-0 start and a position atop the Big 8 at 1-0.
Tyrone meanwhile, is 0-2 for the second consecutive season, and left scratching its head wondering what might have been had it been able to piece together two clean games to start the season. Penalties and turnovers again hurt the Eagles, who in Week 1 played well enough to beat Bellwood-Antis, but had one touchdown and numerous big plays negated by penalties.
“Again we shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers,” said Franco. “It’s frustrating because we had opportunities to win both games. We have no one to blame but ourselves. But that’s a part of sports.”
But while Riley’s run was the deciding factor, it was not the only momentum-changing play in a much anticipated game broadcast across the state as the Pennsylvania Cable Network’s Game of the Week (tonight at 9 p.m., channel 22).
There was Tyrone’s fourth-and-one call near the goal line in the third quarter with Huntingdon leading 22-13. Rather than kick, the Eagles fumbled an option play and the ‘Cats recovered at the seven.
There was Aaron Jeffries 48-yard highlight-reel touchdown reception in the fourth that drew Tyrone to within two, 22-20.
There was Kozak’s 13-yard touchdown completion to Jerrod Smith on a well-designed screen play midway through the second that lifted the Bearcats to a two-touchdown advantage, 22-7.
But in the end, it all came back to that one play – a play that for nearly two decades has been the bread-and-butter of the Huntingdon running game: Power I-right, Knock right, an off-tackle run to the tailback.
“If we stop them there we take over and we had moved the ball pretty well in the second half,” said Franco. “But Riley is a great running back. It was all or nothing and they made the play and we didn’t.”
Riley ended the game with 104 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Smith, who split time with Riley the entire game, also rushed for 104 yards on 14 carries.
A special teams breakdown combined with a personal foul set the stage for Huntingdon’s first score on its opening possession of the game. Smith returned the kickoff 54 yards to the Tyrone 35. Four plays later, the Eagles were flagged for a late hit, setting Huntingdon up at the T-9. Riley ran it in from there, and Kozak’s kick gave the ‘Cats a 7-0 lead with 9:59 left in the first quarter.
Tyrone tied the game two possessions later following Tyler Mertiff’s leaping interception of a Kozak pass at the Huntingdon 40. The drive was kept alive by a fourth-and-one blast up the middle for six yards by sophomore Ben Gummo, and was capped when Gummo took it in from the one. His PAT tied the game at 7 with 1:35 left in the first quarter.
Huntingdon went back ahead on it next series, a nine-play, 53-yard drive that consumed what remained of the first and five minutes of the second quarter. Riley carried four times for 33 yards, including the final eight to put Huntingdon back in the lead 14-7.
Tyrone regrouped following Kozak’s scoring pass to Smith, and punched one in before the end of the first half to pull within 22-13. The drive covered 85 yards on nine plays, and was keyed by an acrobatic 26-yard reception by Jeffries down the left sideline. Three plays later, Mertiff found Dan Grazier open down the middle for a 12-yard scoring toss.
Huntingdon had trouble containing Tyrone’s offense in the second half, beginning on the Eagles’ first possession when they drove 75 yards to the H-3. But on fourth-and-1, an option pitch went to the ground, and Brice Mertiff was forced to cover it at the seven.
“We had decided we were going to kick it if it was more than two (yards for the first down),” said Franco. “That’s why I called the timeout. It was a yard-and-a-half and we should be able to get that. If the pitch is there, our back probably walks into the endzone. At that point, I thought we needed a score to get back into the game.”
Tyrone pulled to within two with 6:08 remaining on a five-play, 80-yard drive that began with an 18-yard completion to Gummo and ended when Jeffries went high to haul in a Mertiff pass on a post route and and out-sprinted the defenders for a 48-yard touchdown.
GRID TIDBITS: Jeffries finished the game with 106 yards receiving on five catches – a career high … Tyler Mertiff ended with 152 yards on 12-of-23 passing, while rushing for another 73 yards … Brian McManigal had two tackles for losses … the Eagles host Lewistown Friday night on Homecoming.
