The 2008 Tyrone junior high football team has gone where no other Golden Eagle junior high has gone.
On Thursday evening, the Little Eagles finished a perfect 10-0 season. The Tyrone junior high program has been undefeated, but never won 10 games in a season.
On Thursday, Tyrone notched their sixth shutout of the year with a 20-0 whitewash of Penns Valley at Gray-Vets Memorial Field.
In addition to six shutouts, the Tyrone defensive unit allowed just a single touchdown to two other foes and only Quad-A Central Mountain scored twice in a 20-12 Tyrone triumph. The Eagle junior high outscored 10 opponents 223-32 in 10 contests this season for junior high head coach Dan Plummer.
The Eagles scored one touchdown in each of the first three quarters, using a devastating rushing attack, led by Christian Getz with 134 yards on 12 carries, and Caleb Snyder adding 79 yards and two touchdowns on a dozen totes. Courtland Pannebaker carried twice for seven yards, and Kaleb Chronister had two carries for 26 yards and completed two passes for 17 yards. The Eagles worst enemy according to coach Plummer was themselves with numerous penalties.
Marcus Wagner had one reception for 14 yards, and Caleb Snyder had one for three yards.
The Tyrone defense controlled the game and had a total of seven tackles for losses behind the line of scrimmage.
Getz opened the scoring by dashing 26 yards for a touchdown in the opening quarter, and Snyder added a two-yard touchdown in the second stanza, in addition to rushing for the two-point conversion following the touchdown run by Getz. Snyder scored again from short range in the third quarter to cap the scoring.
The perfect season began with 6-0 and 20-0 wins over Altoona Maroon (formerly Roosevelt Junior High) and Bellwood-Antis, two teams that had been a thorn in the Little eagles claws for a long time. Then continued with a 45-7 triumph over long-time rival Huntingdon, the 20-12 victory over Central Mountain and shutout wins against Clearfield 24-0, Bald eagle area 30-0 and St. Marys 22-0. Philipsburg-Osceola fell 16-6 in one of the Little Eagles toughest games and then it was 30-0 over Lewistown before the Tyrone junior high completed their sweet success with the win on Thursday over Penns valley.
“I would like to congratulate these kids,” said Plummer. “They accomplished something that had never been done before at Tyrone before. Our defense controlled Penns Valley the entire game. We committed too many penalties, but it was a nice win to cap off a 10-0 season.
“I am looking forward to watching these guys grow and play football on the varsity level. I wish them all well.”
