Eagles gear up for toughest schedule in years

When the decision was made for Tyrone to join the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference in the spring of 2022, the common-sense move for every coach was to project their program forward about a year-and-a-half and ask the question: will we be ready to compete?

Basic math alone makes the question pertinent, particularly in football. Going back to the 1970s, when Tyrone got in on the ground floor of the Big 8, the Eagles have never faced the challenge of more than seven other schools to lock up a conference championship. That stayed the same when the Big 8 collapsed and reformed as the MAC in 2004, and it remained that way after the MAC morphed into the Mountain League in 2012.

But now that the remnants of the Mountain League have been absorbed into the LHAC, creating a super conference that could well rival the WPIAL for supremacy in Western PA, competition for every sport has gotten much stiffer, nowhere more so than on the gridiron. Instead of battling six other schools for a conference championship, the Eagles will be staring down 19 other programs, fighting for a legitimate league crown that will have almost as much clout as a District 6 championship, itself.

While it remains to be seen how ready other programs at Tyrone are to make the jump, it would appear that if ever a program was ready to level up in competition, it’s the Golden Eagles football team.

Tyrone went 8-2 in the regular season in 2022, led by and large by underclassmen. The Eagles won the Backyard Brawl, toppled Clearfield for the first time in a decade, and beat 5A Hollidaysburg for the first time since the Tigers rejoined the slate in 2016. They were the No. 2 seed in the District 6 3A playoffs, good enough to host a semifinal game against eventual champion Central.

It was a year of resurgence, and while it emphasized Tyrone’s ability to play with just about anybody, that doesn’t mean the Eagles are expecting to cut through their new schedule like a hot knife through warm butter.

The ledger for 2023 is a tough one, with the Eagles playing in a demanding section (East 1) that includes old rivals Huntingdon and Bellwood-Antis, perennial small-school power Bishop Guilfoyle, and three-time defending District champ Central. They will also play cross-sectional games against Clearfield, Johnstown, Bald Eagle Area, Central Cambria, and Penns Valley.

The days of running down the schedule and not seeing a potential challenger until round two of the playoffs are certainly over, but Tyrone coach John Franco sees a lot of positives in that.

“I told our team, ‘Hey guys, this is a schedule that’s going to benefit us because we’re not going to play anyone in the playoffs that’s better than anyone on our schedule,'” he said. “By the time we get to Week 10, we are going to be battle-hardened, and we’re going to be a tough draw for anyone based on what we’ve gone through.”

When we get to the playoffs, it’s not like we’re going to have to turn it on. It’s going to have to be turned on all year.

Coach John Franco

Week 10 will be a unique experience in 2023 as the new conference setup has a built-in championship weekend for the top teams from its East and West Divisions. Those schools will battle for an overall Laurel Highlands championship, while the remaining schools will be paired based on records, with matchups adjusted to ensure teams don’t play each other twice.

Even that format promises to sharpen teams for the postseason in a way never seen before in Central Pennsylvania. There’s a heat there – a purpose for every week that exceeds anything Tyrone, at least, has experienced before.

“It’s like a rivalry every week,” Franco said. “It’s like a playoff every week.”

Consider just the first five weeks of the Eagles’ schedule: they open in Week 1 at Clearfield, a team that has been Tyrone’s nemesis going back to 2008. Week 2 brings an athletic Greater Johnstown team to Tyrone. In Weeks 3 and 4 the Eagles travel to Central and Bald Eagle Area, teams that delivered two of Tyrone’s three losses in 2022.

All of those games precede the Backyard Brawl against Bellwood-Antis, Tyrone’s biggest rivalry game for almost 100 years.

And that’s merely the first half of the season.

Seven days after getting up for B-A, the Eagles will play host to Guilfoyle. Three weeks after that they close the regular season against Penns Valley, the one team that sprung an upset over Tyrone in 2022 with a come-from-behind win in Week 8. (A complete look at Tyrone’s schedule is available here.)

If anything, this much is certain – there’s no room for let up.

“I think we’re ready for the challenge,” said Franco. “Every week will be an exciting game. You’re going to be playing one of the best teams in District 6 virtually every week. It’s going to make us a better team and a better program. It’s a great league to be involved with. When we get to the playoffs, it’s not like we’re going to have to turn it on. It’s going to have to be turned on all year.”

Motivation should not be a problem, nor should talent, as the Eagles have players at almost every position who could rank among the best in the conference. Leading the offense, junior quarterback Ashton Walk seems poised for another big year, one that would put him in the upper echelon of signal callers at Tyrone. Braden Ewing is back as one of the top two-way linemen in the District. Brady Ronan is healthy and ready to assume the role of Tyrone’s primary ball carrier. Andrew Weaver has grown into a frame that makes him as imposing as Ross Gampe in 2022, with speed to make him an even bigger threat than the IUP commit.

There are questions to be answered, as well: can Tyrone’s line build on the strides it made in 2022? Will Dravyn Crowell return from injury early enough and strong enough to make an impact? Will the Eagles find tacklers to replace the Patterson twins and solidify their linebacking corps on defense?

Orange and Black will address those areas of strength and concern over the following week in the lead up to Tyrone’s season-opener against Clearfield.