Fourth-quarter collapse lifts Bison over Tyrone

Tyrone was getting signs last night throughout the first half of its season opener against Clearfield, not so subtle indicators that things could take a turn for the worse if some things didn’t change.

The Eagles were committing too many penalties and making too many mental miscues for it not to do some damage.

There was this botched punt that led to a Clearfield safety in the first quarter.

Tyrone takes a safety on a botched punt.

Later, when the Eagles led 14-2 with just seconds left in the half, Tyrone’s defense nearly imploded on this play, where it not only gave up a big gainer but tacked on 23 yards with two personal foul penalties.

Clearfield with a big gainer to end the half.

That run, combined with flags for roughing the passer and a late hit out of bounds, had Clearfield attempting an untimed pass from the 7 before heading into the locker room. Even though the Bison didn’t score, it showed precisely what Tyrone had been doing for the better part of two quarters – and would continue to do in the second half.

The Eagles were walking through raindrops. And that was only going to work for so long against a team with as many talented skill players as Clearfield.

When injuries thinned out Tyrone’s defense in the fourth quarter, the Bison went to work, scoring a pair of touchdowns over the final nine minutes to rally from a 21-8 deficit in the third quarter and win 29-21 at Bison Stadium

It was the first game for the former Mountain League rivals as members of the expanded Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference, and although they’re playing in different sections, the win by Clearfield allows the Bison to get one-up in the win column in a league where there are no weeks off.

That’s something Franco was hoping to do with his team, though he never anticipated the amount of mental mistakes the Eagles would commit.

Franco discusses Tyrone’s mental breakdowns

In all, Tyrone committed 10 penalties, failed to execute two punts, and turned the ball over with both a fumble and an interception.

That’s not an ideal way to begin a new season or a foray into a new league, and it didn’t have to be that way. In spite of the miscues, in spite of failing to gain a first down until its fourth series, Tyrone actually held a solid grip on the game all the way up until the fourth quarter.

The Bison had success moving the ball on the ground early, moving inside Tyrone’s 15 on two of its first three series. The first ended when Andrew Weaver snuffed out a pass with a sack of Wil Domico on fourth-and-3.

Weaver gets his first sack of the season.

But by the end of the first quarter Tyrone began to find some room for itself on the ground, with Brady Ronan ripping off runs of 9, 19, and 9 yards respectively during a 12-play drive that started at the 5. The drive ended with a touchdown when Ashton Walk, who had misfired on his first six attempts, found Weaver wide open on a slant for a 25-yard score to put the Eagles ahead 7-2 with 9:45 until halftime.

Walk to Weaver nets 6.

Tyrone scored on its final drive of the half, as well, executing its two-minute offense to perfection. The Eagles took over at their own 20 with 1:30 to go before intermission, and moved 80 yards in 7 plays. Ronan did a lot of the work with this screen, which he took and went 37 yards to the Bison 29.

Ronan get 37 on a screen.

Ashton Walk handled the rest, weaving in and out of traffic on a 29-yard scoring run with just 3 seconds left in the half.

Walk makes it 14-2.

At that point it was 14-2, and even after holding off an untimed play from inside the 10, things were looking pretty good for Tyrone. It had figured out Clearfield’s running attack and managed to keep Domico, the team’s top playmaker, bottled up in the pocket.

The Bison pushed back hard to start the third quarter, with a 9-play drive that used nine runs. The advance was nearly halted after Clearfield was met with third-and-13 from its own 43, but Domico found Carter Freeland for a 38-yard gain to move the sticks, and 4 plays later Carter Chamberlain scored from the 1 to cut the lead to 14-8.

Tyrone got those points back quickly, answering with a 6-play drive that started on the heels of a 41-yard kick return by Seth Hoover and ended with Hoover taking this pass from Walk to the house for a 24-yard touchdown that made it 21-8.

Hoover scores on a pass from Walk.

But Clearfield wasn’t done yet, and the Bison continued to push back following Hoover’s score. And it was around that time that the miscues Tyrone had committed in the first half magnified and the margin for error narrowed.

On the Bison’s next series, for example, they marched to Tyrone’s 5 with a masterful drive that mixed the pass and run as well as Clearfield had done all game. But the series stalled on fourth down, leading to this play made by Tyler Weston, a backup defensive back who was seeing extended time after players began to experience cramping.

Weston denies Clearfield at the goal line.

It was a big play that was quickly nullified after the officials flagged Tyrone for defensive holding, setting up the Bison at the 2 and giving Domico a chance to score on the next play and make it 21-15 heading into the fourth quarter.

“This game was very winnable,” Franco said. “They had great skill kids, but I thought we could match them. For the most part we did, but at the end, it didn’t matter.”

Tyrone had chances to put the game away in the fourth, but the Bison took advantage of the Eagles’ injuries, making plays through he air that weren’t available earlier in the game when Tyrone’s secondary was intact. On Clearfield’s second possession of the final frame, the Eagles had the Bison backed to their 23 and facing third-and-11 when Domico scrambled and threw up a prayer that was answered by Isaac Putt at the 50, and two plays later hooked up with Freeland again for the score that became the game winner. Along with a decimated secondary, neither of Tyrone’s starting defensive ends – including Weaver – were available for the series after suffering cramps.

Domico makes something from nothing.

The Eagles fumbled on their next series before allowing a Clearfield score that made it an 8-point deficit in order to get the ball back with one more chance to tie. But on the final series Domico intercepted a Walk pass with 17 seconds to play.

Tyrone allowed four pass plays beyond 20 yards in the second half, and surrendered 446 total yards. Domico finished 12-for-24 for 209 yards, while Brady Collins quietly ran his way to 109 yards on 13 carries. Chamberlain had 96 on 12, and each of the backs had a run longer than 40 yards.

“I just can’t believe how many big plays we gave up,” Franco said. “We worked all week on that aspect of our game because we knew they have some dynamite skill people. And the cramping issue was a killer.”

Tyrone will now face Greater Johnstown at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field next Friday while Clearfield travels to Forest Hills.