BEA pulls away from Tyrone

Bald Eagle Area is like most other high school teams around. They want the ball in the hands of 4 or 5 players ninety-five percent of the time.

Where BEA is different is how they feed those key guys. There’s a clear distinction because it doesn’t look like most teams.

The Bald Eagles come at you from all different directions. They use fake passes and misdirection but they can also line up and hit you in the mouth. They throw jump passes, shovel passes, deep passes. They get yards on broken plays and extended plays.

If the Tyrone Golden Eagles encountered the most refined offense on its schedule Monday in its 42-7 loss to Central, then last night it saw the most fun offense on its schedule in a 41-22 loss to Bald Eagle Area in Wingate.

BEA moved the chains 24 times, scored six touchdowns, and racked up 452 yards in dealing the Eagles their third loss of the season in a Laurel Highlands intersectional matchup.

But despite the success Bald Eagle enjoyed when it had the football, Tyrone had its opportunities. Down by three touchdowns in the first half, the Golden Eagles rallied to close the gap to 2 points by halftime and then advanced to or inside BEA’s 30 two times in its first three second-half possessions.

In the end, Bald Eagle was able to make more plays than Tyrone when it mattered most, which was frustrating for Golden Eagles coach John Franco.

Franco talks about the loss to BEA.

To understand how good the Bald Eagles were in the clutch, think about this: BEA was 3-for-4 on fourth downs, scoring one of their touchdowns on a fourth-and-6 conversion and setting up another score with a fourth-down play. Tyrone in contrast, was 0-for-3 on fourth downs and 3-for-11 on third downs.

A team willing to keep its team in the field on third-and-long is a team brimming with confidence, and right now, that’s Bald Eagle Area. With an offense that has increased its production every week of the season, the Bald Eagles may be hitting their stride, and head coach Jesse Nagle gives a lot of the credit for that to his offensive coordinator, Brett Umbenhouer.

“Our offensive coordinator is very good,” said Nagle, whose team improved to 4-0. “I played college ball with him and he coached on the collegiate level, and he brought a lot of that here. He’s very dynamic in play-calling and moving guys around, and getting guys out of position on defense. Calling the plays based on what they give us is critical, and he does a great job with that.”

BEA scored on three of its first four possessions, and early on the Bald Eagles’ offense was riding the arm of junior quarterback Carson Nagle, who completed 6 of his first 7 passes. One of them was this 24-yard pitch-and-catch with Cameron Dubbs to convert on third-and-4.

Dubbs with the big gain.

Carson later connected with Kahale Burns for 18 yards to move the sticks on fourth-and-6 before Dubbs powered in from the 8. The first of five PAT kicks from Kaden Burns made it 7-0 less than four minutes into the first quarter.

Bald Eagle later held off a Golden Eagles rally after Andrew Weaver blocked a punt to set up Tyrone at the 30. The Golden Eagles managed only 7 yards in four plays and turned the ball over on downs at the 25.

From there, it took BEA 8 plays to cover 75 yards, albeit with a pair of 15-yard penalties (one for a late hit and another for pass interference) aiding their progress. Ultimately, Bald Eagle faced fourth-and-6 at the 17 when Camron Watkins shook loose of the coverage of Eli Woomer for a touchdown reception in the back corner of the end zone.

Watkins scores in the second quarter.

That’s a difficult move for anyone to defend, let alone a sophomore cornerback in his first season on the varsity team, and Watkins is one of the top receivers in the Laurel Highlands Conference. A three-year starter, he caught 9 passes for 133 yards.

Watkins had a hand in BEA’s next score, as well, taking a 19-yard shovel pass to the 1 to set up another blast from Dubbs to make it 21-0 with 7:29 left in the half.

But Tyrone didn’t wilt. The Eagles answered back on their next series, converting their first first down on an 8-yard run by Seth Hoover before getting on the board with this hookup from Ashton Walk to Brady Ronan.

Ronan scores on a 61-yard pass.

At 21-6, Tyrone had momentum for the first time, and the Golden Eagles built on it two plays into BEA’s ensuing series. With Dubbs caught in a scrum after a short gain and the line pushing the pile, linebacker Luke Walk reached in, snatched the football, and ran uncontested for a score that made it 21-13 following Rocky Romani’s extra-point kick.

Walk returns a fumble for a score.

By now Tyrone was on a roll, and on their next defensive series Weaver recorded his second sacks of the game, the Golden Eagles forced a punt, and their offense was back in business. This time they scored from 22 yards out on a pass from Walk to AJ Coleman, who made a catch in double coverage in the back corner of the end zone and got both of his feet down inbounds.

Tyrone failed to convert the two-point try, but they trailed by just two points and were set to receive the kick after halftime.

“There’s no doubt, we were up 21-0 and we thought, game’s in control,” said Nagle. “Then we had a busted coverage, and then it gets stripped and goes the other way and we thought, oh boy, what are we going to do. The kids just responded really well.”

There were a couple of windows for Tyrone at the beginning the second half, and that was the area of the game Franco lamented the most. The first was on their initial series when the Golden Eagles drove to BEA’s 30, but on third-and-6 Walk was pressured in the backfield and threw to the sideline as he scrambled right only to have the ball picked off Nick Wible just inside the line.

Bald Eagle went back to work, and with Carson Nagle going 4-for-5 for 59 yards the Bald Eagles drove 87 yards in 10 plays to score on a 7-yard run by Dubbs to make it 28-19.

The second window came on the Golden Eagles next drive. A 50-yard hookup to Eli Woomer had Tyrone inside BEA’s red zone, and two plays later Walk had Ronan wide open on a double move, but the pass went just off Ronan’s finger tips and Tyrone had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Romani, cutting the score to 28-22.

With 2:49 left in the third quarter, Tyrone wasn’t in a position to trade touchdowns for field goals, and the situation got worse after Bald Eagle took its next possession and moved 80 yards for a breathing-room score to start the fourth quarter. The offense that had hinged on the passing of Carson Nagle was soon turned over to the legs of Dubbs, who carried 5 times on the advance for 53 yards, including this 12-yard touchdown that made it 34-22.

Dubbs scores from 12 yards out.

Dubbs broke five runs over 10 yards in the second half, including a 39-yard jaunt to set up a 19-yard touchdown on a shovel pass to Watkins with 2:55 to play. Dubbs ended the game with 197 yards on 33 carries.

Tyrone, meanwhile, turned the ball over on 2 of its 4 fourth quarter possessions.

“I was proud of how we came back,” said Franco. “I know we were tired, but that’s just the way it is, so you’ve got to rise up. Our comeback was good, and that’s what’s so frustrating.”

Walk completed 18 of 34 passes in his best game of the season, throwing for 293 yards and 2 scores. Ronan continued to produce on offense with 6 catches for 99 yards, and Braden Ewing had three tackles for loss in his strongest defensive performance of the campaign.

In a battle of top-tier junior quarterbacks, Nagle edged Walk in yardage, completing 21 of 26 passes for 312 yards.

Tyrone will now try get on track with one of the odder midseason games in program history next week when Bellwood-Antis comes to Gray-Veterans Memorial Field. The Backyard Brawl is typically the first game of the season and had been played in Week 1 every year since 1984.

However, the move to the Laurel Highlands changed the schedule, and Week 1 was set for an intersectional game. The Golden Eagles will face the winless Blue Devils now as members of the East 1 section.