Tyrone sophomore Eli Woomer was like any other newcomer stepping onto the varsity football field when he first started attending workouts last summer. Afraid, unsure, absolutely tentative, his biggest goal was not to make a mistake.
But as anyone who has played sports can attest, the worst way for a good athlete to approach a game is to play hoping not to mess up. It’s a recipe for certain disaster.
Instead, players like Woomer need to react, and reacting appropriately to game situations takes time. It’s takes mistakes. And it can’t be accompanied by a fear of failure.
It took a couple of weeks, but Woomer seems to have found a comfort zone as a starting wide receiver and a defensive back. Beginning in Week 3 against Central he began getting more involved in Tyrone’s passing game, and last week against Bishop Guilfoyle he had his best game as a defender in the Eagles’ 28-27 victory.
I just felt if I did anything wrong, I’d probably get pulled. As the season has gone on, I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with making mistakes and learning from them and getting better every single play.
Eli Woomer
“I’m young, and at the beginning of the season I was very hesitant to make mistakes,” Woomer said. “I just felt if I did anything wrong, I’d probably get pulled. As the season has gone on, I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with making mistakes and learning from them and getting better every single play.”
Against BG, Woomer was on top of his game where run support was concerned. He had three tackles for loss coming up from his position as a cornerback and teamed up with junior linebacker Austin Lucas on the game’s biggest play. With the Marauders down by a single point after scoring a touchdown with 1:03 to play, BG went for a two-point conversion and the win. Quarterback Chase Kissel rolled to his right on a run-pass option, and when he saw no one open he ran for the corner of the end zone. But before he could make it to the pylon he was met by Lucas and Woomer, who popped him and laid him on his back 1 yard short of the goal line.
“Austin got most of the credit, but Eli is the guy who initially stopped him,” said Tyrone coach John Franco. “He hit him low and cracked him and Austin finished him off. It was a brilliant play.”
With one play, Tyrone topped off a second straight win and made it back to .500 at 3-3 with a victory over an opponent whose name speaks for itself.
For his part, Woomer saw the goal line stop as a major statement for the team.
“It was one of my best defensive games I’ve ever played,” he said. “The last play was a huge team effort. It was a team play.”
Before Woomer had shown his mettle on defense, he was emerging as a versatile weapon on offense. While he is the team’s backup quarterback, Woomer starts as a receiver and ranks third on the squad with 10 receptions for 226 yards.
When he’s had a chance to take snaps, he’s completed 2 of 4 passes for 36 yards, and he’s also run for 33 yards.
Woomer’s ability to shine at multiple positions on offense drew an interesting comparison from Franco, who invoked the name of an all-time great.
“He reminds me of a more finished Matt Sharer, who was a defensive back, a receiver, and a quarterback,” said Franco. “He’s playing lights out.”
Sharer is widely regarded as one of the top athletes to play at Tyrone, starting on three District 6 championship teams in the 90s. One season after leading the team in receiving yards in 1996, he passed for 1,200 yards and ran for 800 in 1997. He remains the program’s leader in interceptions to this day.
Despite the heavy comparison, Woomer isn’t looking to have his face carved on the Mount Rushmore of Tyrone football just yet. Instead, it’s all about growing more each day in comfort within the system and finding ways to give a lift to the team, which faces Huntingdon Friday at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field.
“Now that I have been given these big opportunities, to make plays, it just feels amazing that I can contribute to the team,” Woomer said.
ORANGE AND BLACK 