Tyrone takes on No. 7 ranked Panthers in search of 11th title
Go back one year, and the matchup fans will see Friday in the District 6 3A championship seemed highly probable. Penn Cambria and Tyrone were evenly matched, playing at the top of their games, and, most importantly, loaded with underclassmen.
Go back just five weeks and that assessment would have been half right.
While the Panthers, the top seed in 3A which this week was ranked No. 7 by the Pennsylvania football News, were undefeated coming out of Week 6, Tyrone was 2-4 and on the verge of watching a season filled with promise go down the tubes. The Golden Eagles were turning the ball over too much, their offensive line hadn’t found a way to overcome its disadvantage in size to create any space for the running game, and, above all, they could never seem to keep their best players on the field.
Things could have easily unraveled in the borough, but they didn’t. Thanks in part to a schedule that, while heavy on top, was manageable down the stretch, Tyrone won five games in a row, culminating in a 44-0 blowout of Forest Hills in the finals a week ago, to advance to the program’s 15th District 6 championship game. Along the way, the Eagles got some of their top pieces back in the lineup, and an offense Coach John Franco thought could be one of the best in the area began to fulfill its potential.
There’s a lot of credit to go around for the turnaround the Eagles have orchestrated in the second half of the season, but for Franco is all starts with the improvement of Tyrone’s offensive and defensive lines.
“This year has been very rewarding,” Franco said, “to see some of the exploits of our kids, like Ashton Walk, and Eli Woomer, and Trent Adams, and Seth Hoover, who have done some great individual things. And then to see guys on our offensive and defensive lines who are half the size of their opponents just playing their hearts out and doing everything imaginable to give the skill guys a chance to do their jobs. Grading film the past month has been more fun than I can remember.”
As good as that group has been the last five weeks, a period of time when Hoover has run for more than 650 yards and Walk has been sacked just once, it’s going to get its stiffest test in the title game against the Panthers, a team that makes its living by being physically tougher than its opponents in the trenches.
On offense alone, the Panthers’ line is formidable. Penn Cambria is averaging 248 yards per game on the ground, and four of its running backs have rushed for more than 500 yards. With 898 yards on 147 carries, Thomas Plunkett is the team’s leading ground-gainer, but quarterback Brady Jones (118-591), running back Mason Mento (71-510) and do-everything athlete Gavin Harrold (69-573) are just as dangerous.
Part of their success is talent, but the bigger part is an offensive line that moves bodies, and Franco knows dealing with that physicality will go a long way in determining the outcome of the game.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen in my career so many weapons they can go to and be successful,” said Franco. “That tells you their offensive line is outstanding, and watching them on film, they’re good.”
In the Panthers’ 33-0 win over Central in the semifinals last week, Plunkett, Mento, and Harrold each ran for more than 100 yards, so it’s not like the Golden Eagles can key on one player. Instead, they’ll need a sustained push up front and solid tackling at the point of attack.
They got just that last week in their win over Forest Hills, holding the Rangers to 123 rushing yards, much of which came on their final drive after the game had been decided.
Tyrone was as strong against the run in the second half of its Week 10 game against Chestnut Ridge, after being bowled over by the Lions’ running game in the first half.
The key was a move to shift Woomer away from his spot at cornerback to a roving hero-type position, which has given Tyrone one extra sure tackler to work against the run. That move was made possible because Adams, who had battled a shoulder injury all season, was finally cleared to go both ways. Add to that the re-entry of linebacker Owen Oakes, who had been out since Week 2 with an ankle injury before returning to full play in Week 10.
“We knew, with our injuries in the first half of the year, it was frustrating that we could see what was happening, but no matter who we tried to put in there, they just weren’t capable of doing the job,” Franco said. “Once Trent got back to full health, we were able to manipulate those positions, and then, boom, we were able to play real well.”
Along with standing up to the Panthers’ dominant offensive and defensive fronts, here are 3 keys for the Golden Eagles against Penn Cambria.
1. Don’t get lulled to sleep
Although the Panthers’ ground game is impressive, their passing attack is just as potent. Jones has completed 83 of 131 passes for 1,245 yards and 12 touchdowns, with most of his throws directed at Harrold, who has 53 receptions for 769 yards and 9 scores.
That means loading up to stop the run comes with risks. It will be a challenge for the Eagles’ secondary to provide support against the run while maintaining the discipline it will need to also defend the pass.
“This will be the biggest challenge we’ve had all year,” Franco said. “There’s no doubt this is the best team we’ve played. They can run the ball like no one else. And their passing game – it’s the same kid who last year hit us with a couple of touchdown passes. And you’ve got Harrold who does so many things. You top that off with the best offensive line we’ve seen since the Clearfield game.”
Tyrone has allowed 152 rushing yards per game and 122 through the air. To maintain those numbers against a team as explosive as Penn Cambria would be a blessing.
The Eagles first priority will be containing the run, but they’ve got to be prepared to defend against the pass, particularly the deep ball, if they’re to compete against the Panthers.
2. Protect the ball
In the last 365 days, the Panthers have lost just once (falling in the 3A finals to Central in 2023). Outside of that, only two teams have really pushed them. One was Bishop Guilfoyle, which fell the Penn Cambria in the Laurel Highlands championship two weeks ago, and the other was Tyrone, which lost 32-28 last November in the semifinals.
Tyrone led that game by two scores in the fourth quarter, but lost because it couldn’t take care of the football. On one occasion, after getting an interception in the fourth quarter, Tyrone handed the ball back on a fumble a play later.
On another, the Eagles had a punt blocked an returned for a score to make it a 3-point game late.
Tyrone hasn’t always been strong at holding onto the ball this season. In fact, at one point their opponents had doubled the Eagles up in the turnover margin. But they’ve figured some things out lately, and in the last five games they’ve turned the ball over only three times.
Penn Cambria is good enough to win on its own and doesn’t need extra help. If Tyrone can avoid the kind of turnovers that plagued the team in its slow start, it will put itself in a position to spring an upset.
That won’t be easy. The Panthers have forced 24 turnovers this seasons, and 14 of them have come by way of interception.
Walk hasn’t thrown an interception since Week 7 against Huntingdon, and that’s going to have to continue.
It’s a major area of the game to watch because when Tyrone has been able to hold onto the ball, its offense has been almost unstoppable.
3. 2 to 3 stops
The Golden Eagles’ offense has been on a record-setting run, averaging 47.5 points per game over its last six games.
Hoover’s 249-yard game against the Rangers put him over 1,000 yards for the season, and his rise in production has made getting open even easier for players like Woomer, who leads the team with 50 catches, and Adams, who is tops in receiving yardage with 813.
During its offensive resurgence, Tyrone has scored on long drives and explosive plays. It has converted third downs and generally stayed out of long down-and-distance situations. It’s hurt teams with Hoover’s ability to run as well as the passing acumen of Walk, who has thrown for more than 2,800 yards.
That presents the Panthers with a challenge as stiff as the one Tyrone will receive when dealing with Penn Camrbia’s offense. And if it stays on the roll it’s been on, the Eagles’ offense could flip the equation and put the Panthers in a position of playing catch-up.
All Tyrone’s offense needs is for the defense to make 2 to 3 key stops.
That’s a big ask against a team that’s averaging more than 33 points per game, but if the Eagles can get a few stops and answer with points, Penn Cambria would be under a lot of pressure to get points just to keep pace.
Early stops would be even bigger. Against Guilfoyle, when the Eagles scored 37 to begin the offensive onslaught they’ve been on for six weeks, two touchdowns in the first quarter ultimately proved too much to overcome in a 50-37 loss. That’s a scenario Tyrone needs to avoid, so solid play early defensively will be another deciding factor.
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