Tyrone lost in the District 6 3A title game Friday at Mansion Park, falling to Penn Cambria 39-14.
The loss snapped the Golden Eagles’ 5-game winning streak and ended their season with a 7-5 record. It was Tyrone’s second appearance in the finals since 2020 and their 15th overall.
It was also the second straight season Tyrone faced the Panthers in the postseason and the second straight season the Eagles failed to protect a lead in the second half. The Golden Eagles led 14-8 at halftime before surrendering four touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters.
Here are 4 takeaways from the game.
FIRST DOWN: Turnovers
Throughout the five-game winning streak that catapulted Tyrone to the District championship game, there wasn’t much that could derail the Eagles’ offense. They played mistake-free football and as a result were averaging just under 50 points per game.
The same held true in the first half against the Panthers. In a quick-moving two quarters, Tyrone had the ball only two times and scored on both possessions with relative ease.
Things changed in the second half, when the Golden Eagles turned the ball over three times, each one leading to a Penn Cambria touchdown.
After a shaky start to the season where turnovers were concerned, Tyrone had finally pulled even in the turnover differential at 22 heading into the championship game, but against the Panthers the Eagles forced just one turnover to finish the season down 25-23.
Penn Cambria was building steam in the second half with or without turnovers, and Gavin Harrold, who returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown, was beginning to assert himself as the best athlete on the field, so it’s impossible to say turnovers completely decided the outcome of the game, but they certainly derailed some promising drives that could have changed the complexion of the second half.
SECOND DOWN: Running game grounded
Tyrone had run the ball exceptionally well leading up to the championship against the Panthers, including some big games against teams generally tough against the run. But Penn Cambria was a different beast, and its linebackers were a big reason why.
Derek Hite and Corbin Vinglish were quick to the ball and adept at getting through traffic to disrupt the off-tackle plays that had been the Golden Eagles’ bread-and-butter this season. Hite had 8 tackles, two of which went for losses, but Vinglish, in particular, was a problem. Along with his 9 tackles, he defended a pass and caused the third-quarter fumble that led to Harrold’s scoop-and-score.
His play was a big factor in the performance of Hoover who, after running for 11 yards on the first play of the game, finished with 28 yards on 13 carries.
THIRD DOWN: Hammered by Harrold
In the end, Harrold was the biggest difference-maker in the game. While rushing for 39 yards and two touchdowns, he also caught 8 passes for 122 yards and a score to go along with the fumble return.
Harrold did a little bit of everything, and his athleticism was apparent every time he touched the football. Not only did he run with patience near the goal line to slide through crevices created by the offensive line, but he was explosive, able to get to the edge on quick forward laterals from quarterback Brady Jones when coming in motion.
His 37-yard touchdown run off a quick pass in the third quarter also showed his power. After taking the ball on the edge, Harrold cut back to the middle, shook one tackler, and then absorbed a blow from Ashton Emigh before breaking free to the endzone.
There wasn’t much he didn’t do when the Panthers had the football, including line up to take direct snaps, and that was one of the things that made him so dangerous. Because he was a threat to both run and pass, it was impossible to gang up on a single aspect of his game, and that opened things up for Penn Cambria.
It’s one thing to have an athlete with multiple skills. It’s another when that athlete can apply them at a high level and beat you with every aspect of his game. Harrold could do that, and he was the driving force in Penn Cambria’s first District 6 title.
FOURTH DOWN: Mr. 3,000
Ashton Walk had one heck of a season, and he capped it off in the title game by completing 18 of 29 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown.
Those numbers put him in a class all by himself, sending him over 3,000 yards passing for the season. No other quarterback at Tyrone has ever approached those numbers outside of Steve Franco, who passed for more than 2,500 yards in 2011 in 16 games – four more than Walk.
Walk’s second-quarter touchdown pass to Trent Adams gave him 30 for the season, which tied Franco for the single season record.
Walk ended his career with 8,548 total yards, more than 1,200 yards more than Jesse Jones, who was Tyrone’s career yardage leader before this season. He completely rewrote the Golden Eagles’ passing record book and took Tyrone to the postseason four straight seasons.
While a championship may have eluded him, Walk will be remembered as a once-in-a-generation passer, and until another quarterback comes along with the talent to start for four seasons, the records he established will last a long time.
ORANGE AND BLACK 