The Tyrone Golden Eagles registered their first win of the season last Friday in dominant fashion with a 49-6 victory over Westmont Hilltop at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field.
Tyrone generated more than 400 yards in total offense and asserted its ground attack with 265 rushing yards. The Eagles will now begin divisional play this week with a trip to Roaring Spring to face Central.
Here are four takeaways from last week’s game.
FIRST DOWN: RUNNING IS BACK
If Tyrone and Coach John Franco had one goal against the Hilltoppers, it was to make strides with the running game, which a week earlier in a loss to Bellefonte produced only 56 yards.
Junior Caleb Whitby had 62 on his first carry, and everything else fell into place from there.
The Eagles’ line was heralded as one with great potential in the preseason, not only because of its size but also because so many players in that area returned. The thought was the group would allow Tyrone to work out any kinks in its passing game over time as it ran the ball more frequently than it had in any of the last four seasons.
That thought was put in jeopardy following the Bellefonte game, but a performance like the one against the Hilltoppers could help to turn things around. Whitby himself did most of the damage, rushing for 188 yards on 14 carries, but the truth is the running game in general was a big success. Ashton Emigh rushed for a pair of touchdowns, freshman Reid Starr had 36 yards and a touchdown, and only once did the Hilltoppers end a play behind the line of scrimmage, and that was when Whitby fell on a pitch he dropped on a sweep.
On the one hand, Westmont was simply outmanned up front. But on the other, Tyrone should be outmanning many teams this season. That makes this week’s matchup against Central an important one. The 1-1 Dragons allowed 341 yards on the ground in Week 1 in a loss to Philipsburg-Osceola. They improved last week by surrendering just 78 in a narrow win over Johnstown, but with the Trojans’ limited offensive capabilities it’s difficult to say how much that means.
Tyrone will need another good game on the ground this week to not only defeat Central, but to continue to build the confidence of its offensive line.
SECOND DOWN: DEEP THREAT
Through two games, junior Mason Emigh has stepped up to show that, even after losing its top two receivers from 2024, Tyrone still has the athletes to go deep in the passing game when necessary.
Against Westmont, Emigh had three receptions for 98 yards, and he almost single-handedly put the Eagles in position to score a late touchdown in the first half. Starting at the 32 with just 1:07 left in the half, quarterback Eli Woomer threw to Emigh for a 34-yard gain to the Hilltoppers 34 and followed it up on the next play with a 28-yard hookup with Emigh, setting up a 6-yard scoring toss to Marshall Martin that gave Tyrone a 28-6 lead at halftime.
Emigh had ignited an earlier drive with a 34-yard reception on a play-action rollout play.
In two games, Emigh has 4 receptions for 178 yards to lead the team.
It’s a good sign for the Eagles, who have shown they have plenty of strong possession receivers, like Brayden Parsons, John Stroup, and Ashton Emigh. But every team needs a big-play guy, and the fear in moving Woomer to quarterback this season was that the lone returning big-play guy was now calling the signals.
Emigh has changed that perception emphatically. A three-sport athlete who excels in basketball and track and field, where he is a standout jumper, Emigh has used his athleticism to his advantage. He wins 50-50 balls in the air by getting them at their highest point, and he’s got the speed to run past corners on fly routes.
He’s definitely been a reliable target for Woomer, who is averaging more than 190 passing yards per game in his first two starts.
THIRD DOWN: DEFENSE STAYS STEADY
While Tyrone’s offensive line was a projected strength this season, the rest of the offense, at least in the preseason, was a bit of a mystery because so many players would be stepping into prominent roles for the first time.
That wasn’t the case for the defense, which returned 8 starters from a season ago. The one question mark was how that unit would meld with new defensive coordinator Jason Wilson, who returned to coach at Tyrone this season after a few years at Philipsburg-Osceola.
It would be difficult to imagine things going much better. In a manner typical of defenses coached by Wilson, the Eagles are limiting big plays, getting to the ball in the backfield, and forcing teams to drive the field for scores.
So far, the Eagles have 16 tackles for loss, led by Ashton Emigh’s 4.5, and 7 sacks. Kyler Suhoney has two of them. A breakdown of the unit’s performance shows the majority of the team’s tackles coming from its linebackers and defensive ends, and that’s a good thing. Tyrone’s defensive front, which features hefty tackles like Kolesen Moore and Caden Harris, is doing its job, occupying blockers while athletic tacklers like Emigh, Suhoney, Martin, Dylan Robinson, and Owen Oakes pursue the ball. Suhoney leads the team with 16 stops, while Martin (14) and Robinson (10) are close behind.
Tyrone will be challenged this week by an offense a bit more balanced than the one it faced against Westmont. Central quarterback Jesse Muthler is an up-and-coming sophomore with a lot of talent, and the Dragons ran the ball effectively against Johnstown, led by Semaj Musei’s 157 yards.
It will be a good test for an Eagles defense that has shown a knack for getting to the ball and pressuring the quarterback.
FOURTH DOWN: END THE SLOW STARTS
Heading into Week 1, Franco was hoping his team could lift itself from the early-season troubles it faced the last two seasons, when the Eagles opened 1-3 and 2-3 in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Despite a disappointing loss to the Raiders in a game Tyrone led by 13 in the fourth quarter, there’s still a chance to make that happen. It begins with the game at Central, and is followed by a trip to Wingate in two weeks to take on Bald Eagle Area, which has opened the campaign 0-2.
The schedule gets markedly tougher after that, with games against Bellwood-Antis and Bishop Guilfoyle, but the path is there for Tyrone to begin stamping out a spot with a favorable seed in the District 6 4A playoffs.
Heading into Week 3, the Eagles are ranked last in 4A. Forest Hills is tied at the top with Philipsburg-Osceola.
It’s an interesting set of standings, with three District 6 blue bloods – Tyrone, Central, and Penn Cambria – ranked near the bottom, but there’s plenty of time for the Eagles, and everyone else for that matter, to make moves.
However, the balance of the classification, along with the ascendency of teams like P-O and Huntingdon, demonstrate the importance of winning the games you should win, particularly early in the season.
ORANGE AND BLACK 