Looking at Weeks 5 and 6 in the preseason, it was clear Tyrone would be entering a difficult stretch when the season reached its midpoint.
No one knew quite how tough it really would be.
Now 3-2 after a 26-7 loss last week to Bellwood-Antis in the Backyard Brawl, the Golden Eagles travel to Mansion Park Stadium Saturday to take on 4-1 Bishop Guilfoyle in the Laurel Highland East Division 1 game. It begins a second half of the season where Tyrone will face four teams that currently hold winning records, three of which sit above them in the District 6 3A standings.
It’s a level of difficulty on the back end of the schedule Tyrone hasn’t faced in quite some time. The past two seasons the Eagles have been able to nudge themselves into the postseason with strong finishes, but in 2023 and 2024 the competition they faced late in the season was nothing like they will see in 2025.
It all begins with the defending PIAA Class 1A champion Marauders, who are just beginning to reach their stride. BG has won three games in a row since a 28-18 loss to Richland in Week 2, and in those games they’ve allowed only 21 points. In the last two games, the Marauders are averaging 43.5 points.
Bishop Guilfoyle is coming off a 49-7 win over Central where the Marauders put up 427 yards in total offense and built a 42-0 lead by the third quarter.
The Marauders haven’t missed a beat playing without graduated star quarterback Chase Kissell. In his place, Coach Justin Wheeler’s son Justin has demonstrated the same dual threat capabilities as his predecessor. The sophomore has completed 42 of 69 passes for 581 yards and a pair of touchdowns while running 57 times for 418 yards and two more scores.
Wheeler’s ground yardage fits easily into the Marauders’ ethos, which is all about the run and has been since Coach Wheeler took the reins of the program in 2011. BG’s line this season is relatively young but exceptionally talented, featuring senior guard Jesse Georgianna and senior center Trenton Murphy, as well as junior guard Rocco Caccciotti. The line is bookended by a pair of sophomores in Declan Peterson and Nicky Georgianna.
While the Georgianna brothers are new starters on the offensive line, the other three are all returning from last season. That group has paved the way for BG to rushing for 1,384 yards so far, averaging 276 yards per game.
That average is just slightly higher than the 253 yards Tyrone allowed a week ago in its loss to the Blue Devils, a game where the Golden Eagles struggled mightily to slow hard-running back Alex McCartney, who himself had 150 yards on the ground.
Until then, Tyrone’s defense had been exceptionally strong against the run, allowing fewer than 100 yards per game over the first four weeks of the season, but B-A’s multi-faceted attack, utilizing both McCartney and Chase Plummer while peppering in runs from quarterback Bradyn Partner, gave the Golden Eagles fits, and it will face an even stiffer challenge against the Marauders.
Aside from Wheeler, BG is led by Jake Kissell, a senior athlete who can play anywhere and has run for 568 yards and 13 touchdowns on 71 carries. Two other runners – Keagan Hewitt and Jack Gioiosa – have combined for more than 300 yards.
When not running the ball, KIssell is second on the team in receiving with 10 catches for 155 yards. Tyson Lestochi leads the Marauders in that area with 16 receptions for 236 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Tyrone’s own running game, meanwhile, has been in launch mode most of the season. Aside from a big game against Westmont Hilltop where Caleb Whitby ran for 188 of the Eagles’ season-high 265 yards on the ground, their rushing attack has been sporadic, bottoming out last week with just 56 yards.
That, in turn, has forced Tyrone to look more to its aerial attack, and while Eli Woomer, in his first season at quarterback, has been good, the plan was never to put as much of the game plan on his arm as has happened in recent weeks. He’s completed 44 of 86 passes for 839 yards and 7 touchdowns, but he has also thrown 7 interceptions and two each game over the last three.
Brayden Parsons and Mason Emigh have both emerged as deep threats for the Golden Eagles, with Parsons leading the team with 12 catches for 277 yards. In the last three weeks, he has three receptions over 60 yards, including Tyrone’s lone score against B-A, which came on a 68-yard pass. Emigh has 7 grabs for 210 yards as one of four Golden Eagle receivers with more than 100 yards to their credit.
That group will push the Marauders provided Woomer can get the protection he needs to stand in the pocket and make his throws. He was sacked twice against B-A and has found himself on the run frequently over the last two weeks. For their part, the Marauders get into the backfield quite well, with 40 tackles for loss and 16 sacks to their credit. Kissell has 5 of those sacks and Cacciotti another 3, but BG will be playing without their top sack leader Hayden Hosgood, who is out with an injury.
ANALYSIS
The Marauders have been a next-level team for more than a decade, one that reloads rather than rebuilds, which is the scary part about their team in 2025. The current cycle of players is one or two years away from where it can be, and it’s still a team that will in 1A in District 6 and compete for a state championship.
The loss to Bellefonte in Week 1 is one that continues to haunt the Golden Eagles. Were they coming into their game against the Marauders 4-1 rather than 3-2, the complexion of the contest would be a little different. As it stands, it’s not a must-win game considering Tyrone plays 3 of the 4 teams ahead of it in the 3A standings over Weeks 7, 8 and 9, but it’s a prime opportunity to establish offensive consistency against one of the area’s best teams.
It’s going to have to begin with the offensive line, which blocked well in running situations against B-A. Pass protection was a different story, but the running game is where the Eagles had hoped to center their attack this season, and they made progress a week ago.
Another key factor will be turnovers. Bald Eagle was able to hang around in Week 4 because of turnovers. The Blue Devils got 3 of their 4 scores off turnovers. It has become an issue, but if cleaned up things change dramatically for the Eagles’ offense. Above all, ball protection would allow Tyrone to control its flow of the game, which in turn would give Whitby more opportunities as a runner, all good things.
Tyrone’s run defense will get pushed in ways every bit as challenging as it was against B-A, and it will be interesting to see if the Eagles have made the necessary adjustments to challenge the Marauders. One area that was an issue against the Blue Devils was preventing yards after contact, and while schematics and strategies can do wonders, they’re nothing if players don’t wrap and tackle. It’s another area to watch.
One final piece of the puzzle for Tyrone will be special teams play, a spot where Tyrone was diced a week ago and which has been average at best in 2025. The Eagles’ kick coverage was a deciding factor in the loss to Bellefonte in Week 1, but it improved thereafter before collapsing against B-A. Kicker Tytus Novak has the led to push his kicks inside the 10 with regularity, but the coverage team has got to get to its spots a bit quicker to make Novak’s strong leg a factor.
Every aspect of the game matters when you’re playing a team as good as Guilfoyle, both those as big as run defense and small as kick coverage. If the Eagles are to make a run over the final four weeks, it won’t take perfection in those areas against BG, but improvement is a must.
ORANGE AND BLACK 