Jones and staff working with offensive line’s strengths

There’s a quote, often ascribed to Mark Twain (though probably not his own), about the cyclical nature of events.

“History doesn’t repeat itself,” the saying goes, “but it often rhymes.”

In the case of Tyrone’s football team, history has been singing the same song for the better part of the last decade: lots of good players, but the line needs work.

That’s a big difference from the powerhouse years of the 90s and 2000’s, when the line was good enough and deep enough to turn wide receivers and linemen into thousand-yard backs, and the song this year is similar.

Tyrone’s football team in 2026 has an array of talent at the skill positions that would be on par with some of the really good teams of the past 30 years.

Ever since I got the job, that’s all I’ve heard about. Offensive line this, offensive line that. But really, when you look at it, we have solid guys who I think can really help us form a good offensive line.

Tyrone coach Jason Jones

The Golden Eagles have a truly elite athlete at wide receiver, a running back as good as any in the Laurel Highlands, and a quarterback who’s been chomping at the bit for two seasons to get his shot. They’ve also got some depth in those areas, so spreading the ball around shouldn’t be a problem.

But Tyrone fans have seen this before. Put Tyrone’s athletes in a 7-on-7 situation where blocking and pass protection aren’t important and they can take on the world, but that’s not the way the game of football is played in Friday nights.

So for first-year coach Jason Jones, who brings with him a new perspective and a new look on offense, his challenge is the same as his predecessors: build a line to guide the way and the offense can produce like none other.

That’s been a task the program has wrestled with since around 2017, over the reigns of two different coaches. There were times when Jason Wilson and John Franco were able to work around it. There were times when they coached up average lines to make them pretty good.

But it’s been a while since Tyrone has had a dominant offensive line, and Jones is well aware of that fact, but he’s not completely sold on the idea that the Eagles lack the personnel to be good in the trenches.

“Ever since I got the job, that’s all I’ve heard about,” Jones said. “Offensive line this, offensive line that. But really, when you look at it, we have solid guys who I think can really help us form a good offensive line. It’s just now putting the pieces together.”

In 2026, the Eagles’ line will be as young and inexperienced as ever. Only one in the group was a starter in 2025, and only one other has significant varsity playing experience.

Senior Kyler Suhoney is the lone returning starter and he will play at left tackle. He has the size and strength to be a true building block for the unit, and his speed gives the staff options for using him in creative ways. Junior Mason VanAllman and senior Landon Finnochio are in a battle for the other tackle spot, but no matter who wins out in the competition to start, either can provide much-needed depth.

At center, junior Gage LaRosa will be a first-year starter, while Zach Silva will play one of the guard positions after working into the line rotation as a sophomore. The other positions remain up in the air, with players like junior Jeremy Markle and senior Liam Turchetta in the mix.

Jones and his staff have taken an analytical approach to their project on the line, refusing to pound square pegs into round holes.

“One of the things we’ve done is we’ve identified our strengths and some of our weaknesses,” he said. “We’ve been able to form a scheme around that. I think our players are really buying into it.”

From that perspective, Tyrone has plenty of options. Suhoney and VanAllman are athletic offensive lineman who can get out and run and move in pass protection, while Suhoney, along with players like Silva, are undeniably strong. What LaRosa lacks in experience he makes up for with his football smarts, and that’s a real benefit on a line as green as the Eagles’. Players like Finnochio, Turchetta, and Markle have the size and look of typical offensive linemen.

So there’s a lot to work with.

Still, establishing a consistent running game will be no easy task. Last season, with a predominantly senior line that boasted plenty of experience, the Eagles struggled to run the ball from week to week, failing to reach 100 yards on the ground in 7 of their 12 games. In three games they were held below 50.

Even in the Laurel Highlands, which has become a conference that’s home to some of the top quarterbacks in Pennsylvania, that’s not a formula for winning games.

If the group can create time and space for the skills positions, it could be an interesting first season for Jones because those players are made guys, with enough speed that it won’t take much to spring them for big gains.

Senior Mason Emigh returns as the teams leading receiver from a season ago, when he caught 26 passes for 563 yards and 5 touchdowns. He’s fast, he’s big at 6-foot-3, and he can jump with the best Pennsylvania has to offer, as he demonstrated during a record-setting track season last spring.

In the backfield, senior Caleb Whitby is back after running for 822 yards and catching 13 passes for 176 yards as a junior. Like Emigh, he has speed to burn, and his quickness and elusiveness make him a true danger in the open field.

Senior Dylan Robinson also returns after starting last season at fullback, while junior Jon Stroup is back after starting at receiver as a sophomore. Seniors Jesse Parks and Carter Gwinn will provide depth at the receiver position, as will junior Colten Frye, while sophomore Reid Starr will work into the mix in the backfield.

Leading the offense will be senior Ben Walk, who spent parts of the final four games of 2025 behind center despite a move to tight end for part of the season. In those games he completed 26 of 60 passes for 407 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Walk has impressed Jones with his football IQ, especially where making the easy play is concerned.

“What I like about him is he’s smart enough, he knows the game well enough, to know this is a place I can take a shot. This is a place to be smart and take a check-down,” Jones said.

Walk has the potential to be one of the impactful quarterbacks at Tyrone who get one season as a starter, and while Jones said he trusts him to get yards with his feet when necessary, his strength is as a drop-back passer, and that’s where things come back to the offensive line.

Given enough time to survey the field and go through his progressions, the sky’s the limit for Walk. If he’s scrambling from the pocket on most throws as Eli Woomer was for much of last season, the results are a little more dicey.