The Jason Jones Era officially began Friday night at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field when Tyrone took on Bellefonte in Game No. 1 of the 2026 slate.
It wasn’t easy, and it took some late-game heroics, but the Golden Eagles were able to secure a win for Jones in his varsity debut. Tyrone defeated the Raiders 14-7 to open the season with a victory for the first time since 2022.
Here are four takeaways from the game.
FIRST DOWN: UNSUSTAINABLE RATIOS
One look at the offensive statistics from the game would be enough to leave coaches on both sidelines scratching their heads.
The Raiders more than tripled what Tyrone did when it had the ball, rolling up 288 yards of offense to the Golden Eagles’ 83. They had twice as many first downs (11-5), and held the edge in rushing by about 160 yards.
Those margins are not conducive to long-term success, and Jones and his staff know that.
“We did not run the ball well enough tonight, and that’ something that’s going to be a point of emphasis moving forward because we have to to be a good offensive team,” Jones said.
The Golden Eagles were an average running team in 2025, and they experienced similar issues against Bellefonte, producing only 56 yards on the ground in last year’s opener. Caleb Whitby had just 21 yards last season, and last night he had only 22.
So it’s possible the matchup up front is one that simply tilts toward Bellefonte, in which case a win is all that matters.
This week’s game against Westmont Hilltop should help to make that concern a little clearer. While the Hilltoppers, who haven’t won since 2023, showed a lot of improvement while losing to Forest Hills 13-10 on Friday, they still struggled to stop the run.
So this week for the Eagles should be an opportunity to jumpstart their own ground game and in the process open up other opportunities across the offensive landscape.
SECOND DOWN: Making a splash on defense
One of the things that made Tyrone intriguing offensively this season was the fact that, despite needing to rebuild an entire offensive line, the Eagles had an abundance of guys who could break loose and make big plays.
The same was true defensively against the Raiders. Although Tyrone’s defensive line struggled at points to generate a push against Bellefonte’s rushing attack, there was no shortage of splash plays to turn away promising drives and keep the score tight.
Whitby and Jesse Parks each had interceptions to shut down Bellefonte drives, while the duo of Kyler Suhoney and Dylan Robinson lived in the Raiders’ backfield and turned in several stops behind the line of scrimmage at crucial moments.
John Eaken and Landon Finocchio also made consistent penetration from their spots on the defensive line, while sophomore Jeremy Markle made a big impact when he was inserted at defensive tackle in the fourth quarter.
Jones and defensive coordinator John Shelton knew what they were holding defensively with their secondary. The group is athletic and strong in pass coverage, and it features a player like Mason Emigh who’s good enough that he will rarely get tested, essentially cutting the field in half (The Raiders threw his way once and he broke up the pass).
But Jones had said a week into preseason he was excited to see his defensive line cook, and he couldn’t have been disappointed.
At the end of the day, the Eagles’ defense made plays and allowed just once score, which was the result of a single missed tackle at the line of scrimmage.
THIRD DOWN: SOLID SPECIAL TEAMS
The long-distance punting of Whitby alone was enough to earn Tyrone a solid grade for special teams against Bellefonte, but the truth is their special teams were strong across the board.
Whitby’s average of almost 49 yards per punt jumps off the page, and it was a critical part of the Eagles’ success, but just as important was their own punt return game, and there Emigh played an important role.
On several occasions, Raiders returner Ashten Howell was unable to field Whitby’s kicks. They were high and difficult to judge, and several times he simply allowed them to bounce, adding yards onto the end of already good kicks.
Emigh did not do that. While he never returned a kick, instead opting to use the fair catch, he fielded almost all of them, stopping decent punts dead in their tracks to secure favorable field position. That’s a little part of the game that can go unnoticed, but in a contest decided by one score in the final minutes, those are the plays that make all the difference.
On top of that, Coltyn Frye executed a middle return to perfection, fielding the opening kick and sprinting to his blocks. It’s not uncommon in high school to see players freestyle in those moments rather than trusting the return strategy, but Frye did his job, and the return blockers did theirs, and the result was a score and early momentum.
Even in kick coverage, Tyrone showed improvement over last season. Tytus Novak put two of his three kicks inside the 10 (his third kick was an intentional placement in the second level of the Raiders’ return team), and the Eagles’ defenders were quick to blow up blocks and pursue the ball.
All in all, it was a strong showing in a phase of the game that is easily overlooked early in the season.
FOURTH DOWN: THREE OR FOUR THROWS
For those who tend to favor the bottom line, quarterback Ben Walk did everything he needed to do in his first varsity start. He completed his two most important throws of the game, and he tossed the game-winning touchdown pass to Mason Emigh.
Do that nine or ten times and you look like Eli Manning.
Walk’s numbers don’t necessarily jump off the page. He completed 8 of 17 passes and was intercepted once, and those connections accounted for just 61 yards.
But hidden in there are anywhere from 30 to 40 extra yards lost to dropped passes in the first half. If those passes are completed, Walk’s line looks completely different, and the game probably doesn’t come down to Tyrone’s second-to-last possession.
Set that aside and Walk’s debut was still a net positive. He took just one sack, making good decisions of when to hang in the pocket and when to tuck and run, and his lone interception came when he was forcing a ball to Emigh in double coverage, which is a gamble Emigh frequently makes pay off.
Of all of the quarterbacks to make their first starts over the last eight seasons, Walk is unique because he’s doing it in a system that was completely foreign to him nine months ago. But if poise and decision-making are indicators, the senior is picking up on Jones’ framework pretty well.
ORANGE AND BLACK 