Tyrone rushes for 257 to hand Hilltoppers 26th straight loss
Tyrone senior Mason Emigh is a special talent on the football field, and last night’s game against Westmont Hilltop laid out pretty clearly what that means for the Golden Eagles.
Emigh got his hands on the ball just four times, not a ton of action for a player who is clearly his team’s best offensive weapon. But he made the most of his opportunities by scoring three times in three different ways to help lead Tyrone over the Hilltoppers 34-7 at Windber Stadium.
Truth be told, the Golden Eagles could afford to spread the ball around against Westmont, which lost its twenty-sixth consecutive game dating back to September of 2023. The matchup presented Tyrone with a chance to address some areas of need offensively, like trying to give some life to a running game that struggled in a Week 1 victory over Bellefonte.
So instead of forcing the ball to Emigh, the Golden Eagles fed their running backs, and it would be hard to argue with the results. Tyrone finished with 257 yards rushing led by Caleb Whitby, who had 98 yards on 16 carries, all in the first half.
Reid Starr added another 46 yards and scored a rushing touchdown in the first quarter.
“Part of our offensive scheme is when we get the ball to our playmakers, we let them do the work,” said Tyrone coach Jason Jones. “Mason and Whitby broke a couple tonight. We’re happy to see Reid Starr get in on the action. We got the running game working a little bit, but we shot ourselves in the foot too many times.”
Ben Walk completed 5 of 12 passes for 80 yards and a pair of touchdowns but had two first-half interceptions.
The Golden Eagles improved to 2-0 and set up an intriguing early-season matchup next week in the Laurel Highlands. Tyrone will host 2-0 Central at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field in a matchup of teams projected for the middle of the pack in the conference’s Eastern Division. The winner will get a big boost in both the conference and District standings.
Tyrone’s offensive explosion against Westmont was almost enough to overshadow another stellar defensive effort that limited a second opponent to a single touchdown. Against a bigger offensive line, the Eagles’ defense dropped 11 plays behind the line of scrimmage and held the Hilltoppers to 32 yards on the ground while causing two turnovers.
Plays like this one turned in by John Eaken were common.
“I’m going to credit Tyrone’s pressure up front. We didn’t handle it well,” said Hilltoppers coach Josh Rearick. “Their front and their edge rushers are the real deal. They’re tough.”
Tyrone got things going early not by looking to Emigh but by feeding Whitby, who had 42 yards on the Eagles’ first series. The drive lasted 9 plays and went 65 yards, and it got moving when Whitby broke free for this 34-yard run.
Once Tyrone got in close, they had plenty of options, and on third-and-goal from the 1 they turned to Walk, who rolled right and then left to get the ball to Jesse Parks.
That made the score 7-0, and after the Eagles stopped the Hilltoppers on their ensuing possession, Westmont had accumulated minus-2 yards on six plays from scrimmage. A good drive in the follow up and the rout would have been on before the end of the first quarter, but the Eagles’ next two series ended in turnovers, putting the brakes on any further scoring opportunities.
They wouldn’t come again until the second quarter. On the heels of a Whitby pick at the Eagles’ 6, Tyrone went on an 11-play march that covered 94 yards. Emigh made his presence known for the first time with a 34-yard reception, and Whitby kept the chains moving with a pair of 9-yard runs and one for 13.
In the end, Starr finished it out with a powerful run from the 8 to make it 13-0.
With 7:39 remaining until halftime, Westmont probably could have stuck with its running attack and shortened the game, but with things slipping away the Hilltoppers looked to get the ball to their playmakers through the air. On second-and-14, Emigh intercepted a short pass from Noah Subich intended for Jared Surloff and returned it 20 yards for a score that made it 20-0.
Thanks to a 55-yard run by Matthew Radovanic, Westmont’s next drive nearly moved inside Tyrone’s red zone, but after getting as far as the 25 the Hilltoppers produced three plays of negative yards and the series ended on downs after Kyler Suhoney sacked Subich for an 11-yard loss back to the 45.
“Our defensive line for two weeks has really controlled the ball,” Jones said. “We completely controlled it tonight, and we were hitting to the point where I pulled some guys at the end so nobody got hurt.”
The teams exchanged punts before the Eagles got the ball back with 1:05 left in the first half at the Hilltoppers’ 42. On first down, Tyrone went with a handoff to Emigh in motion, and once he cut back against the defenders his speed was something Westmont couldn’t handle.
The extra point by Tytus Novak, his third of four on the night, pushed the lead to 27-0 by halftime. The Hilltoppers went into the locker room with 66 yards in total offense, and their lone scoring chance – after Derek Gartner got behind the defense in the first quarter – ended harmlessly after the pass from Justin Ray was underthrown.
“I’ve been around football in this area for a long time,” said Rearick. “If you’re going to go blow for blow with a program like Tyrone, you have to take advantage of what they’re trying to do to you. We took advantage there in everything but the pass and the catch, which might be the toughest thing. We had an opportunity. If we get that and get some momentum, it’s probably a competitive game a lot longer than what it ended up being.”
Tyrone got the ball to start the second half and orchestrated its second 65-yard drive of the game to essentially put it away. Starr did most of the work, carrying 7 times for 39 yards to get the ball to the Westmont 11. From there, Walk found Emigh in the end zone for his third touchdown to make it 34-0 with 6:38 to go in the third.
The Hilltoppers got on the board in the fourth when Subich hooked up with Brock Bowles on a 55-yard strike after Bowles had gotten behind the defense and made a move to tip the pass to himself and turn to run towards the endzone. Elijah Brownlee kicked the PAT to set the final.
Tyrone’s defensive effort set the table for a matchup of opposing forces next week against the Dragons. While Tyrone hasn’t allowed more than a touchdown in either of its first two games, Central is yet to be held below 40 points. On Friday, the Dragons defeated Greater Johnstown 44-0.
“We know what’s ahead of us so it has to be a heavy stride here this week because Central is coming, and they’re good,” Jones said.
TYRONE 7 20 7 0 – 34
WESTMONT HILLTOP 0 0 0 7 – 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
First Quarter
T – Parks 1 pass from Walk (Novak kick) 6:48
Second Quarter
T – Starr 8 run (PAT kick failed) 7:39
T – Emigh 20 interception return (Novak kick) 6:41
T – Emigh 42 run (Novak kick) :54
Third Quarter
T – Emigh 10 pass from Walk (Novak kick) 6:38
Fourth Quarter
W – Bowles 55 pass from Subich (Brownlee kick) 9:24
TEAM STATISTICS T W
First downs 17 6
Total yards 356 143
Rushes-yards 44-257 19-32
Yards passing 99 111
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 7-15-2 7-15-2
Punts-avg. 2-37.5 4-35
Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-0
Penalties-yards 3-20 4-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
TYRONE – Whitby 16-98, Starr 9-46, Emigh 1-42, Rawlings 5-33, Kustenbauder 7-23, Zupon 1-6, Robinson 5-9. WESTMONT HILLTOP – Goodman 8-0, Radovanic 3-46, Valente 2-(-5), Ray 1-(-8), Torquato 3-26, Subich 1-(-11), Team 1-(-16).
PASSING
TYRONE – Walk 5-12-80, 2 TDs, 2 Ints.; Zupon 2-3-19, 0 TD, 0 Int. WESTMONT HILLTOP – Ray 5-11-46, 0 TD, 1 Int.; Subich 2-4-55, 1 TD, 1 Int.
RECEIVING
TYRONE – Gwinn 4-33, Emigh 2-44, Stroup 1-22. WESTMONT HILLTOP – Valente 2-0; Bowles 2-62, Galiote 1-13; Myers 1-11; Goodman 1-15.
ORANGE AND BLACK 