Late flurry lifts Tyrone over Bald Eagle Area
The way Bald Eagle Area coach Jesse Nagle was talking after his team’s game last night against Tyrone, it’s a wonder Mason Emigh was able to get open at all, let alone make the two biggest catches of the game.
But that’s what you do when you’re the guy, and every chance Emigh has had this season he’s shown he’s that guy for the Golden Eagles.
So it wasn’t all that surprising he was targeted by quarterback Ben Walk with the game on the line.
What’s surprising is that the senior receiver was able to produce in the clutch one more time, despite facing a defense whose entire philosophy hinged on forcing anyone but Emigh to make the play.
Within a span of two minutes, Emigh scored a pair of long-distance touchdowns to ignite a frenetic fourth quarter and propel the Golden Eagles to a 15-6 Laurel highlands East win at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field.
It was the first loss of the season for BEA (3-1), which had scored at least 30 points against each team it had faced through the first three weeks of the season.
“They are very skilled on the outside, so we were allowing them to run the football until they got inside the 30,” said Nagle. “My fear as a defensive guy was Number 6 (Emigh), and it showed. Six is a dude. We didn’t have an answer for him. So we were allowing them to do everything inside 20 to 20, and then we were going to bring some pressure. Our game plan defensively worked perfect. Six just made two plays.”
Emigh finished the night with 5 receptions for 159 yards, and 132 of them came on his two fourth-quarter scores.
Quarterback Ben Walk, meanwhile, shook off a slow start in the first half to complete 10 of 17 passes for 186 yards, his best outing in terms of yardage since passing for 128 yards in Tyrone’s playoff loss to Huntingdon last October.
“A lot of teams have been bracketing (Emigh), and we really didn’t get that tonight,” said Tyrone coach Jason Jones, who was facing his alma mater for the first time as a head coach. “We had a lot of one-on-one coverage on the backside, We knew we were going to get a shot. We got a couple of shots with him, and thankfully it paid off. He’s one of the best athletes, on any level, I’ve ever been around. He can do it all on both sides of the ball.”
The fourth quarter was a breakout moment for a Tyrone offense that has seen its share of struggles this season, but it was made possible by a defense that continued to be strong against the run and create havoc with its aggressive play. The Golden Eagles limited Bald Eagle to 180 total yards after it had generated more than 200 yards per game on the ground alone through the first three weeks of the season. Against Tyrone, BEA managed just 60 rushing yards and watched as the Eagles dropped 12 plays in the backfield, including three sacks of quarterback Chase Cane.
“Special teams and defense, kind of what we’re built on,” said Jones, whose team improved to 3-1 with a pivotal game after falling in overtime to Central one week ago. “Our defense played fantastic.”
Emigh’s first touchdown came with the Golden Eagles facing third-and-6 inside their own 20. He was lined up wide to the left and facing single coverage. The play call was a quick slant, and after Walk placed the pass on a dime, Emigh did the rest, outracing the defense on an 81-yard touchdown with 10:15 remaining.
“I was surprised to see as much one-on-one, but for the coach to see it and call the right plays, it’s awesome,” Emigh said.
Tytus Novak added the PAT, and soon after had a role in another tide turning play.
Novak’s kick went inside the 5, where it slipped through the hands of Isaac Johnson and rolled out of bounds at the 1.
On BEA’s first play from scrimmage, linebacker Dylan Robinson exploded into the backfield and went through running back Sam Clark to drop Cane for a safety that made it 9-0. It was one of two sacks Robinson had on the night.
“It was a timely kick” said Jones. “We knew we wanted to kick it into the corner. When you do assignments like that the right way, things like that happen. Luck falls your way sometimes and the ball will roll your way. That was big for us.”
“We had a hitch going on with seven-man protection. We blocked the guy. He just ran through him,” Nagle said. “It was huge momentum there.”
Bald Eagle’s free kick following the safety had the Golden Eagle starting at their own 42 before they again faced a third-and-6. This time they used a little trickery on a double-reverse pass that intended to free Emigh behind the defense. But Luke Hosband sniffed it out and made a play on the pass, leaping to tip it at the last moment. Emigh kept concentration on the ball and snatched it up before it hit the ground, turning up field on a 54-yard touchdown.
Tyrone couldn’t convert on the try for two, but the touchdown alone had done a lot to determine the direction of the remaining eight minutes of play.
BEA answered with a 65-yard touchdown pass of its own from Cane to Hosband after Hosband got free on a broken coverage. But after failing to convert the extra-point, Bald Eagle was still down by two scores with 6:50 to play.
That transformed the game into something very much of the Golden Eagles’ liking. Ahead by 11 they could run the ball and play field position, which was no problem despite going without the services of leading rusher and punter Caleb Whitby, who was sidelined with an injury.
In his absence, sophomore Reid Starr carried 27 times for 97 yards, 19 of which came on the series following BEA’s score. With his team facing fourth-and-2, Novak came on to boom a 53-yard punt and set Bald Eagle back to its own 3.
Later, after running the clock under 25 seconds, Walk pooched one 28 yards to the 9.
“I’m proud of our guys and the way we stepped up at the end and did what we needed to do to win,” Jones siad.
The Golden Eagles had a couple of shots in the first half to get on the board, including a 70-yard punt return by Emigh in the second quarter that was erased for a block in the back.
Later, Tyrone drove as far as Bald Eagle’s 23 with just seconds left until halftime, but Novak’s 40-yard field goal attempt fell just short.
Nagle said the loss was one his team could grow from as it navigates a path to the 2A playoffs.
“Sometimes the best way to learn is a loss,” e said. “They were one step ahead of us. They lost last week, and they were hungrier than us. The way we had been the first three weeks, very physical, punching people in the mouth, we didn’t show that tonight. We got punched in the mouth, and we didn’t fight back.”
Tyrone will now look to avoid a similar path. The Golden Eagles will travel to Bellwood-Antis for the annual Backyard Brawl next week on the heels of the Blue Devils’ first loss last night, a 28-26 upset at the hands of Central.
“This feels awesome,” said Emigh. “We’re going to go into Bellwood, rest up, reenergize, and get ready to go for them.”
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bald Eagle Area 0 0 0 6 – 6
Tyrone 0 0 0 15 – 15
Fourth Quarter
T—Emigh 81 pass from Walk (Novak kick) 10:15
T – Safety (Robinson sack of Cane in endzone) 10:07
T – Emigh 54 pass from Walk (Novak kick) 8:24
B – Hosband 65 pass from Cane (PAT pass failed) 6:50
TEAM STATISTICS B T
First downs 5 9
Total yards 180 271
Rushes-yards 29-60 32-85
Yards passing 120 186
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 8-19-0 10-17-0
Punts-avg. 6-28 7-41.4
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-0
Penalties-yards 7-40 6-75
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Bald Eagle Area Cane 18-31, Clark 8-23, X. Nagle 1-2, Hosband 2-4., Tyrone Starr 27-97, Walk 1-(-9), Emigh 1-9, Team 3-(-3).
PASSING—Bald Eagle Area Cane 8-18-120, 1 TD; D. Nagle 0-1-0. Tyrone Walk 10-17-186, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING—Bald Eagle Area Clark 2-29, Hosband 2-67, Frank 1-2, Cowan 1-11, I. Johnson 1-3, J. Johnson 1-8. Tyrone Emigh 5-159, Stroup 3-10, Gwinn 2-17.
ORANGE AND BLACK 