Late penalty nullifies Tyrone interception, sending Huntingdon to Homecoming win
Start with the elephant in the room: Tyrone made a pretty big defensive stand late in the game last night in a down-to-the-wire battle with Huntingdon at War Vets Field.
Trailing 33-29 with just over a minute to play, the Bearcats were working from Tyrone’s 37. Quarterback Reese Hughes dropped back, felt pressure from his left, rolled right, and was hit by defensive end Kyler Suhoney on his release. The result was a wobbler that Carter Gwinn intercepted, seemingly handing the Golden Eagles their first win in three weeks.
It went down like this.
Tyrone’s sideline was elated, but the euphoria lasted only moments because somewhere in that exchange the Eagles were flagged for roughing the passer.
It was an arguable call, and one Tyrone’s players and coaches will be feeling the ramifications of for the next three weeks.
What’s not arguable is that there were still plays to be made, and Huntingdon made all of them.
Specifically, Hughes made them, as he had all night. On first-and-goal from the 9 following a personal foul call against Tyrone, he went off tackle right and cut up field for his second touchdown with 34 seconds left, saving the game and maybe the season for the Bearcats.
Luke Mykut’s extra-point set the 36-33 final of the LHAC East 1 matchup.
It was a brutal loss for the Golden Eagles, whose ever-improving offense had finally broken through and finished out drives, while their defense, though gouged by Huntingdon’s relentless running attack, had made what it thought were two major stops in the game’s biggest moments.
Now 3-4, they will need a lot of help in order to make it into the District 6 3A playoffs in a year when the classification is as strong as ever.
“It wasn’t a roughing the passer penalty from our vantage point,” said Tyrone coach Jason Jones. “(The officials) didn’t even give us an explanation as to why it was a roughing the passer penalty, but it certainly wasn’t when you watch the film. Disappointing to say the least.”
The run by Hughes, who finished the game with 150 yards on 15 carries, capped a drive that began with just 1:58 on the clock after Tyrone had taken the lead by converting fourth-and-25 from its own 40 following an intentional grounding penalty.
It was the sixth catch by Mason Emigh, who had 188 receiving yards, and it capped an improbable comeback for the Eagles, who trailed 29-20 entering the fourth quarter.
Huntingdon coach Tim Lucko admitted afterwards the score was “demoralizing,” but roughing penalty or not, the Bearcats responded.
“They learned a very valuable lesson tonight that you’re never down until that clock hits zero,” Lucko said. “It could have gone either way, but that shows the grit of these kids, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”
And as for the roughing penalty:
“I saw roughing the passer,” Lucko said. “He hit him late. But you can’t fault the kid. He’s just trying to make a play.”
Whether it was or wasn’t a penalty will be debated for years, as frequently happens with key plays in classic games, and the was a dandy from start to finish. The teams combined for more than 700 yards of total offense, with each leaning on their strengths.
For Huntingdon, that meant a ground-and-pound attack that Tyrone stopped very few times. Led by Hughes and running back Cole Lane, who himself had 119 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries, the Bearcats imposed their will up front to the tune of 281 rushing yards.
In response, the Golden Eagles went to the air, and senior Ben Walk had his best day as a passer, completing 16 of 33 throws for 340 yards and two scores. His yardage total tied him for the third-most ever for a Tyrone passer in a single game with Drew Hunter, who threw for 340 against the ‘Cats at War Vets Field in 2015.
“We told them this was like a playoff game for us,” said Jones. “We needed it. The scoreboard is going to show we lost 36-33. You can’t take a moral W at this point in the year, but that was as close as it gets because of the way we battled back. But it is what it is. You’ve got to move on from it. Things happen. That’s life, and that’s football, and that’s what I said to our guys.”
Tyrone scored first, with its first opening series score since Week 2 against Westmont Hilltop. The key play was the opening play of the drive when Walk hit Emigh on a 48-yard pass to get the ball to Huntingdon’s 22. Walk later found Emigh for a 20-yard gain to move to the 1, and he sneaked in from there three plays later to cap a drive that lasted three minutes and 15 seconds. Tytus Novak’s first of three PAT kicks made it 7-0.
After the Eagles’ defense forced a punt on three stops, a Colton Frye fumble at the 22 gave Huntingdon possession, and two plays after a 16-yard run by Hughes, Lane went in from the 1. On the PAT try, Javaughn Dodson picked up the snap and ran into the endzone to put the ‘Cats ahead 8-7.
Before the end of the quarter, Huntingdon got the ball back at its own 44 and moved 66 yards on six plays, capping the drive with a Hughes run on a play similar to the one that produced the game-winner three quarters later.
Down 15-7, Tyrone got its offense rolling on its ensuing drive, using a 35-yard pass play from Walk to Jesse Parks to move inside Huntingdon’s 10 early in the second quarter. A few minutes later, the Eagles cut it to 15-13 on a 1-yard run by Reid Starr.
But Huntingdon came right back, and went 71-yards on 9 plays to boost its lead to 9 at 22-13 on Lane’s second three-yard touchdown run. While much of the damage came on the ground, the big play was this 42-yard hookup from Hughes to Kobe Cathern to convert on second-and-16.
The Eagles got the ball back with 2:49 until halftime and moved down the field quickly, boosted by a 19-yard reception by Stroup and a 23-yard grab from Emigh. After a sack sent Tyrone back to its 19, Walk found Parks for his second touchdown of the season to make it 22-20 at the break.
The Bearcats kept the ball on the ground for their first series of the second half, with a couple of bruising runs by Lane that totaled 30 yards before Hughes avoided the rush on a first-down pass play, reversed his field, and scampered for 20 yards to Tyrone’s 6.
It was the kind of gutsy run made frequently by Hughes, who ultimately popped six runs for 10 yards or more, including a 38-yarder in the fourth quarter.
“With Reese, it’s been a growth you’ve watched all year,” said Lucko. “It just seems like each week he’s starting to perform on a higher level. He’s the reason why you’ve seen the last three weeks we’ve had success offensively.”
Lane would go on to score from the 7 to make it 29-20 with 7:02 left in the third.
With their backs to the wall, the Eagles responded with two of their best series of the season, the first starting at their own 28 late in the third. Tyrone used 16 plays to go the distance, overcoming a pair of holding penalties along the way. Stroup had two catches that netted 28 yards, and Starr converted a third-and-20 with 21 yards on a screen pass.
After a pass interference penalty at the goal line wiped out a Bearcat interception, Parks pulled in an 8-yard pass to the 2, and Walk powered it in on sneak to cut the deficit to 29-27 with 8:41 to play.
The Eagles needed a stop, which they hadn’t gotten all game, but on fourth-and-1 from the 13, freshman Kaden Kustenbauder got in the backfield to hit Lane for a 2-yard loss and give Tyrone the ball with 4:42 to play.
That set up Emigh’s long score, which came 10 plays into the 85-yard advance.
It was a signature moment, one that Jones and the Eagles had been building towards for weeks, which is what made the roughing penalty all the harder to recover from, particularly from an emotional standpoint.
“I don’t think anybody really knew what was going on,” said Jones. “We intercepted the ball and everybody was celebrating, and the next thing you knew they were moving the ball up 15 yards and getting closer to the endzone. It was one of those things where you’ve got to be able to come back from that.”
When it was all said and done, Jones wouldn’t blame the call for his team’s loss, instead crediting Huntingdon’s running game.
“We struggled against the run tonight, and they got us there with their quarterback,” he said. “That game wasn’t necessarily completely lost. It definitely helped with the roughing the passer penalty. But we struggled defensively. It’s disappointing.”
Tyrone will now host Penn Cambria next week, while Bedford will go to Huntingdon.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tyrone 7 13 0 13 – 33
Huntingdon 15 7 7 7 36
First Quarter
T – Walk 1 run (Novak kick) 8:45
H – Lane 3 run (Dodson run) 4:40
H – Hughes 12 run (Mykut kick) :26.7
Second Quarter
T – Starr 1 run (PAT pass failed) 8:38
H – Lane 3 run (Mykut kick) 2:59
T – Parks 19 pass from Walk (Novak kick) :28.6
Third Quarter
H – Lane 7 run (Mykut kick) 7:02
Fourth Quarter
T – Walk 2 run (Novak kick) 8:41
T – Emigh 60 pass from Walk (PAT pass failed)
H – Hughes 11 run (Mykut kick) :34.5
TEAM STATISTICS T H
First downs
Total yards 373 372
Rushes-yards 21-33 44-281
Yards passing 340 91
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 16-33-1 4-11-0
Punts-avg. 2-34 1-40
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 9-90 3-31
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Tyrone – Starr 13-21, Walk 6-7, Frye 2-5; Huntingdon – Lane 27-119, Hughes 15-150, Dodson 2-12.
PASSING—Tyrone – Walk 16-33-340, 2 TDs, 1 Int.; Huntingdon – Hughes 4-11-91, 0 TDs, 0 Ints.
RECEIVING—Tyrone – Emigh 6-188, Parks 4-68, Stroup 4-63, Starr 1-21, Zupon 1-0; Huntingdon – Cathern 2-59, Dodson 1-24, Easter 1-8.
