Since moving to 3-1 in Week 4 with a 15-6 victory over Bald Eagle Area, Tyrone has fallen on hard times.
The Golden Eagles entered the toughest stretch of their season in Week 5, with games against Bellwood-Antis and Bishop Guilfoyle, and no one expected it to be easy.
Losses to the Blue Devils and Marauders were compounded last week when Tyrone fell 36-33 at Huntingdon in a game where a controversial roughing call in the final minute paved the way for the Bearcats to score late and send the Eagles to their third straight defeat.
There’s not much to celebrate in times like those, but the fact is the tough series of games has kept Tyrone’s surge in offensive production under the radar.
The Eagles began to get their footing offensively against BEA, when they generated 281 yards. They dipped to 253 in their loss to B-A but since then have gone over 300 yards in two straight games.
Tyrone will need to continue moving in that direction this week when Penn Cambria comes to Gray-Veterans Field on Senior Night for a Laurel Highlands crossover game. The Panthers are 5-2 and ranked fourth in District 6 3A, while Tyrone is 3-4 and in need of wins in each of the last three weeks plus a little help just to make it into the postseason conversation.
The biggest question for Tyrone to answer will be whether or not their play with the ball against the Bearcats was the start of something good or an anomaly against a defense that had its own share of problems.
Here are three keys for the Golden Eagles as they prepare to face a team that has won the last four meetings between the two programs, including last season’s 27-10 win in Cresson.
DEFENSIVE RESURGENCE
While the Eagles struggled offensively early on this season, the one consistency was their ability to get stops on defense. Much of that rested on Tyrone’s knack for getting into the backfield and creating stops for loss.
That’s changed of late, and the Eagles will need to regain their old form to knock off the Panthers.
Tyrone has allowed 1,270 rushing yards this season – an average of 181 yards per game – and that number is high, but its skewed by the fact 860 of those yards have come in the last three games. In turn, the Eagles have allowed 36 or more points in each of the last three weeks.
To be fair, B-A, Huntingdon, and BG have built their offenses around their ability to run the football, but so too has Penn Cambria, which is averaging 234 yards per game on the ground. Bruising running back Corbin VInglish is the Panthers’ leader, averaging more than 113 yards per game, and right behind him is quarterback Evan Latterner, who has 426 yards on 61 carries.
Few teams have found ways to limit that duo, but it’s something the Eagles will have to do in order to win on Friday.
CONTINUE OFFENSIVE GROWTH
It’s no secret that the key to Tyrone’s offensive improvement has been the improvement of the passing game led by quarterback Ben Walk.
Two weeks ago, he passed for 248 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Marauders, and he followed that up with 340 yards and two more scores against the ‘Cats.
Mason Emigh has been at the center of the explosion, but just as big has been the evolution of the Eagles’ secondary receivers, like Jon Stroup and Jesse Parks. Those two alone give the Eagles possession receivers who can move the chains and clear space for Emigh to make big plays.
Tyrone will need strong performances from everyone in that group against Penn Cambria.
It could also use a resurgence of its running game.
Since he became Tyrone’s No. 1 back when Caleb Whitby was sidelined with an injury after Week 3, Reid Starr has been good. With 338 yards on 88 carries, the sophomore is averaging 3.8 yards per tote.
But as a team the Eagles are getting barely 100 yards per game out of their rushing attack, and that will have to change.
Tyrone has still managed to piece together long and sustained drives without a strong run game, but the reality of football in central Pennsylvania – even the Laurel Highlands – is the best teams can enforce their will with the run.
SCORE, SCORE, SCORE
The name of the game is to get more points than the other guy, but until last week the Eagles struggled finishing drives and punching in touchdowns.
Their 33 points against Huntingdon was the second most they had scored this season, and the most since defeating Westmont Hilltop 34-7 in Week 2. Tyrone will need that production to continue against the Panthers, who are averaging 33 points per game and have been held below 27 just once this season.
Last week, they exploded for a season-high 53 against Chestnut Ridge.
Even if Tyrone’s defense gets back on track, the Eagles will still need to put the ball in the endzone with the same efficiency it showed against Huntingdon, and that’s a reasonable scenario.
All of the Panthers’ five wins have come against sub-.500 teams. In fact, none of those programs have more than two wins at this point in the season. Their two losses came against 3-4 Bald Eagle Area and 6-1 Central Cambria, a game where Penn Cambria scored just 14 points.
So the path is there for Tyrone to get back on its feet against the Panthers, but it will take some touchdowns in order to get it done.
