Tyrone scores twice in the fourth to down Penn Cambria
Tyrone was hovering on Penn Cambria’s 35-yard line, milking the clock and a 4-point lead with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter last night at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field.
Two runs by Reid Starr had gone nowhere, and now the Eagles were facing third-and-10.
One more run by Starr wouldn’t have been a bad idea. It would have either kept the clock running or forced the Panthers to use a timeout, so that option was on the table.
But Tyrone coach Jason Jones had seen Penn Cambria move the football all night, knew the chance for a big play was there, and just had a feeling about his senior receiver who always seems to find a way with the game on the line.
Jones went to a backside drag to Mason Emigh, and this was the result.
The 35-yard touchdown reception from Ben Walk made it 17-6 with 3:15 to play, and it was ultimately the deciding factor in Tyrone’s 17-14 win over the Panthers on Senior Night.
It was the second of two scores the Golden Eagles punched in in the fourth quarter, and it was the second time in two weeks that Emigh pulled in a late touchdown reception to give his team the lead.
“They have a good offense, and we knew they were going to score again,” Jones said. “That’s not a knock against our defense, You can only hold people like that down for so long. I thought it was the perfect time to take a shot to Mason. He’s a dude everybody keys on with a double team, and they say you’ve got to find other options besides Mason Emigh. Well, it hasn’t been stopped yet, so we’re going to continue to ride that for the rest of the season.
Penn Cambria did get on the board one more time with just over two minutes to play, so Jones’ instincts were spot on. For his part, Panthers coach Jason Grassi couldn’t fault his team’s pass coverage, which limited Emigh to three receptions. Instead, he said the touchdown was the result of his pass rush not getting home on Walk, who had plenty of time to scour the field and locate his favorite target.
“He had 10 seconds to throw the football,” said Grassi, whose team fell to 5-3. “We didn’t get any pressure on the quarterback. He was the backside receiver all the way over here. We did a pretty good job of defending him all game. Our secondary stepped up and did a great job of stopping him, for the most part. But one play he breaks loose and gets open, and we don’t get any pressure and he scores. He’s a heck of a player.”
There was little doubt where Walk would be looking in the critical situation.
“I knew it was going to be coming eventually because he’s always making big plays,” said Walk, who completed 10 of 20 passes for 95 yards. “I knew if I had enough time from the line, I was going to be able to deliver to him coming behind the backers. He made a great play and got in the endzone.”
Emigh still had one more big play left in him, but not as a receiver. When Tyrone got the ball back up three with two minutes to play, he took a handoff on a reverse on second-and-11 and went 12 yards to convert a first down that essentially closed the books on the Panthers.
The win snapped a three-game skid for the Golden Eagles and evened their record at 4-4. With two weeks remaining, it will take some help, but there’s still a chance for Tyrone to overtake the Panthers for the No. 4 spot in the District 6 3A playoffs.
“It’s a good win. The thing about us is, we’re not a 4-4 team,” said Jones. “We should be much better record-wise, and I feel for our seniors. Hats off to them. To get that win, it’s puts us back (in the race). We need a little bit of help. You never know what’s going to happen.”
For Penn Cambria, it will be tough to look back on the loss as anything but a missed opportunity. The Panthers held the ball for most of the game, running 60 plays to Tyrone’s 47, spent the majority of their time on the Eagles’ side of the 50, and penetrated as far as the 11 four times. They outgained Tyrone 321 to 257, but struggled finishing drives and in the second half in particular shot themselves in the foot with penalties and miscues that halted promising advances.
Both Panthers quarterback Evan Latterner (19 carries for 114 yards) and running back Corbin VInglish (19 carries for 116 yards) went over 100 yards.
“We’ve been pretty good at punching it in, especially lately with our run game,” Grassi said. “Give credit to Tyrone. They played hard and stopped us. We had four opportunities and didn’t get anything out of it. The two we did score were just on scrambles. That’s not how we draw it up. We’ve got to do a better job of executing what we’re trying to do. It’s frustrating.”
Penn Cambria’s powerful running game, which generated 247 yards, was mitigated by a career-best game for Tyrone sophomore Reid Starr, who carried 19 times for 123 yards, and broke off two big runs in the fourth quarter on a drive that gave the Eagles their first lead since the first quarter.
With his team trailing 6-3, Starr opened the final frame with a 39-yard run to get the ball to the 24 before carrying tacklers with him on this 23-yard run to the 1.
Walk sneaked in from the 1 on the following play, and the second of Tytus Novak’s two PAT kicks made it 10-6.
The Panthers responded with a 7-play series when they got the ball back, but were behind the chains facing third-and-14 from the 43 when Jon Stroup picked off Latterner with 7:40 remaining.
The Eagles converted the game’s only turnover into points with Emigh’s score four minutes later, but there was still time for the Panthers. On second-and-17 from his own 30 following a holding call, Latterner slipped free up the middle on a scramble for his best run of the night, a 65-yard scamper that set up Penn Cambria at Tyrone’s 5.
He then connected with Nate Mack on this 6-yard touchdown pass, and Vinglish followed it up with a conversion run to get the deficit back to 3.
That made the ensuing kickoff a crucial one for the Golden Eagles, but sophomore Mason Harper corralled the onsides kick to end the threat.
“Bend, don’t break,” Jones said. “Our guys up front, on both sides of the ball, really stepped up. It was hard to keep the quarterback in the pocket. They got that one late. When we’re good and playing well, we’re controlling the defensive side of the ball.”
Tyrone had gotten on the board first late in the first quarter, using a 16-play drive to move from its own 11 to the Penn Cambria 11. Only two plays on the march went for more than 10 yards, including a 17-yard completion from Walk to Jesse Parks to move the sticks on a third-and-3 play from the Eagles’ 41.
The drive eventually stalled, and Novak came on to kick a 28-yard field goal with 51.8 seconds left in the period.
When the Panthers got the ball back, they kept possession for 15 plays and more than six minutes, moving to Tyrone’s 10. But on fourth-and-1, Latterner took the ball on a sweep and was stopped by Starr for a 3-yard loss.
It was one of nine stops for loss Tyrone’s defense would register, but the Panthers regrouped and came back on their next series with a 10-play drive that looked like it would end in similar fashion. They had advanced to the Eagles’ 4 before being set back by a procedure penalty and a Kyler Suhoney sack that had the ball at the 16.
On the next play, Latterner scrambled for this 16-yard score to give Penn Cambria the lead with 1:13 left until halftime.
The win pushed Tyrone ahead two places in the 3A standings, and the Eagles now trail the Panthers by just under four points in the playoff race.
Tyrone now travels to Philipsburg-Osceola next week, while Penn Cambria hosts Greater Johnstown. The Mounties share a 4-4 record with the Eagles, which makes it a pivotal game. Should Tyrone and Penn Cambria win, the Week 10 crossover game would determine which one would advance to the postseason.
“Every game is a playoff game moving forward,” Grassi said. “Every team is clawing and scrapping for that last spot.”
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penn Cambria 6 0 0 8 – 14
Tyrone 3 0 0 14 – 17
First Quarter
T – Novak 28 field goal :51.8
Second Quarter
P – Latterner 16 run (PAT kick blocked) 1:13
Fourth Quarter
T – Walk 1 run (Novak kick) 10:45
T – Emigh 35 pass from Walk (Novak kick) 3:15
P – Mack 6 pass from Latterner (Vinglish run) 2:06
TEAM STATISTICS P T
First downs 16 13
Total yards 321 257
Rushes-yards 41-247 27-157
Yards passing 74 95
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 8-19-1 10-20-0
Punts-avg. 1-29 4-41.5
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 7-65 3-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Tyrone – Starr 19-123, Emigh 1-12, Walk 5-26, Robinson 1-2, Stroup 1-(-6). Penn Cambria – Vinglish 19-116, Latterner 19-114, Beck 3-17.
PASSING—Tyrone – Walk 10-20-95, 1 TD, 0 Int. Penn Cambria – Latterner 8-19-74, 1 TD, 1 Int.
RECEIVING—Tyrone – Emigh 3-48, Stroup 4-19, Parks 2-21, Starr 1-7. Penn Cambria – Coudriet 3-25, Beck 2-12, Jones 1-9, Mack 2-28.
