Tyrone and Clearfield came into last week’s game with identical 5-1 records, deadlocked in the lead for the Mountain League Championship, but many local high school football experts predicted a Clearfield win, citing the Golden Eagles 31-7 loss to Bald Eagle, a team that Clearfield beat 7-3 earlier this season.

But games are played on the field, not on paper, and the Golden Eagles brought their A-game to Clearfield, beating the Bison 21-14 on their home field.

The Tyrone defensive front was key to the Eagle’s win, stopping the Bison twice late in the fourth quarter.

“Our defense has played outstanding football all year, including Friday night except for two plays which resulted in both of their touchdowns. Every position has done an outstanding job, from the defensive line to the linebackers to the secondary. We consider our defense the strength of our team,” said Tyrone Head Coach John Franco.

Their first crucial play was on fourth-and-three from the Tyrone 17. Junior Braden Ewing stopped Clearfield’s Brady Collins for a 4-yard loss, giving the ball back to Tyrone in their own red zone.

The second big defensive stop came on the next drive. On a third-and-6 from the 11, junior Cornerback Brady Ronan, who just returned from injury this week, tackled Collins for a 6-yard loss. On the next play, Lukas Walk batted a last-chance pass down to seal the game for the Golden Eagles.

“It felt good to be back on the field with the boys, and win a must-need game,” said Ronan.

The Tyrone offense was also much improved from last week, generating 257 yards, with 197 of them coming through the air.

The air raid was led by sophomore quarterback Ashton Walk, who has now created a reputation for making plays with both his legs and his right arm.

Walk was 18 of 29 for 197 yards, and threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Kolten Miller in the first quarter, in which he rolled right and threw back to Miller in the middle of the end zone.

Walk also had some big runs during the game, scoring on a 3-yard run to tie the game in the third. He threw a 22-yard TD pass to Andrew Weaver in the third to give Tyrone a 21-14 lead, which would end up finishing as the final score.

Tyrone will look to improve to 6-1 next week when they visit the 5-2 Penns Valley Rams, in what is shaping up to be a huge matchup.

Records: Tyrone (6-1); Clearfield (5-2).

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone 7 0 14 0 — 21

Clearfield 0 14 0 0 — 14

First Quarter

T–Miller 9 pass from A. Walk (Romani kick), 5:31

Second Quarter

C–Collins 6 pass from Samsel (Davis kick), 8:10

C–Freeland 64 run (Davis kick), 6:14

Third Quarter

T–A. Walk 3 run (Romani kick), 10:27

T–Weaver 22 pass from A. Walk (Romani kick), 1:59

TEAM STATISTICS 

First downs

Tyrone: 7 Clearfield: 9

Total yards

Tyrone: 257 Clearfield: 257

Rushes-yards

Tyrone: 24-60 Clearfield: 40-211

Yards passing

Tyrone: 197 Clearfield: 46

Passing (comp.-att.-int)

Tyrone: 18-29-0 Clearfield: 3-8-0

Punts-avg.

Tyrone: 4-28.7 Clearfield: 3-27

Fumbles-lost

Tyrone: 1-0 Clearfield: 3-2

Penalties-yards

Tyrone: 3-30 Clearfield: 4-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Tyrone, A. Walk 11-43, Miller 8-18, Hoover 1-2, Ronan 2-(-1), TEAM 2-(-2). Clearfield, Collins 20-74, Chamberlain 14-67, Freeland 1-64, Samsel 5-6.

PASSING–Tyrone, A. Walk 18-29-0-197. Clearfield, Samsel 3-7-0-46, Collins 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING–Tyrone, Miller 6-53, Gampe 4-46, Baldauf 2-38. Weaver 2-26, Veres 1-25, Crowell 1-7, Coleman 1-7, Ronan 1-(-5). Clearfield, Freeland 2-40, Collins 1-6.