Week 10 against the Forest Hills Rangers was like déjà vu for the Golden Eagles, except this time they found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard with a 31-29 loss at home.
In week four Tyrone stopped BG inches from the end zone on a two-point conversion attempt to seal the win for the Golden Eagles.
This week, with less than a minute left in the game, it was Tyrone quarterback Ashton Walk who was stopped inches from the end zone on a two-point try late in the fourth quarter, sealing the win for Forest Hills.
Tyrone played well enough to win, but a combination of costly penalties, mental errors, and big plays cost them the game.
Both teams were penalized 11 times, but Tyrone was flagged for a total of 110 yards, with several of the penalties keeping Forest Hills drives alive.
The most costly were three personal fouls against the Golden Eagles’ key players.
“If we controlled those mistakes and penalties, we could’ve had a better chance of winning”
— Richard Rawlings
After a big third down stop by Richard Rawlings, a player from Forest Hills’ shoe fell off and in the area of Braden Ewing, who picked it up and threw it toward the middle of the field. An official saw this and he was flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Later that drive the Rangers would score to take its first lead of the game.
On the first drive of the second half, a long 60-yard run from Ashton Walk put Tyrone on the 8-yard line. On the next play, Brady Ronan ran through a Ranger defender to score and tie the game, but he stood over the defender after the score, which attracted another personal foul penalty that would force Tyrone to kick off from the 20 and give Forest Hills a great field position.
Later in the game, a forced incompletion from Seth Hoover made it third down for the Rangers. But Gayge Miller signaled an incompletion with his arms accumulated Tyrone’s 3rd personal foul of the game, and kept another Ranger scoring drive alive with a first down.
A crucial offensive penalty on Tyrone was also called for an illegal man downfield that brought back a Dravyn Crowell touchdown. This score could have been a turning point in the game if it wasn’t for the penalty on offensive lineman Owen Oakes.
“If we controlled those mistakes and penalties, we could’ve had a better chance of winning,” said senior defensive end Richard Rawlings.
Tyrone jumped out to an early 14-point lead on two Ronan touchdowns, but two explosive runs and a touchdown pass from Forest Hills gave them the 21-14 lead going into the second half.
In the second half, Ronan scored to tie the game but Tyrone’s defense simply couldn’t stop the Rangers, giving up two touchdowns and a field goal.
With about 2 minutes left to play, Forest Hills snapped the ball in the back of the endzone on a punt attempt, resulting in a safety for Tyrone. This put the Eagles back in the game and gave them the ball back.
Tyrone drove down the field and converted to Steven Buck for a touchdown with just :43 seconds to play.
Down by just 2 points, Tyrone went for the two-point conversion to tie the game.
Ashton Walk ran it up the middle and was stopped on the 1-yard line, ending the Golden Eagles’ hope of sending the game into overtime.
A failed onside kick ultimately closed the game out, with Forest Hills winning 31-29 and improving their record to 7-3. Tyrone dropped to 6-4.
Luckily for the Golden Eagles, this game didn’t affect their playoff status, but it would’ve been a nice morale booster going into the playoffs.
Tyrone will face Penn Cambria in the District Semi-Finals at Penn Cambria Stadium this Friday at 7 p.m. The winner will face Central in the District Final at Mansion Park TBD.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Forest Hills 7 14 7 3 — 31
Tyrone 14 0 7 8 — 29
First Quarter
T–Ronan 11 run (Romani kick) 8:16
T–Ronan 6 run (Romani kick) 2:48
FH–Papinchak 67 run (Carpenter kick) :10.8
Second Quarter
FH–Richardson 1 run (Carpenter kick) 4:45
FH–Carpenter 73 run (Carpenter kick) 1:41
Third Quarter
T–Ronan 8 run (Romani kick) 9:47
FH–Williamson 25 pass from Cornell (Carpenter kick) 5:37
Fourth Quarter
F–Carpenter 35 field goal 11:01
T–Safety (ball snapped out of end zone) 2:51
T–Buck 11 pass from Walk (PAT run failed) :43.8
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs
FH: 17
T: 11
Total yards
FH: 397
T: 338
Rushes-yards
FH: 23-148
T:30-216
Yards passing
FH: 249
T: 122
Passing (comp.-att.-int.)
FH: 15-31-1
T: 10-17-0
Punts-avg.
FH: 4-46.5
T: 3-29
Fumbles-lost
FH: 0-0
T: 1-0
Penalties-yards
FH: 11-110
T: 11-86
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Forest Hills, Richardson 16-139; Papinchak 9-88; Cornell 3-9; TEAM 2-(-20). Tyrone, Ronan 17-77; Hoover 2-6; Walk 4-65.
PASSING–Forest Hills, Cornell 10-17-1-122. Tyrone, Walk 15-31-1-249
RECEIVING–Forest Hills, Williamson 2-39; Harteis 3-19; Richardson 3-60; Papinchak 2-4. Tyrone, Crowell 4-73; Weaver 5-112; Ronan 2-35; Buck 2-18; Hoover 1-11; Woomer 1-6.
