Special teams and defense have been pretty solid for Tyrone this season but on Friday it was exceptional special teams play by Hollidaysburg punt returner Justin Wolfe that resulted in several big plays and a 44-21 Tyrone loss.

Wolfe had two big punt returns against the Golden Eagles, one for 66 yards and another for a 68-yard touchdown.  He also caught three passes for 58 yards.

Tyrone started the game by stopping the Tigers on defense and followed that up with a 15-play, 5 first down drive, ending with a touchdown pass from Ashton Walk to Cortlynd Rhoades.

Tyrone’s first special team’s miscue occurred when the PAT was blocked by Hollidaysburg.

The Tigers bounced back as Tyrone’s defense was playing sub-par. The Eagle’s defense let up 9 big plays on defense, and the Tyrone offense could only get three in return.

The Tigers drove down the field in a few big plays and scored on a 1-yard run to Ben Sosnowski early in the second quarter, making the score 7-6.

Tyrone would be stopped on offense in their next drive, forcing them to punt. This would be the first of the two Wolfe returns, 66 yards, setting up a 19-yard touchdown run from Jake McGinnis.

The Tigers wouldn’t let up, scoring two more times in the half on a 38-yard touchdown run to Xander Bainey and another run from McGinnis from 8 yards out.

The Tigers went into the half with a commanding 28-6 lead.

Tyrone was stopped on offense again after getting the ball to start the half. Having to punt the ball away set up the other long punt return for Wolfe. This one would end with a Tiger touchdown and put the game even further out of reach for the Eagles.

Tyrone couldn’t get a break. A deep punt placed the Eagles on their own 2 yard line. This set up a Sloan sack in the endzone for a safety.

Early in the fourth, Tyrone’s offense started flying. Ashton Walk connected with Kolten Miller for a 58-yard touchdown pass. Walk would also connect with Ross Gampe for the two-point conversion, making the score 37-14.

But the Tyrone defense couldn’t stop the Tigers this time. They fired back with a 68-yard touchdown run from McGinnis, making the score 44-14, and essentially making a comeback impossible.

Tyrone ended the game strong with another touchdown, which was a 4-yard passing touchdown to Joshua Patterson.

The clock ran down shortly after, and the game ended 44-21. This dropped Tyrone to (4-5) for the season.

Tyrone will host St. Marys on Friday, October 29th as their final home and regular-season game of the season at Gray Veterans Field.

Tyrone still has the opportunity to host a game in the playoffs if they beat St. Marys and Penn Cambria loses their next game.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone 6 0 0 15 — 21

Hollidaysburg 0 28 9 7 — 44

First Quarter

T–Rhoades 9 pass from A. Walk (kick blocked), 3:25

Second Quarter

H–Bainey 1 run (Sosnowski kick), 11:00

H–McGinnis 19 run (Sosnowski kick), 6:50

H–Bainey 38 run (Sosnowski kick), 5:35

H–McGinnis 8 run (Sosnowski kick), 1:56

Third Quarter

H–Wolfe 68 yard punt return (Sosnowski kick), 8:15

H–Safety, Sloan tackled A. Walk in end zone, 4:04

Fourth Quarter

T–Miller 58 pass from A. Walk (Gampe pass from A. Walk), 9:07

H–McGinnis 68 run (Sosnowski kick), 8:47

T–Patterson 4 pass from A. Walk (Gwinn kick), 5:39

TEAM STATISTICS 

First downs
T: 17
H: 18

Total yards
T: 317
H: 401

Rushes-yards
T: 26-31
H: 34-286

Passing yards
T: 286
H:115

Comp-att-int
T: 25-38-0
H: 7-16-0

Punts-avg.
T: 8-35 H: 5-45

Fumbles-lost
T: 1-1
H: 3-0

Penalties-yards
T: 3-23
H: 9-62

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Hollidaysburg: McGinnis 6-97, Brua 7-78, Bainey 11-76, Fox 6-18, Sloan 1-12, Shuey 1-3, DeLattre 2-2.

Tyrone: Ronan 7-22, Miller 5-6, LeGars 1-4, L. Walk 1-1, A. Walk 11-(-1), Beck 1-(-1).

PASSING

Hollidaysburg: McGinnis 7-16-0-115.

Tyrone: Walk 25-38-0-286.

RECEIVING

Hollidaysburg: Wolfe 3-58, Bainey 1-22, Wyland 1-22, DeLattre 1-15, Renyck 1-(-2).

Tyrone: Rhoades 11-85, Miller 3-69,Veres 3-39, Beck 3-33, Gampe 2-9, Gwinn 1-14, LeGars 1-11, Ronan 1-9.