For the second year in a row, the Tyrone Golden Eagles will be facing a familiar opponent in the first round of the District 6 AAA playoffs as they take on the Penn Cambria Panthers from Cresson.

Tyrone was seeded 3rd in the district heading into last Friday’s game and knew they would be playing the Panthers the following week, but the question was where.

With the 28-14 win over St. Mary’s, Tyrone acquired enough seeding points to take the #2 seed from Penn Cambria, who lost to Chestnut Ridge 24-14. This gives Tyrone home field advantage this Friday night.

Both teams are 5-5 on the year, just like last year, it will come down to every individual play of the game.

The Penn Cambria offense is very interesting with only 1,186 yards passing and 2,203 coming on the ground.

Their quarterback Garrot Harrold (#11) is the team’s leading rusher on the season. With 92-176 completions, 1151 yards, and 7 passing touchdowns, he appears to be a decent passer, but his run game is his strong suit. Harrold has also thrown 8 interceptions on the year.

Harrold, on the year, has 141 carries, 1,045 yards, and 12 touchdowns. The next closest runner for the Panthers is Zach Grove (#24) with 111 carries, 679 yards, and 6 touchdowns.

After losing their top 4 senior receiving targets from last year, the production from the receiving corps has declined, but they are still good for a play or two a game. Leading receiver on the team is the running back Zach Grove (#24) with 26 catches, 388 yards, and 3 touchdowns.

The top two true receivers are Cole Eberhart (#13) and Luke Shuagis (#4). Eberhart has 18 catches, 187 yards, and 2 touchdowns, while Shuagis (#4) has pulled in 11 catches, 152 yards, and a touchdown.

It appears the Golden Eagles will need to continue their good work with stopping the running game. Last week against St. Mary’s, the defense only allowed 68 yards on 24 attempts.

Defensively for the Panthers, they have given up an average of 20 points a game and forced 11 turnovers on the year. Key players are Brock Sral (#56), Zach Eckenbrode (#41), and Vinny Chirdon (#5). Sack leader for the team is Nick Little (#10) with 6 on the year, and the leading tackler is Eckenbrode with 97 tackles, 9 of them being for loss.

Penn Cambria runs a 4-4 defense and has a very experienced front 7, but with only one member returning in the secondary, Tyrone’s play and style of passing and using play-action should catch them off guard.

Tyrone’s key to winning the game Friday is to stop the quarterback in the run game and outhit the Panthers, as the Eagles have been improving week by week.

This Friday’s playoff game will be at Grey Veterans-Memorial Field in Tyrone. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets are available online by clicking here.