While it doesn’t take much to spark the heated rivalry that has developed between Tyrone and Central, the Golden Eagles received a bit of extra motivation before last week’s 33-13 win at Central in the form of a letter taped to their locker room door.  

The letter was discovered by Tyrone defensive coordinator Pat McNelis when he arrived at the field house on Friday afternoon. 

Titled “Letter Request for Forfeiture” and signed “Scarlet Dragons Football” the text of the letter read:

“We figured we would extend our hand to you in the forfeiture of tonight’s game in the Cove. We wanted to spare you the trip and the embarrassment of coming away with nothing but bruises and another black eye. WE OWN YOU! It’s ok to admit defeat, kiss the hand and not show up. We could use the early season rest anyway. It will come in handy in December when we make our trip to Hershey!”

¨I was the first to find it, and I left it there,¨ said McNelis. 

Although McNelis was not phased by the note and assumed it was made by kids, it had a different effect on some of the Tyrone football players.

“It really motivated me and the rest of the team to win this game,” said senior Aric Reader.

According to several players and McNelis, no one on the team knows who put it there or exactly when it appeared, but it was probably sometime overnight on Thursday, August 30.

The team doesn’t have any evidence as to who was actually responsible, but for many on the Eagle’s squad it doesn’t matter.

“Ever time I’ve played Central, they’ve always had poor sportsmanship. We had to go to Spring Cove and show them what Tyrone is made of,” said Nevling-Ray.

With the letter in mind, and after four long years of losing to Central, with the victory the Eagles regained bragging rights over their southern Blair County rival.

“It kind of stuck in our heads that they thought they were going to win. This was a big game for us, bigger even than Bellwood. Thank you to whoever wrote it for the motivation,” said senior Denver Light.