Tyrone was prepared for a wire-to-wire battle against Forest Hills and almost all the stats pointed to an even matchup. But the Golden Eagles took control of the game from the opening whistle and played their most complete game of the season, resulting in a 44-0 rout of the Rangers.
It was the Golden Eagles’ first playoff win in four years and sets them up in the District VI Championship game this Friday at Mansion Park.
The offensive line had their best performance of the season against Forest Hills, paving the way for Seth Hoover’s career-high 250 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns.
Forest Hills put up an abysmal offensive performance with only 159 yards in total offense. Ranger quarterback Nate Cornell was running for his life all night trying to escape the Golden Eagle defensive line who sacked him 5 times, forced a fumble, and an interception for a touchdown.
The Tyrone offensive line has come together the past few games and has done a solid job at creating holes for Seth Hoover to run through and giving Ashton Walk time to throw.
Hoover has accumulated 537 rushing yards in the past 3 games running behind the Golden Eagle line and has accomplished the 1,000-yard rushing milestone.
Ashton Walk hasn’t been sacked in three games and has been able to move up in the national passing rankings.
The Golden Eagles began the game on offense and quickly marched down the field, mixing both the run and the pass. The offense stalled at the goal line, and a 24-yard Dante Novak field goal put the Golden Eagles up 3-0.
On the Ranger’s first drive, the Golden Eagles forced the first of five turnovers when Trent Adams intercepted a pass from Cornell, which led to a 32-yard touchdown run for Hoover.
The Tyrone defense then forced another punt, and Hoover found the end zone yet again to give the Golden Eagles a 17-0 advantage.
With roughly 1 minute remaining in the half, the Golden Eagle defense again got pressure on Cornell as Ashton Emigh punched the ball loose and recovered it on the Ranger 18-yard line. Setting Tyrone up for another score on the connection from Ashton Walk to Trent Adams to close the half out 23-0.
“We couldn’t have drawn it up any better, we were playing 100% every play and the scoreboard showed it,” senior Cian Hockenberry.
Tyrone didn’t take their foot off the gas in the second half even with a comfortable lead.
The defense forced a 4th down stop and gave the ball back into the hands of Seth Hoover. He found some open running lanes and drove the Golden Eagles 63 yards down the field and punched in his third touchdown.
On the next Ranger drive, Trent Adams grabbed another interception and closed out the third quarter.
Two plays into the fourth the Golden Eagle offensive line paved the way for Seth Hoover’s 4th touchdown of the night and a 60 yard run at that. Tyrone continued to dominate on defense as a batted ball from Austin Lucas resulted in an Ashton Emigh interception return for a touchdown to give Tyrone a 44 point lead.
The Golden Eagles improved their record to 7-4 and advanced to the District title game against the undefeated Penn Cambria Panthers at Mansion Park on Friday 11/8 at 7pm.
This next game will be the biggest challenge Tyrone has of the year so far. PC has a massive offensive line and a great set of skill personnel. They recently beat Bishop Guilfoyle 28-27 in a thriller and blew out Central 33-0 in the District semifinal game.
However, the Golden Eagles are healthy and peaking at just the right time.
“This will be our biggest test yet, we have been dreaming about playing in this game since July and bringing the title back home,” senior Ashton Walk said.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tyrone 3 20 7 14 — 44
Forest Hills 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter
T–D. Novak 24 FG, 8:51.
Second Quarter
T–Hoover 32 run (D. Novak kick), 11:39.
T–Hoover 4 run (D. Novak kick), 6:47.
T–Adams 18 pass from A. Walk (kick blocked), :41.
Third Quarter
T–Hoover 1 run (D. Novak kick), 8:26.
Fourth Quarter
T–Hoover 60 run (D. Novak kick), 11:50.
T–A. Emigh 27 interception return (T. Novak kick), 10:04.
TEAM STATISTICS T FH
First downs
T: 17
FH: 12
Total yards
T: 422
FH: 182
Rushes-yards
T: 32-300
FH: 38-139
Yards passing
T: 122
FH: 43
Passing (comp.-att.-int.)
T: 8-13-0
FH: 6-16-3
Punts-avg.
T: 0-0
FH: 2-25.5
Fumbles-lost
T: 1-1
FH: 2-2
Penalties-yards
T: 5-40
FH: 3-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Tyrone, Hoover 23-250, Whitby 5-30, A. Walk 1-14, B. Walk 2-6, Robinson 1-0. Forest Hills, Mayes 9-84, Papinchak 18-55, Cornell 10-1, TEAM 1-(-1).
PASSING–Tyrone, A. Walk 8-13-0-122. Forest Hills, Cornell 4-12-2-104, Myers 2-4-1-16.
RECEIVING–Tyrone, Woomer 3-56, Adams 2-47, Hoover 2-17, Weston 1-2. Forest Hills, Papinchak 2-11, McGough 2-10, Williamson 1-12, Russell 1-10.
