The 4-0 Tyrone Golden Eagle football team hosts the 1-3 Bellefonte Red Raiders this Friday at Gray Field.

The Red Raiders’ only win this year was against the 0-4 Philipsburg Mounties in Week 3. Bellefonte also had a close loss to Huntingdon, another Mountain League contender.

Tyrone looks to build momentum from stellar offensive performances against Huntingdon and Philipsburg in the past two weeks. In the past two games the Eagles have scored 94 points while only allowing 24.

This is yet another team that the Golden Eagles should have no trouble defeating. Bellefonte’s program has struggled in recent years and this season is not much different.

Despite their obvious struggles, the Red Raiders have excelled in some areas.

Their running game is pretty solid, churning out over 220 yards a game. They have a very large offensive and defensive line that seems to be the keystone of their game plan.

“We definitely respect their offense. They have proved that they can put together some long drives,” senior linebacker Elijah Sleeth said. “But we are just going to play our game and take it to them. We can’t afford to lose this one,” Sleeth also noted.

However, Bellefonte may run into trouble if they are forced to stick to their run game this week because Tyrone’s run defense has not yet faltered this season.

Defensive ends Ricky Reader and Duane Boone have combined for 14 tackles for losses in their last 4 games. Senior linebackers Sleeth and Jake Makdad rule the line of scrimmage, allowing for very scant rushing yardage so far.

Bellefonte’s biggest weakness is the entire passing game, offensively as well as defensively.

Offensively the Red Raiders average only 38 passing yards a game. Conversely, the Golden Eagles average over 150.

On defense, their secondary is very weak and misalignments often lead to uncovered gaps or holes down the field.

The Golden Eagles will definitely look to take advantage of a struggling secondary in this one.  If they can execute in the passing game early, this game should be over quickly.

However, if they let Bellefonte hang with them this Friday, the Red Raiders have the firepower to make things happen.

Prediction: Tyrone comes out on top 35 – 7.