Tyrone looks to bounce back after three tough losses against three top-tier teams.  After starting the season a strong 4-0, consecutive losses to then-undefeated Bellefonte, Bald Eagle, and Clearfield have the Golden Eagles backs against the wall with the playoffs only a few weeks away.

But Tyrone Head Coach Jason Wilson still believes in his team.

“It was a very tough stretch and it doesn’t get any easier,” said head coach Jason Wilson. “I think everyone on the team, coaches and players alike, know what this team can do and we just need to keep improving each week to reach our potential. I don’t think we have put an entire game together for several weeks.”

As coach Wilson said, AAAAA Hollidaysburg will not be easy by any stretch.

Hollidaysburg has had a very similar road as Tyrone this season. They opened their season much like Tyrone, beating their arch-rival Altoona 42-27.  But before beating winless Central Mountain last week, the Golden Tigers had lost their last four games in a row to quality opponents who are a combined 20-6 this season.

Despite entering play on Friday with a less than impressive 3-4 record, Hollidaysburg is a quality team that should not be taken lightly.

Last week, the Tiger offensive was in high gear against Central Mountian. The Golden Tigers tallied 56 points on eight touchdowns.

Senior Nate Fisher rushed for three touchdowns on 36 total yards while junior Hunter Barr rushed for two touchdowns of his own on 96 yards.

The Hollidaysburg defense made some big plays last week as well.

Senior Jacob Sensenig came up big with seven tackles and returned an interception 75 yards to lead the Golden Tiger defense in shutting down Central Mountain. The Wildcats only managed to score 12 points all game and none of them came in the second half.

Tyrone, on the other hand, is coming off another tough loss. The undefeated Clearfield Bison stormed into town last Friday hungry for another victory but as the first quarter started, it became evident that Tyrone was going to hold their ground, scoring seven early. After that, Tyrone couldn’t muster anything up, giving up 35 unanswered.

All in all, Tyrone came out in a lot better shape against Clearfield than they did against Bald Eagle, but a loss is still a loss.

“We took a step forward from the previous week but we still have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be,” said Wilson, “We moved the ball better, especially to open the game and forced them to drive the field by eliminating big plays, but we need to perform at that level all game.” That being said, there are many keys points Tyrone hopes to correct this week such as their poor blocking on special teams.

One of the positives to take away from the Clearfield game last week was the play of the offensive and defensive lines.

“I thought the line blocked well on our pass protections but we still need to get a run game established,” said coach Wilson, “Defense we held them to several long situations but we need to improve tackling and containing the QB to force punts.”

Hollidaysburg matches up nicely with Tyrone. If the Golden Eagles can continue this upward trend and play with even more intensity and heart this week, there is no reason they can’t win Friday night.

Kickoff is at 7:00 pm at Gray Field.  Homecoming ceremonies will take place before the game.