The 10-1 Tyrone football team hosts the 6-5 Huntingdon Bearcats this Saturday at Gray Field in the District 6 semifinals.

The Bearcats beat the 9-1 Juniata 28-21 in a hard-fought upset in the quarterfinals. Tyrone outlasted Forest Hillsfor a 35-7 victory last week.

The good news for Tyrone fans is that the Golden Eagles already beat the Bearcats back in week three, rolling to a 52-21 victory.

The bad news is this is NOT the same Huntingdon team that Tyrone defeated eight weeks ago.

The Bearcats have seen enormous improvement since they last faced the Golden Eagles. Much of their success can be accredited to rising star Jon Wagner, who almost singlehandedly brought Huntingdon back for the win against 3rd seeded Juniata last week. The junior running back rushed for 239 yards and three touchdowns on just 24 carries in that game.  On the season Wagner has 1,130 yards and 19 touchdowns on 144 carries. He also averages 28.9 yards per kickoff return and has 24 total touchdowns for the season.

Huntingdon’s offensive ground game has definitely seen the most improvement. Their line is blocking well and Wagner, who is averaging 8.2 yards per carry this season,  has the ability to make people miss for extra yards.  But Tyrone’s rush defense has proved itself time and time again to be a dominant force in District 6.

Last week they held Forest Hills star running back Shareef Blough to just over 40 rushing yards. The week before they held Chestnut Ridge, who averaged over 200 yards on the ground per game, to under 20.

In their week three matchup the Bearcats scored three rushing touchdowns against the Eagles, all from Jon Wagner. However, all three scores came against the Tyrone JV squad, while the Huntingdon starting squad remained in the game.

“We know we have already beaten them. But that does us no favors. In fact, it may hurt us if we come out of the gates expecting the same Huntingdon that we have seen before. We need to try to play to our best ability just like every other week,” senior wide receiver Silas Crawford said.

This week provides another challenge for Tyrone. The Golden Eagle needs to find balance in their offensive assault.

Last week running back Aleic Hunter rushed for over 220 yards and 3 touchdowns. However, the Eagles could not get their passing game to the same standard.

Quarterback Garrett Hunter threw for 88 yards, significantly under his consistent output of about 150 yards. Much of this inefficiency can be blamed on the muddy conditions, but the concern remains. Tyrone will need to have the offensive barrage of rushing and passing to find continued success in the playoffs.

Huntingdon has a lot of momentum coming into the game. Tyrone would be wise to shut that down quickly before it eventually overcomes them.

All in all, this is another game that Tyrone should win. As long as the Golden Eagles bring their “A” game, they should not be stopped.