The Tyrone Golden Eagles concluded the regular season 6-4, earning the third seed in the District 6 playoffs. They will travel to play the second seed, the Forest Hills Rangers.
Last season, the Golden Eagles faced the Rangers in Tyone’s first LHAC crossover game. The game came down to the wire. With 43 seconds left, quarterback Ashton Walk was stopped just short of the endzone on a two-point try which would have tied the score at 31.
Rangers head coach Justin Myers a 1995 graduate of Forest Hills is in his sixth year and has a cumulative record of 29-34, and just like the Golden Eagles, they finished the regular season with a record of 6-4.
Tyrone and Forest Hills had six common opponents during the regular season, and the results were similar for both squads.
They include Johnstown, Clearfield, Chestnut Ridge, Central Cambria, Huntingdon, and Central.
Tyrone went 4-2 and Forest Hills went 5-1 against these teams. The only difference between the two teams were their results against Central. The Golden Eagles lost to Central 13-7 early in the season, while Forest Hills beat the Dragons 22-21. However, Central was missing their starting quarterback due to a broken jaw when they faced the Rangers last week. Both teams lost to currently undefeated Clearfield.
Tyrone beat Johnstown 42-12, Forest Hills beat them 38-26. Tyrone beat Huntingdon 32-7, Forest Hills beat them 48-33. Tyrone beat Chestnut Ridge 35-34, Forest Hills beat them 42-9. Tyrone beat Central Cambria 55-19 on senior night, Forest Hills beat them 42-6.
The Rangers and the Golden Eagles showed very similar skills and outcomes throughout the season.
The Rangers have a good mix of running and passing and a wide array of different formations. Forest Hills has thrown the ball 230 times and has ran the ball 279 times.
Under center is senior Nate Cornell, who has thrown for 1,675 yards 17 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions on 228 attempts on 56% completion percentage.
Cornell’s favorite target is the Ranger’s best player, senior wideout Chase Williamson. Williamson has hauled in 47 receptions for 716 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Lining up in the backfield is senior running back Mason Papinchak who has ran for 830 yards and seven touchdowns on 136 carries. Cornell has also shown that he can run the ball a little bit as he is the Rangers second-leading rusher with 196 yards and three touchdowns on 76 carries.
On Tyrone’s side of the field, the Golden Eagles continue to look unstoppable on offense. The offense showed even more bright spots in last week’s Chestnut Ridge game.
Quarterback Ashton Walk threw for 299 yards putting him at 2,676 yards on the season breaking Stevie Franco’s single-season passing record. The most impressive part of this performance is the fact that no Tyrone receiver went over 100 yards.
With the offense being as spread out as it is and senior running back Seth Hoover running hard on the ground it makes it extremely hard for opposing defenses to gameplan.
Hoover needs only 83 more yards to hit the 1,000-yard mark. Along with Hoover Tyrone has two other skill players nearing the 1,00 yard mark but on the receiving end.
Senior Trent Adams leads the team with 766 yards and 12 touchdowns on 41 receptions, following on his tail is junior Eli Woomer who has hauled in 728 yards and six touchdowns on 47 receptions.
