The 2018 Tyrone Golden Eagle football season was one of extreme highs and lows, improvement and disappointment for the Eagles.

Though they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in over 20 years, they did manage to improve their record from the previous season, finishing 4-6.

The Golden Eagles kicked their season off on a very high note, defeating playoff-bound Bellwood-Antis 16-7, bringing the Backyard Brawl trophy home.

Tyrone then went on to win their next three games, including knocking off rival Central on the road.

Four games into the season people started to question, “had the Golden Eagles returned to their vintage form?”

While Golden Eagles began to be touted as the team to beat in the Mountain League, that winning feeling wouldn’t last long.

In week five the Golden Eagles entered into the most difficult portion of their schedule, playing three eventual district champions and a district runner-up.

Tyrone put up a fight against Bellefonte, but the second half of that game would go on to define their season.

The Golden Eagles failed to put the Red Raiders away and the rest is history, and after a very promising start, Tyrone would finish their season with a disappointing record of 4-6.

“We started out very strong and played tough in every game but one,” said head coach Jason Wilson, “We just struggled to put together four quarters and we beat ourselves more times than not. There were a lot of things that we needed to clean up to reach the caliber we could have reached but we never reached that level down the final stretch.”

Lead by a great cast of seniors, this Golden Eagle squad was able to stay optimistic throughout the season. Coach Wilson had nothing but good things to say about his 2019 senior class.

“This senior group are a great group of guys. They are very respectful, committed, and a great group for other players to play with,” said Wilson, “They have a team mentality and they will do well in the future.”

Despite the loss of several key starters, the team should be able to compete for a Mountain League title next year.

“The underclassman are a very talented group coming through,” says Wilson.

The future belong to phenoms such as sophomore Damon Gripp, who’s four interceptions brought home victory against Central and Brandon Homan who came up in the clutch several times throughout the season. Kaleb Snook will take charge of the line in the absence of the graduating seniors such as Isaac Jackson and Aric Reader.

“There are still some other hurdles that we need to get past that cause distractions to the team,” said Wilson.

Once Tyrone can iron some things out, and straighten some things out in the locker room, there’s no reason why they can’t be holding up the Golden football by the end of the season.

“If you want to be successful as a team, you need to care more about the team than yourself,” says Wilson.

All in all, the 2018 season was a great ride and I’m excited to see what the future holds for Tyrone football. I know from my experience, I always dreamed of dawning the orange and black and now that its all over, I just want to go back. These past six years have changed me greatly and I attribute a lot of it to participating in football and it goes beyond football. Point is, get involved and whatever you do, go 100%.