Another Tyrone Golden Eagle football season has come to an end, but with an uncharacteristic outcome as the team finished with a disappointing 3-8 record.

Despite the losing record, the Golden Eagles season contained many highlights. Tyrone ended the season on a high note with quite possibly their best game of the season versus Central. In a good old-fashioned nail-biter, the Scarlet Dragons were able to knock off the Golden Eagles 21-10.

Before the Central game, many people were debating on whether the Golden Eagles even deserved to be in the District 6 playoffs. This Golden Eagle football team fought hard until the last play and proved that they did indeed deserve to clinch a berth in the playoffs.

Looking back at the Golden Eagles season, though subpar by Tyrone standards, it was fairly average. They played a lot of good teams such as Huntingdon, Bellefonte and Chestnut Ridge. They hung in there with larger schools such as Clearfield and Hollidaysburg. Against Chestnut Ridge they came out dead in the first half but in the second half they were untouchable.

The Mountain League was a powerhouse this season, arguably 2017 was the deepest season in Mountian League history, with talented teams up and down the schedule. That being said, some struggles early on in the season, mainly bad snaps and muffed punts proved too costly for the Eagles as they marched out of the gates with three crucial defeats. With the talent the Golden Eagles had, it is still disappointing that the season ended up where it did.

The Golden Eagles are losing a lot of key players across the board this year. The starting line is the only component that remains strong with the loss of Dan Peterson being the only major blow. Key backs Parker Mitchell and Brandon Loose will definitely be hard to replace, accounting for a large portion of the Golden Eagle offense this season.

Beyond the shadow of a doubt, the most difficult position to replace is going to be kicker which is a spot that has been occupied by Ethan Vipond for the past four years.

Though losing a lot, Tyrone has a lot of returning starters coming back next season. Linemen Isaac Jackson, Braeden Nevling-Ray, Kaleb Snook, and Connor Wertz are all coming back as well as tight end Cory Lehman.

Other key returning players include Denver Light and Aric Reader just to name a few. On top of that, the Golden Eagles have many young players coming up that will further strengthen the system.

Perhaps 2017 wasn’t the Golden Eagles year. One thing is for certain; when the Bellwood game comes up next year, the Golden Eagles will be ready.