Tyrone had won the last two Backyard Brawl matchups in dominating fashion, outscoring Bellwood 61-12, but on Friday Tyrone’s streak ended in a nailbiter, with a 28-21 Bellwood victory.
“We started the game off strong, later on, turnovers were an issue and the Bellwood running game was playing well. Towards the end we started to pull it together but came up just short,” junior John Stanton said.
In the game’s first drive, Bellwood forced an early turnover, setting them up with great field position in Golden Eagles territory. Bellwood marched down the short side of the field with a run-heavy attack before senior linebacker Austin Lucas met Blue Devil running back Colin Gibbons at the 2-yard line, punching the ball loose, with junior defensive end Ashton Emigh jumping on it for the second turnover in two drives.
Tyrone took advantage of the turnover and marched 98 yards in 14 plays, 9 of those being run plays for senior running back Seth Hoover who capped off the drive with a 9-yard touchdown. Hoover ended the night with 107 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.
Tyrone built off of their early success causing a three and out but a special teams mistake for the Golden Eagles resulted in a roughing the punter penalty and gave Bellwood a second chance on the drive. Bellwood capitalized off the Golden Eagle mistake by taking an 8-7 lead on a Brayden Partner 2-yard touchdown run.
Tyrone again responded quickly with a 3-play 65-yard drive which included an explosive catch and run from senior wideout Gayge Miller for a 45-yard gain. This set up a 20-yard head tap touchdown catch by senior wideout Dante Novak to put the Golden Eagles back on top 14-8.
Tyrone entered the break up 14-8.
Coming out of the half, Tyrone forced a quick three and out but Bellwood’s defense countered the Golden Eagles by forcing their third turnover of the night. This set up a barrage of run plays, causing chunk plays of 18 yards, 20 yards, and finally, a 24-yard touchdown run by Brayden Partner yet again. Bellwood went for the two-point conversion and was marked short of the goal line, pressing the score to 14 each.
Bellwood again turned over the Golden Eagles on the following drive, and Bellwood continued to weaken the Tyrone Defense with seven straight runs ended by a Collin Gibbons 6-yard touchdown rush. The Blue Devils converted the two-point conversion this time with a pass to Fullback Cayden Pellegrine putting the hosts up 22-14.
Tyrone was unable to respond to Bellwood’s second-half energy, going into a three-and-out that set up a 54-yard touchdown connection between Blue Devil quarterback Holden Schreier and tight end Ethan Shawley on the first play on the drive.
Tyrone, with time running down completed crucial passes of 36- yards to sophomore Mason Emigh,41-yard bomb, and a 7-yard touchdown catch by Gayge Miller, but penalties and a sack sapped the clock down to seven minutes in the fourth quarter with Bellwood holding onto the lead 28-21.
After the Golden Eagle defense forced a crucial stop it gave the offense time for a possible game-tying drive. The Tyrone offense had an up-and-down drive finding their way on the Bellwood 19 yard line with 10 seconds remaining.
Quarterback Ashton Walk found Gayge Miller for a 12-yard strike and a first down for the Eagles which usually would stop the clock until the referee spots the ball. However this was not the case as the clock continued to run until it hit zero.
After a discussion by the referees, it was deemed that the game was over and the clock being stopped was a decision that the head referee could make.
The final score ended 28-21, In favor of Bellwood who returned the Backyard Brawl Trophy home for the first time since 2021.
The Golden Eagles (2-3) are at home on Friday against Bishop Guilfoyle (5-0). It is also Tyrone’s homecoming game. Homecoming festivities will begin at 6:30 and the kickoff is at 7 pm.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tyrone: 7 7 0 7 — 21
Bellwood: 0 8 14 6 — 28
First Quarter
Tyrone–Hoover 9 run (Novak kick), :03
Second Quarter
Bellwood–Partner 2 run (Pellegrine pass from Schreier), 6:12
Tyrone–Novak 19 pass from A. Walk (Novak kick)
Third Quarter
Bellwood–Partner 24 run (run failed), 6:43
Bellwood–Gibbons 7 run (Partner pass from Schreier), 1:28
Fourth Quarter
Tyrone–Miller 4 pass from A. Walk (Novak kick), 7:14
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs
Tyrone- 14
Bellwood- 21
Total Yards
Tyrone- 370
Bellwood- 344
Rushes-yards
Tyrone- 21-116
Bellwood- 38-223
Yards passing
Tyrone- 254
Bellwood- 121
Pass (comp.-att.-int)
Tyrone- 21-30-4
Bellwood- 8-16-0
Punts-avg
Tyrone- 1-40
Bellwood- 2-33
Fumbles Lost
Tyrone- 1-0
Bellwood- 2-1
Penalties-yards
Tyrone-10-85
Bellwood- 5-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Tyrone–Hoover 17-101, Emight 1-9, A. Walk 3-6. Bellwood-Antis–Partner 16-89, Schreier 4-53, Gibbons 10-45, Pellegrine 6-36, Kyle 2-0.
PASSING: Tyrone–A. Walk 21-30-4-254. Bellwood-Antis–Schreier 8-16-0-121.
RECEIVING: Tyrone–Miller 9-139, Moore 5-60, Adams 2-11, Hoover 2-15, Emigh 1-6, Novak 1-9. Bellwood-Antis–Pellegrine 3-73, Partner 1-19, Kyle 1-18, Shawley 1-12, Gibbons 2-0.
