The Golden Eagles first season with Tyrone alum Jason Wilson at the helm has come to a close.

Tyrone’s 28-0 defeat on Saturday in the Western Division semifinal at the hands of the Hickory Hornets eliminated them from the state playoffs.

“Being 12-2 is nothing to be ashamed of,” Wilson said after the game, “Winning District 6 championship, there’s only 10 times Tyrone’s ever done that. They put themselves in an elite group. It would have been nice to make it to the Western final, but only five teams have done that in Tyrone history. So, to get this far, is quite an accomplishment.”

Hickory was able to control both sides of the football, impressively holding the high flying offense of Tyrone to just 72 yards of total offense.

The game began as the defensive struggle many expected, with Tyrone’s defense holding Hickory to an early field goal after Hickory forced a Tyrone fumble at its own 12 yard line.

The Hornets missed another opportunity later in the quarter when Hickory’s Donte Wallace fumbled an interception, which was recovered by Tyrone’s center Mark Lewis.

However, Tyrone was unable to capitalize as Hickory forced one of its six punts on the day.

The opening score for the Hornets came at the 2:09 mark of the first quarter on a inside handoff to sophomore tailback Chuck Carr that went for a 56 yard touchdown.

Later in the second, Tyrone’s defense held the Hornets on three plays inside the four yard line, but Hickory went for it on fourth down.  The gamble paid off with a one yard touchdown run by Louie Derloni, making the score 14-0 going into halftime.

Being down only two scores, Tyrone hoped to come back in the second half but the Hickory defense took over as the passing game opened up for the Hornets.

While Aleic Hunter rushed for 47 yards on the ground, several sacks by the Hickory defense gave Tyrone only 10 net rushing yards in the game.

Hunter fumbled twice and quarterback Garrett Hunter threw an interception, completing 5 of 17 passes.

Hickory also had great success on offense, especially in the second half, totaling 329 yards on 61 plays, scoring twice on the ground and two more times through the air.

Standout junior safety and wide receiver Andrew Pryts hauled in two Luke Brennan touchdown passes to make the score 28-0.

Hickory will play next week against South Fayette for the opportunity to move on to state championship game in Hershey in two weeks.

Tyrone will focus on preparing for next season, looking to rebuild and repeat their success.

That success being an impressive 12-2 record and the record breaking 10th District 6 Championship in school history.

Several seniors had great statistical seasons including senior wide receiver Nick Getz, who surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards, one of only six Golden Eagle receivers to do so.

Senior quarterback Garrett Hunter tossed for 1,767 yards (third all time) and 18 touchdowns (fourth all time), also adding six touchdowns on the ground.

Senior defensive end and tight end Duane Boone had a great season on both sides of the football, adding 7 sacks and over 20 tackles for loss on defense and seven touchdown receptions.

Senior running back Aleic Hunter had a season to remember, amassing 1934 yards on 263 carries (both fifth all time) for 26 rushing touchdowns. Hunter also showcased his receiving abilities, with 17 catches for 242 yards and one touchdown.

Tyrone graduates 17 this season, each one a product of a football tradition that underwent massive changes over the past several years.

This was the first group of players at Tyrone in 20 years to not be coached by local legend John Franco, who led the Golden Eagles to eight district titles, three state title game appearances, and one state championship in 1999.

While much emphasis has been placed on Tyrone’s head coaching situation in the past several seasons, John Franco, Steve Guthoff and now Jason Wilson, with all due respect and credit to their fine coaching ability, the real story has been and will continue to be the players who don the orange and black like so many before them.

“This team deserves all the credit we receive,” said senior linebacker Jake Makdad, “we played our hearts out week in week out.  It was a wonderful experience that I wouldn’t have shared with any other group of guys.”

Because of their hard work and determination, 2014 was another successful season that will be remembered for years to come.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Hickory 7 7 7 7 – 28

Tyrone 0 0 0 0 – 0

First quarter

H-Carr 56 run (Wombacker kick), 2:09.

Second quarter

H-Derloni 1 run (Wombacker kick), 5:42.

Third quarter

H-Pryts 24 pass from Brennan (Wombacker kick), 9:23.

Fourth quarter

H-Pryts 34 pass from Brennan (Wombacker kick), 8:54.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING:

Hickory-Carr 35-170, Brennan 5-16, Pryts 5-14, Derloni 2-2, A. Aikins 2-0, TEAM 1-(-2).

Tyrone- A. Hunter 17-47, Weaver 3-9, G. Hunter 8-(-46).

PASSING:

Hickory-Brennan 6-11-0-129.

Tyrone-G. Hunter 5-17-1-62.

RECEIVING:

Hickory- Pryts 4-105, DeJulia 2-24.

Tyrone-Boone 1-16, Crawford 1-15, A. Hunter 1-14, Getz 1-12, Weaver 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS:

Hickory-Wallace.

Tyrone-none.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs H-17 T-4

Rushes-yards H-50-200 T-28-10

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) H-6-11-0 T-5-17-1

Yards passing H-129 T-62

Total yards H-329 T-72

Fumbles-lost H-2-2 T-3-2

Penalties-yards H-0-0 T-3-16

Punts-avg. H-3-29.7 T-6-38.0