TYRONE - Tyrone entered Friday's game with Bellefonte having scored 131 points in its last two games.
When the Red Raiders' defense held the Golden Eagles' offense scoreless in the first half, the defense decided to start putting up points.
Corey Snyder and Ben Makdad returned interceptions for touchdowns, Charles Wilson-Adams and Nicholas Getz had picks that eventually turned into scores, and the Golden Eagles turned a fumble recovery in the second half into another touchdown as Tyrone turned a four-point halftime deficit into a 48-10 victory at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field.
Article Photos
"We weren't playing Tyrone football to start the game," Makdad said. "There wasn't much said at the half, and that's when you know things are bad. We just came out ready to play in the second half.
"The offense was having a slow game, so our defense wanted to pick us up."
Bellefonte shocked Tyrone early with a fake punt that led to a field goal before Snyder intercepted Red Raider quarterback Jordan Fye and returned the pick 20 yards for a score.
The Raiders, however, continued to hold Tyrone's high-powered offense in check and got a 22-yard touchdown pass from Fye to Nick Leiter on fourth-and-6 with 2:48 to play in the first half.
Bellefonte held a 10-6 lead for most of the third quarter before the Golden Eagles put up 21 points in the final 4:45 of the third. As Tyrone stormed back, Bellefonte's offense slowed to a halt. The Red Raiders rushed the ball 30 times in the game but lost 41 yards on those attempts.
James Oliver, who was held under 100 yards for the first time this season, had touchdown runs of 2 and 8 yards before finishing his night with 93 yards on 18 carries.
Oliver's second score gave Tyrone a 10-point lead, but it was Makdad's 50-yard interception return for a score on the final play of the third quarter that iced the game for the Golden Eagles.
"Those interception returns provide such a spark," Tyrone coach Steve Guthoff said. "We were finally able to score offensively once we started to get those turnovers, and it just totally turned the momentum of the football game."
Tyrone improved to 3-2 while Bellefonte fell to 2-3.
"We have given some teams life, and they've been able to capitalize on our mistakes," Bellefonte coach Duffy Besch said. "We made mistakes that we need to work hard to correct. We need to overcome this deficit that we're having."
Tyrone added three more quick scores in the fourth.
Quarterback Erik Wagner tossed a 4-yard score to Lucas Woomer, and backup running back Aleic Hunter had touchdown runs of 35 and 21 yards - on his only two carries of the game.
Tyrone will travel to Bald Eagle Area next Friday.
"I threatened them at halftime," Guthoff joked. "Seriously, though, give Bellefonte a lot of credit. They came out and switched up defenses to something we hadn't seen. We couldn't get in sync, but our defense kept us in the football game, and we expect it to do that."
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellefonte3 7 0 0 - 10
Tyrone6 0 21 21 - 48
First quarter
B-Rhoades 27 FG, 7:19.
T-Snyder 20 interception return (run failed), 1:35.
Second quarter
B-Leiter 22 pass from Fye (Rhoades kick), 2:48.
Third quarter
T-Oliver 2 run (Umholtz kick), 4:45.
T-Oliver 8 run (Umholtz kick), 1:01.
T-Makdad 50 interception return (Umholtz kick), 0:00.
Fourth quarter
T-Woomer 4 pass from Wagner (Umholtz kick), 7:57.
T-Hunter 35 run (Bakhsheshe kick), 6:32.
T-Hunter 21 run (Bakhsheshe kick), 5:36.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Bellefonte-White 8-13, Buey 2-4, Breon 4-4, Houser 4-9, Fenstermacker 1-0, Deitrich 1-(-7), TEAM 2-(-31), Frye 8-(-33). Tyrone-Oliver 18-93, Hunter 2-56, Muir 1-53, Taylor 1-25, Wagner 3-19, Snyder 5-13, Wilson-Adams 2-3 TEAM 2-(-2).
PASSING: Bellefonte-Fye 10-21-3-124, Fenstermacker 1-2-1-8. Tyrone-Wagner 7-16-0-65.
RECEIVING: Bellefonte-Deitrich 4-46, Leiter 3-37, Shuey 2-34, White 1-14, Young 1-1. Tyrone-Wilson-Adams 5-34, Woomer 2-31.
INTERCEPTIONS: Bellefonte-none. Tyrone-Snyder, Makdad, Wilson-Adams, Getz.
TEAM STATISTICSBT
First downs816
Rushes-yards30-(-41)34-260
Passing (comp.-att.-int.)11-22-47-16-0
Yards passing13265
Total yards91325
Fumbles-lost3-11-1
Penalties-yards3-257-60
Punts-avg.4-34.82-29.5
