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Big second half lifts Hollidaysburg

Photo for the Mirror by J.D. Cavrich Tyrone’s Broc Zimmerman tries to bring down Hollidaysburg’s Austin Weakland on Friday night in Tyrone.

TYRONE — Other than its first possession of the game, when it scored a touchdown, Hollidaysburg couldn’t get anything going in the first half against Tyrone because of three turnovers.

The Golden Tigers certainly got their running game going in the second half.

Led by the running of senior quarterback Brady Walters, who churned out 125 of his 131 rushing yards in the second half and scored two touchdowns in the half, the Tigers ran away from the Golden Eagles for a 28-13 win on a cool homecoming night at Tyrone’s Gray-Veterans Memorial Field.

“Receivers and linemen were blocking. Everyone did their jobs,” Walters said as he deflected credit. “As long as everyone does their job, I just follow them and it works out how it’s schemed.”

“We knew what type of runner he was from last year,” Tyrone coach Jason Wilson said. “We knew he was going to be running the ball hard, and just like the running backs, he’s a tough downhill runner.”

It was the fourth loss in a row for the now 4-4 Eagles.

Walters had 14 of his 19 carries in the second half, and he completed all five of his second-half passes for 54 yards. Picked off twice by Tyrone’s Zac Albright in the first half, Walters completed 9 of his 13 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.

Hollidaysburg, which improved to 4-4, amassed 277 rushing yards, including 211 in the second half. Nate Fisher also had 19 carries for 84 yards, and Hunter Barr ran for 62 yards on 16 attempts.

“We knew that they had powerful downhill running backs,” Wilson said. “I thought that was the difference with them compared to last year. They pounded us down, and sometimes it felt like our guys were just hanging on to them, and they were getting another six yards.”

Both teams scored on their first possessions of the game. The Eagles used nine plays to go 75 yards, and quarterback Denver Light finished off the drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Hicks. The ball was actually tipped off of Logan Reader and right into the arms of Hicks.

“Other than the first drive of the game, once we got settled, I think our defense played really well,” Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre said. “We got to the quarterback. We got them in long-distance situations. We made them work for their scores.”

The Tigers responded with an eight-play, 64-yard drive that ended with Walters throwing a 28-yard touchdown pass to Austin Weakland — the only pass of the drive.

“We were running the ball and running the ball and we just took a shot on the left side,” DeLatrre said.

The teams, though, combined for five turnovers, eight penalties, four punts and a turnover on downs to go into the locker room at halftime tied, 7-7.

“It was (frustrating),” Walters said of the turnovers, “but when we got to halftime, that was kind of our second wind. We got together and we made sure we didn’t let it happen again.”

Hollidaysburg, however, went 72 yards on 11 plays on the first series of the second half to reach the end zone. Walters ran seven times for 53 yards on the drive, including a 3-yard touchdown run.

On their next possession, the Tigers parlayed seven running plays and two passes into a 56-yard drive that ended with Walters scampering 10 yards for a touchdown. Ethan Pinter’s extra point made it 21-7.

The Tigers took their third series of the half to the end zone, using 10 plays to do it, including Fisher’s 1-yard TD run. The highlight of the drive, though, was Gus Dellinger’s diving 15-yard reception for a first down that thrilled the Hollidaysburg crowd.

The Eagles looked like they regained momentum when Light, who completed 10 of his 20 passes for 151 yards, hit Hicks for a 30-yard scoring strike with 5:53 left. They also recovered the onsides kick at the Tiger 45. But after Light connected with Damon Gripp for 12 yards to the 19, Barr intercepted the QB on the next play.

“That would have been huge to put that one in,” Wilson said. “We’ve just go to punch them in at the end.”

“That was a good play by Hunter Barr,” DeLattre said. “We had a similar situation where Mifflin County was driving the ball on us late and Hunter had a nice interception.”

Game notes: Kylee Gooding was announced as the homecoming queen. … Both teams were penalized eight times for a combined 155 yards. … Hollidaysburg hosts DuBois next Friday, while Tyrone visits Penns Valley.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Hollidaysburg 7 0 14 7 –28

Tyrone 7 0 0 6 –13

First Quarter

T–Hicks 29 pass from Light (Pearson kick), 8:29

H–Weakland 28 pass from Walters (Pinter kick), 5:04

Third Quarter

H–Walters 3 run (Pinter kick), 8:17

H–Walters 10 run (Pinter kick), 3:22

Fourth Quarter

H–Fisher 1 run (Pinter kick), 8:43

T–Hicks 30 pass from Light (pass failed), 5:53

TEAM STATISTICS H T

First downs 21 13

Total yards 407 262

Rushes-yards 56-277 30-111

Yards passing 130 151

Passing (comp.-att.-int) 9-13-2 10-20-2

Punts-avg. 2-28.5 4-28.2

Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-1

Penalties-yards 8-58 8-97

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Hollidaysburg, Walters 19-131, Fisher 19-84, Barr 16-62, Weakland 1-4, TEAM 1-(-4). Tyrone, Albright 17-126, Hicks 3-12, Lucas 1-1, Homan 1-(-1), Light 7-(-9), TEAM 1-(-18).

PASSING–Hollidaysburg, Walters 9-13-2-130. Tyrone, Light 10-20-2-151.

RECEIVING–Hollidaysburg, Weakland 3-54, Dellinger 2-30, Moss 2-18, Barr 1-18, Drass 1-10. Tyrone, Hicks 3-67, Gripp 4-61, L. Reader 3-23.

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