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Sound of silence fills local stadiums

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Michael Boytim and Scott Franco preview Week 2 action of the high school football season on Mirror TV that you can find on YouTube. Just search Altoona Mirror football.

Central’s Jeff Hoenstine connected with Hunter Smith on a 54-yard touchdown pass on the Scarlet Dragons’ first possession of 2020, a play that sparked a 33-9 victory over Bald Eagle Area, the team that ended Central’s season last year.

Tyrone held off a tough Bellefonte team at home with a big fourth-quarter score to snap a six-game losing streak to end last year’s campaign.

Bellwood-Antis pulled away from an experienced Northern Bedford team to maintain control in the Inter-County Conference.

A lot happened in the first week of area high school football, but all of it was met with nearly the same sound — relative silence.

“That was the only negative part of it,” Tyrone coach John Franco said. “I know what it’s like having that Tyrone community behind you. I have lived through it, and there’s nothing like it. I felt bad for so many of the people that couldn’t be there. We did have more than 1,000 people watching online, and if there’s 1,000 people tuned in, there were a lot more watching the game because they were in households with more than one person watching the screen.”

People in the Tyrone community, who would normally pack the stands on a Friday night, instead watched on the Eagle Eye News YouTube channel, which was able to secure the 1,000 followers needed to be able to broadcast live games.

“We had to rely on our bench players to keep us motivated and cheer us on the whole time,” said Tyrone senior Damon Gripp, who caught a pair of touchdown passes and picked off two passes. “It was definitely different seeing almost no one from the town out supporting us. I really hope that does change this season, because it’s something that keeps the players motivated.”

Bellwood-Antis may have picked up the biggest win of the week Friday as far as importance to winning a conference title, but not one Blue Devil fan was permitted to attend the game due to ICC rules against visiting fans during the 250 gathering mandate era.

“It was weird going into an empty stadium,” B-A coach Nick Lovrich said. “But the lack of sound didn’t really bother me, and the kids said the same thing. Kids were disappointed their parents couldn’t be there, but the biggest thing is they were just happy to play. A month ago, we weren’t sure if we were going to get to play football at all this season, so they were really happy to have the chance to play.”

The Blue Devils will get their first chance to play in front of some of their fans this Friday when they host Everett.

Hollidaysburg held its senior night outside the stadium before its season-opening loss to Baldwin Friday due to the uncertainty of how the rest of the year will play out. Once the actual game began, it just didn’t feel the same for Hollidaysburg coach Homer DeLattre.

“A scrimmage feel is a good way to describe it,” DeLattre said. “It was very different, especially with the large crowds we get. You could hear a lot of things you don’t usually hear. When we score or a big play happens, you’re used to the band or the student section making noise, but we have to get used to it. There’s a football game to be played, and that’s what we’re trying to focus on.”

On Saturday, Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic held a 10-0 lead on defending Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference champion Richland at the half. The Marauders were playing at home in Mansion Park in a matchup pitting the No. 2 Class 1A team against the No. 2 Class 2A team in the Pennlive state rankings. Any other year, the crowd would have been likely going wild. But not this season, at least not yet.

“It was disappointing a little bit for the kids at least in pregame,” Bishop Guilfoyle coach Justin Wheeler said. “Once you’re in the moment of the game, you don’t focus on the crowd or the stands, but some of our best games over the years have been big games where the stands were packed. When things maybe aren’t going well, your crowd can rally you and give you a burst. I think back to 2014 when we had an undefeated Somerset team against an undefeated BG in Week 10 and there were 5,000 people there. It was such a cool high school moment, and it’s something myself and all the kids involved in it remember.”

Franco, who is a BG graduate, is hoping the crowds return sooner rather than later.

“It’s unfortunate that politics have to play a role in our high school football viewing,” Franco said. “It is what it is. Crowd noise definitely plays a role. It takes a lot away from the advantage the home team has. I have heard professional teams speak about that, and I wondered how it would impact us. I could see what they were talking about. Our game was one that we would have played even better with the crowd behind us, but that’s what’s going on in 2020. We have to deal with it.”

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