To a man, the Golden Eagles players talked about putting in a lot of extra work this past week, and it paid off in a big way.

An offensive line that has struggled mightily in recent games dominated the Bearcats, opening up holes in the run game and giving the quarterback plenty of time to pass in a 41-21 victory Friday night at Gray Veterans Memorial Field.

“That’s a big win for us coming off a couple tough weeks,” Tyrone coach John Franco said. “Our offensive line probably played their best game of the year (Friday), and they had to because that was a heck of a good football team that we beat.”

Players of the game: Caleb Whitby ran for 200 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries, and Eli Woomer completed 12-of-18 passes for 195 yards. He had two touchdowns, one throwing and one rushing.

Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Tyrone's Caleb Whitby breaks through the middle of the Huntingdon defense as Evan Edmiston tries to hang on for the tackle.

“It felt amazing. We jumped out early, got all the momentum and kept flying from there,” Woomer said.

Unsung heroes: Offensive linemen Owen Oakes, Lucas Bonsell, Alex Starr, Kayden Ansman and John Stanton along with tight end Ben Walk set the tone from the start, giving the skill players the time and space to rip off big chunks of yardage and put the ball in the end zone on the team’s first five possessions.

“Coach Franco really emphasizes offensive line play,” Stanton said. “We’re all returning starters. He expects a lot of us, and we haven’t been really living up to it. We were able to turn it around, working extra hard and it showed (Friday).”

Plays of the game: It took Tyrone just two plays to score as many points as the club scored the past two weeks. Woomer found Ashton Emigh open behind the Bearcats’ defense for a 42-yard gain on the Golden Eagles first offensive play. Whitby followed that with a 12-yard TD run through a big lane on the left side.

The next possession, Whitby ripped off a 37-yard gain to get the drive going then capped it five plays later with a 17-yard scoring run.

Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Eli Woomer unloads a pass against Huntingdon.

After Huntingdon scored to make it a 14-7 game, Tyrone answered right back. Woomer completed three passes for 52 yards before Whitby scored on a 22-yard run for the hat trick.

After Woomer found Mason Emigh open downfield for a 36-yard gain on the opening drive of the third quarter, Whitby scored his fourth TD of the night on a 7-yard run, putting the Golden Eagles up 35-7.

Most vital statistics: Tyrone’s offensive balance was near perfect with the ground game churning out 253 yards and the passing attack another 195.

Huntingdon coach Tim Lucko: “That’s a team that was so close to making plays week upon week. My hat’s off to them. They made those plays (Friday), and honestly, they dominated us up front as well.”

Records: Huntingdon (5-2); Tyrone (4-3).

Next week: Huntingdon plays at Bedford. Tyrone visits Penn Cambria.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Huntingdon 7 0 14 0 — 21

Tyrone 14 14 7 6 — 41

First Quarter

T–Whitby 12 run (Novak kick), 10:03.

T–Whitby 17 run (Novak kick), 5:19.

H–Erdman 11 run (Snare kick), 1:42.

Second Quarter

T–Whitby 22 run (Novak kick), 9:14.

T–Robinson 5 pass from Woomer (Novak kick), :37.

Third Quarter

T–Whitby 7 run (Novak kick), 7:22.

H–Erdman 21 run (Snare kick), 5:55.

H–Hughes 1 run (Snare kick), :43.

Fourth Quarter

T–Woomer 3 run (kick failed), :44.

TEAM STATISTICS H T

First downs 10 25

Total yards 208 448

Rushes-yards 22-155 44-253

Yards passing 53 195

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 6-11-2 12-18-0

Punts-avg. 3-37.3 1-38

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 2-20 2-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Huntingdon, Edmiston 7-33, Guisler 3-(-7), Gibson 1-1, Lane 3-34, Erdman 7-85, Hughes 1-9. Tyrone, Whitby 30-200, A. Emigh 9-43, Woomer 5-10.

PASSING–Huntingdon, Guisler 1-2-0-9, Hughes 5-9-2-44. Tyrone, Woomer 12-18-0-195.

RECEIVING–Huntingdon, Erdman 1-9, Edmiston 1-2, Carthen 1-19, Gibson 2-7, Doson 1-16. Tyrone, A. Emigh 2-59, Martin 4-40, M. Emigh 3-67, Robinson 2-18, Parsons 1-11.