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Last season's Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference matchup between Bishop Guilfoyle Academy and Tyrone at Mansion Park featured all of the game-ending intrigue that anybody could have hoped for, as the Golden Eagles stopped the Marauders short of the end zone on a 2-point conversion run attempt in the closing minutes and held on for a 28-27 victory.
"We went for two, and got stopped,'' BG coach Justin Wheeler said. "Tyrone has some athletes, and they always play hard. This is a tough conference to play in all season long.''
Both the unbeaten Marauders and Golden Eagles will continue their rigorous 2024 conference schedule Friday night, when they square off at Tyrone's Gray Veterans Memorial Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Marauders improved to 5-0 overall and in conference play last Friday night by topping Central, 23-12 in a game that was played at Hollidaysburg's Tiger Stadium. Tyrone (2-3 overall and in the conference) dropped a 28-21 decision on the road to archrival Bellwood-Antis last Friday.
Both teams bring potent passing attacks orchestrated by talented veteran senior quarterbacks into this Friday's game. BG quarterback Chase Kissell has completed 67 of 94 passes for 1,099 yards and 13 touchdowns, while Tyrone's Ashton Walk has thrown for 1,112 yards and 11 touchdowns on 87 of 149 completions.
Both Kissell and Walk have plenty of good receivers to target. Tyrone junior Eli Woomer, the Eagles' leading pass-catcher, has 17 receptions for 239 yards and a touchdown. Woomer did not play last week against Bellwood, but he will return Friday night.
Senior wideout and BG transfer Trent Adams has 14 receptions for 208 yards and three touchdowns for Tyrone, while another senior wideout, Gayge Miller, has 12 catches for 209 yards, including nine for 139 and a touchdown in last week's game. Two more senior wideouts who are have made big receiving contributions for the Golden Eagles are Klayten Moore, who has 11 receptions for 118 yards, and Dante Novak, who has caught seven passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior running back Seth Hoover, who leads the Golden Eagles' ground game with 300 yards on 59 carries with two touchdowns, has also caught 11 passes for 102 yards and a score.
"Tyrone has a really good quarterback, and we know that they are going to throw the ball,'' Kissell said. "I think that we've got to play our game on offense, and that if we do, it will be our game (to win).''
Wheeler said that Walk, who is a four-year starter, brings plenty of firepower to the Tyrone offense, but Wheeler has also been pleased with the performance of his secondary players -- free safety Tyson Lestochi, cornerbacks Hamilton Gates and Braden Reilly, and strong safeties Kissell and Michael Cacciotti.
"All of those players have been really good all season, but this week will be a test,'' Wheeler said.
Bishop Guilfoyle has been very sound defensively, shutting out two of its first five opponents, and the Marauders have an explosive offense that features many talented skill players.
Along with Kissell and his younger brother, Jake, a junior wideout who has caught 12 passes for 90 yards this season, the Marauders have three more outstanding playmakers in senior wideout/running back Gates, senior wideout Reilly, and junior running back Taurean Consiglio. Consiglio had a big game last week against Central, running for 108 yards and a touchdown, catching a 21-yard Chase Kissell scoring pass, and making an interception from his linebacker spot on defense.
Gates and Reilly are tied for the BG team lead in receptions with 22. Gates has 555 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns to his credit this season, and he has also rushed for 279 yards on 39 carries and four touchdowns, while returning an intercepted pass on defense for another touchdown. Reilly has 278 yards on 22 catches and two touchdowns.
Consiglio has rushed for 257 yards on 33 carries and three touchdowns, while also catching six passes, three for touchdowns.
BG's multiple offensive weapons present a very difficult matchup challenge for opposing defenses.
"They are one of the best teams in our area, at all levels,'' Tyrone coach John Franco said of the Marauders, who have scored an average of 34 points per game this season while allowing only nine points per game. "They're loaded. They've got an outstanding group of skill kids, and they can score from any position at any time. Offensively, they can do it all.
"Their linemen are good, solid kids on both sides of the ball, and they have an excellent defense, no doubt about it,'' Franco added. "They play defense in every phase of the game -- against both the run and the pass -- as well as anybody that we've seen.''
Both teams have problem areas to address entering this week's game. BG was flagged 12 times for 136 total yards in penalties last Friday, while Tyrone turned the ball over four times on intercepted passes.
"We didn't play a clean game, but we played well enough to get the win,'' Wheeler said. "We did what we needed to do to win last week, but we definitely need to improve.''
Franco said that turnovers have been a problem all season for Tyrone.
"We're a minus-7 in turnover ratio and we've never been there as a team before,'' Franco said. "It's rare that we've even been in the negative in the past -- usually we're in the positive. So that's been our problem this season -- we've got to learn to hold on to the ball.''
Especially when facing a top-notch opponent like Bishop Guilfoyle, who will be a strong contender for the PIAA Class 1A state championship this season.
"I just think they're an outstanding football team,'' Franco said of the Marauders. "They've got great tradition, they've done a fantastic job over the last several years, and we're anxious to compete against them and to kind of see how we measure ourselves.''
High school football
Bishop Guilfoyle ACADEMY at Tyrone
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Gray Veterans Memorial Field
Records: BG (5-0, LHAC 5-0); Tyrone (2-3, 2-3 in LHAC)
Coaches: BG's Justin Wheeler 138-38 in 14 seasons; John Franco 280-147-2 in 38 seasons at Tyrone, Altoona and Penn Cambria
Last week: BG defeated Central, 23-12; Tyrone lost 28-21 to Bellwood-Antis.
Last season: Tyrone won, 28-27, at Mansion Park.