Tyrone Kyler Suhoney

WINGATE — The Tyrone Golden Eagles have been challenged often in their first four games, with three of them coming down to plays made in the final minutes. And that’s something Coach John Franco is quite comfortable with.

He can certainly live with it as long as the outcome is similar to Friday night’s 21-14 win over Bald Eagle Area at Alumni Stadium in Wingate.

With the game on the line, the Golden Eagles got a pair of sacks to stymy BEA’s final drive to tie the game, and closed it out with an interception to improve to 3-1 heading into the Backyard Brawl next Friday against Bellwood-Antis.

The pick by Caleb Whitby was one of four interceptions the Golden Eagles recorded, giving them nine in the last two weeks. Two of the takeaways led to touchdowns, and on a night when Bald Eagle’s defense was every bit as good as Tyrone’s, that was crucial.

BEA limited Tyrone to just 78 yards on the ground and came away with three takeaways of their own, but the Bald Eagles were never able to overcome a 14-0 first-quarter deficit that was built on one of the biggest defensive plays of the game.

Play of the game: With under four minutes to go in the first quarter and Tyrone leading 7-0, junior defensive end Kyler Suhoney batted a screen pass from Kaleb Irion in the air, corralled the loose ball, and ran 45 yards for a score that made it 14-0. BEA scored to cut into the lead two series later on a double pass that went from Irion to Gradyn Fisher to Jackson Millward for a 29-yard touchdown and had several more opportunities to cut into the lead, but they would chase that defensive score the rest of the night.

Player of the game: Two stand out. Fisher changed the game when he came on in relief of Irion in the first quarter. His shiftiness and quickness gave BEA a second option after Tyrone had shut down its inside running game, and he ultimately ran for 91 yards on 18 carries. Along with his flea-flicker pass to Millward, he also added a 6-yard scoring pass to James Cowan in the third to pull Bald Eagle within 21-14. For Tyrone, Ashton Emigh was a difference maker in the second half, and it started when he scored on a 1-yard run early in the third to give the Golden Eagles a 21-7 lead. Later, with Tyrone struggling to generate a running attack, he came on to power his way to a pair of first-down runs on the Eagles’ final series, which allowed them to drain more than four minutes off the clock. He later came up with a 7-yard sack of Irion on the second-to-last play of the game.

Unsung hero(es): Senior Brayden Parsons had a pair of key receptions for 93 yards to help shift the game in Tyrone’s favor. His first catch came on a play-action bootleg where quarterback Eli Woomer hit him in stride behind the defense for an 80-yard touchdown to stake Tyrone to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. In the second half, following an interception by Owen Oakes on BEA’s first play of the third quarter, Parsons pulled in a 13-yard pass at the 1 to set up Emigh’s touchdown.

Most vital statistic(s): Tyrone’s four interceptions gave the Eagles 11 on the season. Along with the picks, the Golden Eagles batted down four passes and broke up two others.

BEA coach Jesse Nagle: “We were pretty stagnant. They did a good job of pinching in and taking away our counter game. The bad thing is their two best kids are probably at the corners. All the turnovers hurt. We blew a coverage early, and after that we shut them down. And they’re a very potent offense. We’ve just got to make those plays.”

Tyrone coach John Franco: We knew going into this year we needed to rely on our defense, especially early. Our defense is the foundation of our team. Last year it was our offense, but our defense knows they have to keep us in the game, and they’ve done a fantastic job, especially the last two weeks.”

Notable: Oakes’ interception was his second in two games. Mason Emigh also came away with a pick, giving him three in the last two weeks … Fisher had a hand in 202 of BEA’s 222 yards.

Records: Tyrone 3-1; BEA 1-3.

Next week: Tyrone hosts Bellwood-Antis; Bald Eagle hosts Philipsburg-Osceola

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Tyrone 14 0 7 0 — 21

Bald Eagle Area 0 7 7 0 — 14

First Quarter

T–Parsons 80 pass from Woomer (Novak kick) 6:39

T — Suhoney 45 interception return (Novak kick) 3:53

Second Quarter

B — Millward 29 pass from Fisher (Millward kick) 9:26

Third Quarter

T — Emigh 1 run (Novak kick) 9:37

B — Cowan 6 pass from Fisher (Millward kick) 1:53

TEAM STATISTICS T BEA

First downs 8 10

Total yards 212 222

Rushes-yards 26-78 32-107

Yards passing 134 115

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 7-17-2 12-27-4

Punts-avg. 4-18.8 2-42.5

Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-0

Penalties-yards 3-35 0-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Tyrone, Woomer 10-33, Whitby 7-25, Emigh 9-20, Bonsell 1-(-1). Bald Eagle Area, Fisher 18-91, Irion 4-(-11), McCulley 10-27.

PASSING–Tyrone, Woomer 7-17-134-2. Bald Eagle Area, Irion 2-10-30-2. Fisher 10-17-85, 2 TD.

RECEIVING–Tyrone, Parsons 2-93, Martin 2-15, Emigh 1-19, Whitby 1-8. Bald Eagle Area, Cowan 4-38, Hosband 3-11, Millward 3-41, Fisher 1-26, Johnson 1 (-1).