Something’s got to give between Penn Cambria, Tyrone football
High school football
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John Franco knows plenty about keeping a program going following a special season, and the veteran Tyrone coach thinks Penn Cambria is experiencing some of that this season following the Panthers' run to the PIAA Class 3A semifinals last season.
"From 1995 to 2000, we had such a run," Franco said. "All of a sudden, our talent level dropped, but our performance level didn't. All the kids that came in were developed as program kids. They wanted to live up to the standards of the program. Sometimes after the games, the coaches and I would look at each other with no idea how we won games. The kids' performance dictated it. Bishop Guilfoyle has that right now. When you have had success, kids want to be part of that success and raise their own personal standards so that they can be part of it. Penn Cambria definitely has that this year."
Franco will see it in person tonight when his Golden Eagles travel to Penn Cambria in an important game in the District 6 Class 3A playoff rankings at 7 p.m.
"They have outstanding linemen on both sides of the ball," Franco said. "It might be the best group of linemen we have seen all year. They seem to find some good skill kids also. They have their quarterback back (Brady Jones), and he's been alternating with (Evan Latterner) to give them a two-pronged attack.
"They do great things with the running game and the deep passing game. They take some shots and are awfully good at it. Defensively, I think that's their strong point, especially up front where they return some guys. It is a heck of a defense. They are very talented, and we will need another big-time effort like we had last week."
Franco is referencing Tyrone's win over Huntingdon in which Caleb Whitby ran for 200 yards and four touchdowns against a Bearcats defense that had been stout against the run all season.
"They are well coached and had a huge win on Friday against Huntingdon," Penn Cambria coach Jason Grassi said. "They put everything together. They ran the ball and threw the ball well. They are going to be a big challenge this week for us."
It was the best Franco has seen his line play this season.
"It was without a doubt our best performance of the year and one of the best performances of the last couple years," Franco said. "We didn't do anything different, except we kept repping and repping our line blocking areas, and it just clicked all of a sudden. We have some really good senior leaders on the line who demanded of their teammates that we needed to get this turned around. That was as good an offensive line performance as we have had all year and one of the better ones over the last couple years. We played as hard as we could play, and that was the difference in the game."
Penn Cambria has been doing plenty of winning and comes into tonight's game at 6-1, though the Panthers could be undefeated if they held on to a late lead against Forest Hills.
Each week it seems like a different Panther is leading Penn Cambria to a win.
"When it's not just one guy, it makes it much harder for teams to prepare for," Grassi said. "That's one of our goals -- always spread it around. We have a bunch of unselfish guys that don't really care about getting all the accolades and that type of stuff. It makes it easier for us. We don't have to worry about any of that and just try to take whatever is available with whoever is there, and our guys have been doing a great job of that and playing football that way."
Penn Cambria graduated co-Altoona Mirror Player of the Year Gavin Harrold and several other great players such as Thomas Plunkett and Mason Mento.
"We knew what we had coming back and obviously knew what we lost," Grassi said. "We believed in these guys, and like I said we had a great offseason. The guys kept grinding it out. They have played a lot of football games the last couple years, and the leadership of our senior class has helped keep things moving and going the right direction for us. I can't say enough about how great they are as football players and kids."
Grassi said he expects tonight's game -- which could be a possible playoff preview -- to be a good one.
"Their quarterback (Eli Woomer) is a great athlete," Grassi said. "He does a great job getting outside the pocket and making things happen. They ran the ball really well last week. One of our top goals is obviously to stop the run, and we have been doing a good job with that lately. For us, we like to run the football, and we take our chances when we need to."