TYRONE — With their season on the line on Friday against Philipsburg-Osceola, Tyrone senior Ashton Emigh and junior Caleb Whitby both made mistakes that might have shaken players with less confidence and taken them off their games.

In the first half, Emigh dropped a pass on fourth down when he was wide open for a sure touchdown. Whitby dropped the second-half kickoff, which led to the Golden Eagles being pinned back deep in their own territory.

Rather than mentally check out, Whitby responded by returning the next kickoff he fielded 90 yards for a touchdown, and Emigh made a much tougher catch for an interception that he returned 32 yards for a score to seal the Golden Eagles’ 28-7 win at Gray-Veterans Memorial Field.

“He’s been our No. 1 kickoff return guy,” said Tyrone coach John Franco about Whitby. “He will occasionally make a goofy mistake like that. But he’s also a kid that works his tail off, and you know he won’t make the same mistake twice. Fortunately for us, he did not. What a big play that was for us.”

As for Emigh, Franco made sure he knew his coach still believed in him.

“He has as good if not the best hands on the team,” Franco said. “He said he thought he could corral it against his body to make sure he caught it, but I told him not to worry and that we would come back to him. I told him I had total confidence in him, and so he redeemed himself by picking off that pass and going for the score.”

With the win, Tyrone put itself in great position to make the District 6 Class 3A playoffs, a field that includes just four teams, while Philipsburg-Osceola is now on the outside looking in.

Play of the game: Whitby’s kickoff return for a score came just seconds after Philipsburg-Osceola got a 7-yard touchdown from Colton Chapman that made the score 14-7. Whitby’s score deflated any momentum the Mounties had gained.

Player of the game: In addition to his kickoff return, Whitby had 10 carries for 75 yards and a 35-yard touchdown that opened the scoring.

Unsung hero: Chapman ran for a game-high 181 yards on 35 carries for Philipsburg-Osceola and also had a sack on defense.

“That’s something we have seen all year,” P-O coach Jeff Vroman said. “He’s a very hard runner with a low center of gravity that runs with a lot of body lean and has heart. The offensive line did a nice job, especially inside the tackles. We thought we could attack them, and we did. I was very pleased with that. He and the linemen have worked very hard in the weight room. Tuesday morning, they will be back in the weight room at 6 a.m. — he’s definitely one of the better backs around here.”

Most vital statistic: Tyrone had four interceptions — two from Eli Woomer, one by Dylan Robinson and Ashton Emigh’s pick 6. The Golden Eagles did not turn the ball over.

“It was nice to have some big plays,” Franco said. “Eli’s interceptions were huge. It was a really nice win. Philipsburg is tough. They started the year really well and even though they lost some down the stretch, they were tough all year.”

Most deceiving statistic: P-O outgained Tyrone, 242-210, and had 15 first downs to Tyrone’s 10.

Ashton Emigh: “The interception was redemption for sure after dropping that pass. This was a really big game for us. It seals our spot in the playoffs. We played like if we lost, we were out. This was basically a playoff game for us. I think once we get into the playoffs, it’s all even and everyone has a shot to beat anybody.”

Vroman on his team’s many injuries, including to starting QB Archer Baughman. Warren Rafferty started for P-O: “That’s pretty much it. That’s pretty much what has happened. You have young guys that have come in and did the best they could. They got some experience. Warren did a nice job running the offense. He probably has a few throws he’d want back, but that’s the learning process for him. It’s tough for him to get thrown into that position for a week, but he handled it well and prepared, did what we asked, and I’m proud of him.”

Chapman: “I gave it everything I had tonight. I left everything on the field. It meant a lot, because we knew if we won this one and the next one, it sealed the playoffs. Now, it’s a very slim possibility of making it. It’s getting rough. Injuries hurt us last year too. It happens in football. It just sucks that it happens to us every year.”

Notable: Philipsburg-Osceola was flagged 10 times for 90 yards. … Tyrone’s Alayna Woomer was named Homecoming Queen, and Abigail Anthony was the Homecoming Princess. … Mason Emigh has a 26-yard touchdown pass from Ben Walk for the Golden Eagles 47 seconds before halftime.

Records: Philipsburg-Osceola (4-5); Tyrone (5-4).

Next week: Tyrone will host Chestnut Ridge, and Philipsburg-Osceola will host Bedford next Friday in Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference crossover games.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Philipsburg-Osceola 0 0 7 0 — 7

Tyrone 7 7 7 7 — 28

First Quarter

T–Whitby 35 (Novak kick), 8:17.

Second Quarter

T–M. Emigh 26 pass from Walk (Novak kick), :47.

Third Quarter

PO–Chapman 7 run (Phillips kick), 3:32.

T–Whitby 90 kickoff return (Novak kick), 3:17.

Fourth Quarter

T–A. Emigh 32 interception return (Novak kick), 8:10.

TEAM STATISTICS PO T

First downs 15 10

Total yards 242 210

Rushes-yards 47-179 18-117

Yards passing 63 93

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 9-18-4 7-14-0

Punts-avg. 2-38 3-34.7

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-0

Penalties-yards 10-90 4-26

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Philipsburg-Osceola, Chapman 35-181, Jones 5-5, McClenahan 2-0, Rafferty 4-(-6), TEAM 1-(-1). Tyrone, Whitby 10-75, A. Emigh 3-31, Woomer 4-12, TEAM 1-(-1).

PASSING–Philipsburg-Osceola, Rafferty 9-18-4-63. Tyrone, Woomer 3-9-0-34, Walk 4-5-0-59.

RECEIVING–Philipsburg-Osceola, Guenot 5-31, Chapman 2-16, Jones 2-16. Tyrone, M. Emigh 3-69, Parsons 1-17, Rawlings 1-4, Woomer 1-2, Robinson 1-1.