High School Football

Overtime thriller! Dragons use trick play to beat Eagles

TYRONE -- The Central-Tyrone football rivalry has been an almost annual knockdown, drag-out donnybrook that, since its beginning back in 1970, has featured some of the most intense competition this area has seen.

Friday night's latest battle between the two Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference and Blair

County rivals unveiled another marvelous chapter at Gray Veterans Memorial Field, and Central used a trick play from Tyrone's playbook to win a 21-14 overtime thriller.

With the teams deadlocked 14-14 entering the overtime session, Tyrone won the coin toss and deferred first possession to Central, which took possession at the 10 and eventually broke the tie on a 15-yard, third-down touchdown pass from junior wideout Bentley Dickson to sophomore wideout Parker Scott for the game-winner.

Dickson took a pitch from junior quarterback Jesse Muthler, faked to the right and found Scott wide open across the field in the left side of the end zone and hit him with the decisive touchdown pass.

"We call that play the Tyrone special,'' said Central coach Jerry Albright, whose team stayed unbeaten and improved to 3-0 overall and in the conference. "Back in the late 1980s and 1990s, (Tyrone) ran it against us. We stole it from them, we've been working on it in our practices, and it paid off tonight.''

It helped that Scott said that he hadn't been targeted for a pass reception yet this season prior to the big play.

"I hadn't had a target all year, so (Tyrone) probably (wasn't) expecting me to get the ball there,'' Scott said with a smile. "Our line did a great job of blocking, Bentley made a good fake, and chucked it back to me.''

It's a play that worked swimmingly and it's a play that the Scarlet Dragons are comfortable with running.

"It's a play that we've had for years,'' Dickson said.

Central's defense prevented Tyrone from reaching the end zone on its ensuing possession, as Scott and Carter Schenk teamed to sack Golden Eagles' quarterback Ben Walk for an 11-yard loss on second down and Muthler picked off Walk's third-down pass in the back left corner of the end zone to secure Central's victory.

"Both teams played so hard,'' Albright said. "We just made one more play than they did tonight. Our 11 guys play as a team. We see Tyrone as our main rivalry, and this is a game that we look forward to every year, and it's a game that we want to win.''

Play of the game: The overtime touchdown pass from Dickson to Scott was the deciding score.

Player of the game: Along with making the game-ending interception on defense, Muthler completed 12 of 25 passes for 123 yards.

Unsung hero(es): Senior back Semaj Musei scooted for 96 yards on 14 carries for Central, including a 48-yard touchdown run down the left sideline that opened the game's scoring in the first quarter.

Tyrone coach Jason Jones: "It was a good battle. (Central is) a great football team. We know how good that they are. I'm happy with the effort that our guys put forth tonight. Offensively, we've got to get better. (Central) just made a couple more plays than we did tonight.''

Notable: A moment of silence was held before the game in memory of the victims of the 911 terrorist attack on American soil exactly 25 years ago ... After Musei's 48-yard first-quarter touchdown run, Tyrone pulled into a 7-7 halftime tie when Walk threw a beautiful 38-yard second-quarter touchdown pass to senior wideout Mason Emigh, who was all alone down the right sideline ... Central regained the lead, 14-7 on Schenk's 3-yard touchdown run with 2:25 left in the third quarter, capping off a 90-yard, 11-play drive, but Tyrone responded with a 64-yard, 12-play scoring drive that sophomore back Reid Starr polished off with a 5-yard touchdown run with 9:48 left in the fourth quarter ... Starr and Central's J.J. Moushlian had interceptions.

Records: Central is 3-0 overall and in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference; Tyrone is 2-1 overall and in the conference.

Next Friday night: Central hosts Bellwood-Antis; Tyrone hosts Bald Eagle Area.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central 7 0 7 0 7--21

Tyrone 0 7 0 7 0--14

FIRST QUARTER

C--Musei 48 run (Marks kick), 6:51.

SECOND QUARTER

T--Emigh 38 pass from Walk (Novak kick), 8:49.

THIRD QUARTER

C--Schenk 3 run (Marks kick), 2:25.

FOURTH QUARTER

T--Starr 5 run (Novak kick), 9:48.

OVERTIME

C--Scott 15 pass from Dickson (Marks kick).

TEAM STATISTICS C T

First downs 13 12

Total yards 256 209

Rushes-yards 21-118 39-128

Yards passing 138 81

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 13-26-1 7-18-2

Punts/avg. 4-36.2 5-40

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 5-50 3-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Central: Musei 14-96, Muthler 6-18, Myers 1-4. Tyrone: Whitby 21-91, Starr 11-41, Emigh 3-7, Walk 4-(-11).

PASSING: Central: Muthler 12-25-1-123, Dickson 1-1-0-15. Tyrone: Walk 7-18-2-81.

RECEIVING: Central: Decker 6-55, Dickson 3-37, Schenk 1-25, Scott 1-15, Wareham 1-4, Moushlian 1-2. Tyrone: Emigh 3-45, Stroup 2-18, Starr 2-18.