Tyrone secures senior night win over feisty Mounties

Tagged under: Centre County Report, District 6, Gameday Hub, News

Ron Bracken | October 16, 2020

TYRONE – Never let it be said that Tyrone quarterback Brandon Lucas is not a man of his word. At a team meeting Lucas told his teammates he was not going to lose a third Senior Night game.
He was right as the Golden Eagles held off a game Philipsburg-Osceola team 35-27, Friday night at Gray Memorial Field as he ran for 153 yards and scored three times to keep his team undefeated. Two of those touchdown runs came in the second half as the teams traded touchdowns after the Golden Eagles took a 14-6 into the locker room at the break.

“He just took over the second half,’’ said veteran Tyrone coach John Franco. “He was spectacular. He told the team he was not going to allow us to lose this game, that he just wasn’t going to let that happen.’’

P-O scored first as Ryan Whitehead scored from a yard out with 8:07 left in the second quarter. The PAT kick failed.
But the Golden Eagles answered right away as Christopher Beck returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to the P-O 3. Lucas followed with a one-yard run for the score.

The Golden Eagles scored again when Whitehead was intercepted by Tommy Hicks at the Tyrone 31. On the next snap Lucas got loose for 49 yards to the P-O 35. Then he hit Damon Gripp for 25 yards, found Hicks for two yards and then hit Keegan Gwinn from four yards out with :17.7 seconds left in the half.

Then the teams began swapping touchdowns as Hicks broke a 38-yard scoring run, Whitehead hit Aaron Depto for an 11-yard TD and Lucas went 61 yards for a score to make it 28-14.
In the fourth quarter Nathan Gustkey got the Mounties to within a score with a 24-yard run but Tyrone drove to the P-O 1 and Lucas scored from there for the clincher, making it 35-21 with 1:54 left.

The Mounties added the final score when Whitehead and Stamm hooked up for a 50-yard score with :17 left in the game.
“Other than giving up those big plays I thought we played pretty well,’’ said P-O coach Jeff Vroman. “And I think those were broken plays, not designed plays. That was probably the most solid game we’ve played all year. I could see it coming because we had an awesome week of practice. I couldn’t ask any more from the kids as far as effort goes. The kids kept fighting back. They didn’t fold at any point. We told them that when they do that good things happen. These kids have come a long way.’’

Running back Kaleb Stamm led the Mounties with 139 yards rushing and also had the 50-yard TD reception while Whtehead threw two scoring passes and ran for another.
“Their quartereback played lights out,’’said Franco. “He always does that against us.”

Hicks balanced the Tyrone running game with 133 yards and a touchdown and also had an interception to kill a P-O drive.
The Mounties are now 1-4 and will entertain Bellefonte Friday at 7 p.m. while Tyrone is now 5-0 and is scheduled to entertain Hollidaysburg.

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