Penns Valley football unable to recreate last season’s game with Tyrone

A year ago, Tyrone held a 14-point lead going into the fourth quarter against Penns Valley, and lost.

Fast forward to Friday night.

The Golden Eagles raced out to another 14-point lead, but this time, the Rams were unable to rally in a 35-7 loss at Gray Veterans Memorial Field.

The 14 points were just a start to Tyrone scoring 35 unanswered points.

The final score was something that Eagles coach John Franco didn’t see coming.

“We played so well tonight in every phase of the game. We knew how tough they (Penns Valley) are,” he said. “We have so much respect for them. All week we emphasized (to his team) that we have to play 48 minutes. These guys are too good. They have great coaching and tough kids. I thought our kids played pretty well tonight.”

Franco was very humble even though he watched his team rack up 466 yards of offense.

Junior quarterback Ashton Walk was 10 for 17 for 358 yards passing and four passing scores. Senior wide receiver Andrew Weaver was on the receiving end of two of those passing scores.

Weaver finished with five receptions for 218 yards, and the two touchdowns.

Walk and Weaver tallied the two scores back-to-back, and just over three minutes apart. They gave Tyrone a 21-0 lead with 11minutes, 45 seconds left in the first half.

“Tyrone showed up and played a whale of a ball game. They made big plays tonight,” Penns Valley coach Martin Tobias said. “Just when we got them in third-and-long, they’d hit a big one over the top. Big plays were the difference. They came out and were firing on all cylinders. My hat is off to them.”

The Rams had a drive late in the second quarter that looked like they were going to get within 14 points. They were set to go three-and-out, but on the punt, the Eagles muffed the punt, which was recovered by Penns Valley at Tyrone’s 36.

The Rams drove to the Eagles’ 19, but a bad snap over quarterback Jackson Romig’s head was recovered by Tyrone at its 42 with 38 seconds remaining in the half.

The Eagles were able to find the end zone again before halftime when Walk connected with Eli Woomer on a 43-yard strike with 17.5 seconds left.

Tyrone opened the second half by scoring its final touchdown of the night when Walk hooked up with Brady Ronan on a screen pass. Ronan took the pass 57 yards for a TD that made it 35-0 with 11:02 left in the third quarter, which started the mercy-rule running clock.

“We thought the coverage was what we wanted to see. A lot of those, if not most of them, were audibles or RPOs (Run-Pass option),” Franco said of his team’s passing game. “If we got the coverage we wanted, we went with the pass. If we didn’t get it, we went with a running play. It all gets back to our offensive line.

“He (Ashton Walk) had all kinds of time to throw. He’s good enough and our receivers are good enough, they are going to get open and catch the ball. Our offensive line was the difference tonight.”

Even though it was down big, Penns Valley kept plugging away. Players were still into the game and cheering one another on the sideline.

The Rams suffered more possessions where they were forced to punt the ball away or turned it over on downs. However, they caught a break with just over eight minutes to go in the game.

Penns Valley started at its own 3. Senior running back Ty Watson touched the ball on all seven plays of the drive that ended with a score.

Watson opened with a 22-yard run to give his team some breathing room. He followed with another 9 yards on the ground.

Four plays later, Watson had the Rams on the Eagles’ side of the field. He then went 41 yards on the seventh play of the drive for a score with 4:26 left in the game.

Watson was a big bright spot on the night for Penns Valley as he finished with 175 yards rushing on 24 carries.

“This is one of the things I’m really proud about our kids. Our kids are going to fight the full 48 minutes from start to finish,” Tobias said. “Obviously, they get dejected or disappointed in the result, but they never quit. They keep playing hard. I tell them football is more than just a game. Football is teaching them lessons for life.

“In life, you are going to face adversity, and you face adversity in the game. In life, you are going to have to power through when things are tough. They continue to power through. I’m hoping that we are helping to instill in them that will carry over with them into life.”

Other Centre County scores

Bald Eagle Area 42, Bellwood-Antis 0

Bellefonte 14, Huntingdon 13

Cumberland Valley 17, State College 10

Philipsburg-Osceola at Bishop Guilfoyle, Saturday, 7 p.m.

Tyrone 35, Penns Valley 7

Friday at Tyrone

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penns Valley 0 0 0 7 -- 7

Tyrone 14 14 7 0 -- 35

First Quarter

T--Brady Ronan 3 run (Rocky Romani kick), 5:40

T--Andrew Weaver 46 pass from Ashton Walk (Romani kick), 2:24

Second Quarter

T--Weaver 83 pass from Walk (Romani kick), 11:45

T--Eli Woomer 43 pass from Walk (Romani kick), 17.5

Third Quarter

T--Ronan 57 pass from Walk (Romani kick), 11:02

Fourth Quarter

PV--Ty Watson 41 run (Watson kick), 4:26

TEAM STATISTICS PV T

First downs 9 10

Total yards 260 466

Rushes-yards 30-231 28-108

Yards passing 29 358

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 7-13-0 10-17-0

Punts-avg. 5-34 3-45

Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-1

Penalties-yards 4-30 7-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Penns Valley, Watson 24-175, John Meyer 2-28, Jackson Romig 4-28. Tyrone, Ronan 17-57, Ashton Emigh 8-34, Walk 1-15, Seth Hoover 1-4, Woomer 1-(-2).

PASSING--Penns Valley, Romig 7-13-0-29. Tyrone, Walk 10-17-0-358.

RECEIVING--Penns Valley, Meyer 3-12, Watson 3-11, Seth Fetterolf 1-6. Tyrone, Weaver 5-218, Woomer 2-70, Ronan 1-57, Dravyn Crowell 1-10, Hoover 1-3.

Records: Penns Valley 5-4; Tyrone 6-3

Next game: TBD at Penns Valley, Friday, 7 p.m.