Friday Night Lights; Bellefonte falls to veteran- laden Tyrone, 42-0

By Kenny Varner
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Updated: October 3, 2015

By Kenny Varner
BELLEFONTE – After one quarter of play Friday night, the Bellefonte Red Raiders football team went toe-to-toe with a tough Tyrone team battling to a scoreless period.
However, a 27-point second quarter by the Eagles proved to be too much for home team as the Red Raiders were shut out 42-0 by Tyrone on senior night at Rogers field.
“To be honest with you I was worried about this all week. Coming off a an emotional loss last week like that there is a hangover,” Bellefonte coach Shanon Manning said. “Honestly we had a great week of practice. Take nothing away from Tyrone. They are a good football team. They do a good job executing, Coach Wilson does a very nice job.”
Austin Jackson led Bellefonte on the ground, rushing 12 times for 73 yards.
Bellefonte opened its contest against Tyrone making an offensive statement, taking the ball down deep into the Eagles end early.
The Red Raiders took the opening kick off and got it to Dexter Galliashaw. Galliashaw broke the run open and got it down to the Eagles 38 for the Bellefonte offense to start the game.
On seven plays, the Red Raiders were able to get the ball down to the Tyrone 14.
Facing a fourth and 10, Bellefonte went for it but the Eagles’ defense stopped the drive, turning the Red Raiders away empty handed.
Both struggled offensively in the opening quarter as the two went into the second period scoreless.
Tyrone struck early in often in the second quarter. The Eagles were led by running back Gary Weaver and runner/ receiver Parker Mitchell who finished with a 73-yard and a 61- yard performances, respectively.
Taking possession the ball first in the quarter, Tyrone mounted its first drive of the game starting on its own 36.
Ten plays later, Weaver got the nod on a second and goal from the two and plowed his way through the middle of the defense for the 2-yard touchdown. With the Ethan Vipond extra point Tyrone was up 7-0.
Disaster struck “the Red and Black” on the following kick off when the kick landed between the rows of receivers and was recovered by a Tyrone player on the Red Raider 25.
With the turnover, the Eagles’ wasted no time at all picking up its second touchdown.
It took just five plays from the Eagles to cash it in. Again, Tyrone handed it to Weaver and he scored from two yards out again. The kick by Vipond went wide, upping it to 13-0 with 5:44 left in the half.
Bellefonte’s next possession stalled after six plays and they were forced to punt the ball back to a very red hot Tyrone offense.
With one hand off to Mitchell and the visitors went up 20-0.
Mitchell took the hand off from quarterback Drew Hunter and broke out around the end and scored from 61-yards out.
Tyrone would add one more before the quarter ended.
Weaver picked off a Mark Armstrong pass and took it 47 yards to the Bellefonte two.
Twos were wild for Weaver on the night as he got his third 2-yard touchdown run into the half, leading 27-0 with 1:44 left.
To the Red Raiders credit, they never gave up and it’s offense used the last 1:44 ut most ability.
Starting on its own 44.
Facing a 2-9 from the Eagles 45, Jackson took a reverse for 18 yards and taking it to the 27.
With time running out, the Red Raiders got the ball down to the one as time ended in the half.
In the third, Tyrone opened the quarter back on its own five.
With the long field ahead, the Eagles meticulously drove the ball downfield.
Not only did the drive tire the defense but it took most of the time off the clock, keeping the Bellefonte offense on the sidelines.
With 3:50 left in the quarter, Tyrone capped off the 95-yard drive when Mitchell caught a 29-yard catch from Hunter. Weaver picked up the 2-point conversion putting the game into the Mercy Rule status 35-0.
In the final stanza, Tyrone added a touchdown by Mitchell on a 11-yard TD catch with 6:50 to cap the game scoring.