Mt. Union vs. Tyrone AA Championship Thread

[jayjay6218]

Apparently you did not know John as he was the strength and conditioning coach at tyrone. He ran the weight room, monitored the progress, etc...

He did have a great bunch of assistants but most at tyrone now were mentored by him and most were brought up through his program as players.

[guru1]

I agree with most of these posts. I have seen both teams as well.

I think Mt. Union has more raw talent than Tyrone but Tyrone is far more disciplined and less likely to make mistakes (turnovers, penalties etc). In big games the team who is more disciplined and makes less mistakes usually wins. Unless Loner just takes over the game (which is certainly possible) I think Tyrone wins this one. I think the 35-28 score is close to what I would expect as well.....

[Manfred]

Just tossing this out there: There is a difference between "legend" and "legend-ARY". Many of Ranger Nation will be in Altoona to watch the "Clash of the Titans". No reference at all to Tussey, or that Cresson transplant WPIAL T.

[QuoteTheRaven]

Sitting here reading the breakdown of what could be a good football game from different participants and then
I came across the RAVEN again. Good grief the John Franco worshipper again. I just know for sure that if we
all visited RAVENS home there would be a FATHEAD picture of the great one in every room of the house and
upon departure we all would receive a John " The Legend " bobble head for our vehicle.

Anyhow back to the game. I saw the Mt Union twice this year and Tyrone 3 times.
We are all correct they both are good in what they do, Tyrone strength and precision.
Mt Union terrific pursuit to stop sweeps. Fast on offense, sloppy on occasion with the ball and seems to be
weak sometimes if you run straight at them.
They both kick well.
Both have first year head coaches, but don't forget Coach Wilson was groomed by the legend.

Anyhow Mt Union was talked about all year because they played in the little school ICC conference.
Tyrone was praised because they were in the big boys league.

So gathering all of this information plus the fact Tyrone is playing in their home away from home I suppose
I'll have to bet the ranch on Tyrone. I also picked Mr. Ed the talking horse to win the Kentucky Derby.

In conclusion, hope its a great game for the fans, hope the players stay injury free, hope the weather is
decent and may the best team win.

Hey Raven, may I have two bobbleheads please.

Grasshopper, Grasshopper, I just shake my head and laugh at your posts hahaha
You definately have some good ones and seem to be quick whitted
I have ALL the respect in the world for Coach John Franco...
In 18 season's the man took Tyrone to 3 PIAA Class-AA State Championships and won it all in 1999. The only coach in Central PA to have EVER have done that. His overall record is GREAT and his record at Tyrone was UNBELIEVABLE! I didn't play for Coach Franco but I played against him several times and he had our number every single time. I then years later coached his youngest son in 7th grade football and still keep intouch with the family today. But yes Franco is a LEGEND, you tell me what highschool coach in Central PA has done what he has done with a program??? The answer is NONE. BA's John Hayes and Forest Hill's Don Bailey are the only ones who hold a candle long term to what Franco has accomplished and even they don't have the hardware like a PIAA Gold Trophy to put him into the category of "Highschool Football Immortality". Some are lucky enough to win a district championship, like myself when they played highschool football. But very FEW have ever even come close to hoisting a PIAA state championship which is the Holy Grail of Highschool football. And that puts the Original Johnny Football in a class ALL ALONE. So yes I may praise Coach John Franco but I give credit where credit is due! So stay classy Grasshopper, but try to stay hidden in the grass...because ya never know when a big black Raven might swoop down and gobble you right up!!!

[Eaglealum]

Come on Alum. Just pulling on their chain.
A lot of respect for coach however what about the entire makeup of the program?
Assistants, athletes themselves, behind the scenes people, your conditioning coach,
I know them all. Thats spread the praise ........ THE PROGRAM MY FRIEND. THE PROGRAM !!!!
We'll let the little *** comment go.

Apologies, I read that as you having an ax to grind with John. No problem spreading praise. He had a great list of studs and we all know ALL of his staff was brilliant . Haha

[Capnweird]

I don't post on here very often, but thought I would weigh in on this conversation. First off I have seen MU play this year, and we all know what their offense is, but I think a lot of people will be surprised to see their defense. Defensively they are very physical, very aggressive and swarm to the ball. I don't know who coaches them defensively, but they are very well coached.
All that being said they are vulnerable right up the middle, probably their weakest spot is at the nose. However their middle backer has really stepped up his game and as long as he doesn't get caught in a blitz can slow down a middle run game. They are also susceptible to the play action pass, provided you protect the QB while doing so. Keep in mind before last week there was only one ten that I am aware of that scored more than once on them, that includes Bellwood. Most teams they played tried to just run at them, and most struggled to score points. Tussey had the most success by cutting back across the grain and using play action.
I don't think this team is unbeatable, I just hope that people don't just discredit them defensively, that could get Tyrone in a bit of trouble.
I am really excited to see how Tyrone tries to contain MU's offense. I think that will be the key. If MU gets frustrated on offense, and can't get the big play, I want to see how they adjust to trying to play a slower paced style of offense.

[Eaglealum]

Saw something in paper that caught my eye, about Tyrone defensively. Thru 12 games, they've only allowed 17 trips to their red zone . That's pretty impressive. And their DE's have well over 30 TFL combined. Strength on strength. Can't wait!

[HSD6FAN]

MU's offensive line and defense do get overlooked by the explosive playmakers. Defensively they have done a good job at adjusting their defensive front after the dismissal of one of the starters. The middle of the defense has gotten better every game since then. The offensive line also is very physical. They have some athletic linemen that open up those holes.

I know there has been a lot of praise for the Tyrone coaching staff and how they have learned from one of the best the area has ever seen. I wouldn't expect anything less from Tyrone. Success breeds success. However, the MU coaching staff should get credit as well. Many games this year, the coaches made the appropriate adjustments at halftime. Understand most of the games were over by halftime, but the games that made it to halftime, MU looked much better in the second half.

[Eaglealum]

Very true. I mentioned that a few weeks ago. Coach Young and Wilson are very similar. Both were good players that were like an extra coach on the field in their playing days. I've been impressed by the work of MU's staff. They do the complete job. Which'll be another twist Saturday . How they adjust to each other's moves. I hope it's a great, injury free game.for two reasons. First so the d6 rep can give a good account the next week. And as for myself, I always slept a lil better knowing I got beat by the better team after a loss, as opposed to the what ifs , when injuries occur for either side.

[grasshopper]

OK Raven my friend, I give up, we're getting away from the intended thread of the actual upcoming
championship game.
I was just trying to get the point across of the talent that is now and was present when Coach Franco
was here in Tyrone. This is not a knock on John Franco.
Going to Mountain Lion football on the first trip in Altoona for John the talent at that level wasn't there
and you see the results and this years team has some players on the roster that has some talent and
you see where that lead them.
When the schools in "A" or "AA" are blessed with a good group they can take a team pretty far just like
BG may do this year. Whether BG makes it to Hershey it takes talent and some luck.
The last year or two when John was here and he would have several losses there were a few in this town
that just could not accept it.
So I'm sorry I got into this with you about Coach.
I just wanted to get the team members mentioned with some credit.

By the way I don't worry about Ravens I just never turn my back on a mower.
See you @ Mansion.

Now lets get back to the real purpose of the thread.