TYRONE – Tyrone quarterback Steve Franco completed 13 of 16 for 191 yards and four touchdowns to lift the Golden Eagles to a 27-14 come-from-behind victory Friday night against the visiting St. Marys Flying Dutchmen at Gray-Veteran’s Memorial Field.

Franco played pitch and catch all night long with receiver Eric Desch, as Desch reeled in eight balls for 124 yards and three touchdowns.

St. Marys got off on the right foot when all-state linebacker Sean Sadosky recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff at the Tyrone 16-yard line.  Four straight carries by bruising running back Kevin Hoy had the ball down to the Golden Eagle 1-yard line.  Brian Samick took it in from there for the first of his two touchdowns on the night giving the Dutch a 7-0 lead.

Things continued to look good for St. Marys when on the next Tyrone possession, the Golden Eagles drove down to the Dutch 4-yard line where they had first and goal.  St. Marys’ defense dug in from there holding Tyrone out of the end zone and taking over on downs at their own 1-yard line.

After an exchange of punts, Tyrone found pay dirt early in the second quarter as Franco found Desch open in the right front of the end zone to tie the game at seven.

The Dutchmen answered the call on their next possession. Samick scored his second touchdown, a 45-yard run, to culminate a 4-play drive that covered 63 yards to retake the lead 14-7.

Just before the half, Franco and Desch hooked up again, this time from nine yards out, knotting the game at 14 going into the locker room at halftime.

Franco picked apart the Dutch defense in the second half connecting on scoring passes of 21 yards to Nicholas Patton and again to Desch.  Desch’s last score covered 36 yards for a touchdown on a third-and-26 play that put the proverbial dagger in the Dutchmen’s’ heart.

Kevin Hoy led the way for St. Marys with his fifth 100-yard effort of season.  Hoy finished the night with 137 yards on 24 carries.  Samick rushed for 61 yards on five carries and scored twice.

St. Marys (4-2, 3-2 MAC Nittany), returns to action next Friday night as they travel to Indian Valley on the second stop of their four week road show.  Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm.

Game notes: St. Marys had zero yards passing on only four pass attempts…Sadosky finished the night with 13 tackles and a fumble recovery…Tyrone star running back Levi Reihart only sparring after the first half due to injury…St. Marys is 4-0 at home, 0-2 on the road this season…

Scoring by quarters:

                                    1          2          3          4          F

St. Marys                     7          7          0          0          14

Tyrone                         0          14        6          7          27

First quarter

SM- Brian Samick 1 run (Barber kick), 9:27.

Second quarter

T-Eric Desch 6 pass from Steve Franco (Templeton kick), 10:12.

SM- Samick 45 run (Barber kick), 5:38.

T- Desch 9 pass from Franco (Templeton kick), 1:05.

Third quarter

T- Nicholas Patton 21 pass from Franco (kick failed), 4:38.

Fourth quarter

T- Desch 36 pass from Franco (Palaia kick), 3:31.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: St. Marys- Kevin Hoy 24-137, Brian Samick 5-61, Kyle Schneider 1-2, Shawn Kronenwetter 1-0, Greg Simchick 6-(-9), TEAM 3-(-19).      Tyrone – Christian Getz 13-62, Zachary Gault 8-25, Levi Reihart 9-12, Steve Franco 7-4, Eric Desch 1-4.

PASSING: St. Marys - Simchick 0-4-1-0.      Tyrone - Franco 13-16-1-191.

RECEIVING: St. Marys - none.     Tyrone - Desch 8-124, Nicholas Patton 2-46, Derrick Emigh 1-17, Reihart 1-4, Gault 1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS: St. Marys-Samick. Tyrone - Franco.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES: St. Marys – Sean Sadosky  Tyrone - none