Hickory traveled to Altoona to take on the Tyrone Golden Eagles who is not a stranger to playing in December. Tyrone has advanced to the state quarterfinals eight times in school history. As this is the Hornets first trip back since 1991 when they last won the District 10 title.
To begin the game, Tyrone capped a 13-play drive with a Christian Getz 2-yard run for the first score of the contest. Early in the second frame, Steve Franco tossed his 27th touchdown of the year when he found tight end Luke Woomer on a short pass play for six-points to give the Eagles a thirteen point lead.
Hickory's DeShawn Coleman got the Hornets on the board with a 37-yard touchdown score; however, not even a minute later the Eagles' Franco out ran the Hornets' defensive backfield to post six points after a 57-yard run to give Tyrone a 20-7 lead.
On the Golden Eagles' next possession, Franco tossed a 50-yard touchdown strike to Nick Patton with a defender tripping on the coverage.
In the final moments of the first half, Franco was picked off by DeShawn Coleman as he returned the ball inside Eagles' territory. On the final play of the half, Andrew Smith made a diving catch from Mike Nardone to register six-points as time expired. Hickory trailed 26-14 at intermission.
On the Hornets' opening possession of the second half, the combination of Nardone and Smith connect again as they scored another touchdown to cut the lead to 26-21 midway through the third frame.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Steve Franco found Nick Patton down the far sideline for a 41-yard touchdown catch to give the Golden Eagles' a much needed score to hold off the Hickory rally.
On DeShawn Coleman's 50-yard touchdown run, the junior running back broke former Sharon standout Marko Jackson's single-season rushing record in Mercer County high school football history.
In the end, Tyrone ended Hickory's season at 11-2 with a 40-28 loss in the PIAA Class AA state quarterfinal. The Golden Eagles advance to the Western Finals to take on unbeaten Aliquippa next week.
Scoring Chart
First Quarter
T - Christian Getz, 2-yard TD run (kick blocked), 5:48 (T 6-0)
Second Quarter
T - Luke Woomer, 5-yard TD catch from Steve Franco (kick good), 7:52 (T 13-0)
H - DeShawn Coleman, 37-yard TD run (Jordan Wombacher kick), 5:11 (T 13-7)
T - Steve Franco, 57-yard TD run (kick good), 4:12 (T 20-7)
T - Nick Patton, 50-yard TD catch from Steve Franco (kick failed), 1:49 (T 26-7)
H - Andrew Smith, 12-yard TD catch from Mike Nardone (Wombacher kick), 0:00 (T 26-14)
Third Quarter
H - Andrew Smith, 28-yard TD catch from Mike Nardone (Wombacher kick), 5:06 (T 26-21)
Fourth Quarter
T - Nick Patton, 41-yard TD catch from Steve Franco (kick good), 11:52 (T 33-21)
T - Nick Patton, 40-yard TD catch from Steve Franco (kick good), 4:38 (T 40-21)
H - DeShawn Coleman, 50-yard TD run (Wombacher kick), 3:28 (T 40-28)
