Tyrone High School football coach John Franco celebrated his wedding anniversary Monday.

On Saturday, he hopes to celebrate another trip to the state championship game.

The Golden Eagles (12-1) face Grove City (10-2) in the PIAA Class AA semifinal game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Field in State College.

This is Tyrone's fourth trip to the semifinals. It won in 1996 and 1999 and lost to Burrell in 1995.

This year, the Golden Eagles have a senior-laden team and an offense that has put up yards and points in bunches.

"We've always been pretty balanced," Franco said. "I used to be a run-and-shoot coach - we threw quite a bit - but I grew to realize the importance of the running game."

The ground attack has taken on even more importance this year, as senior Brice Mertiff leads the team with 1,890 yards and 27 touchdowns. Junior Britt Mingle has added 878 yards and 19 scores.

Quarterback Leonard Wilson also has gained 300 yards rushing.

"Balance is important," Franco said. "We strive for balance. We love to throw deep passes - I believe explosiveness is a big part of an attack. It would be nice to run the dive play the whole game, but you can't do that against a good team."

Tyrone isn't bad when it takes to the air, either.

Wilson has thrown for 1,016 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has completed 71-of-141 passes.

Senior Ben Gummo leads the Golden Eagles with 24 catches for 378 yards and four touchdowns. Mertiff also has caught five scoring strikes.

Those statistics are eye-popping, but there is another that is perhaps more impressive.

Tyrone has committed just five turnovers all season and has gone seven straight games without a giveaway. This season, the Golden Eagles are plus-25 in turnover margin.

"We pretty much do that every year," Franco said. "It's common for us. We stress it. We don't just give it lip service. We believe turnovers always determine the outcome of the game."

When Franco watches Grove City on film, he is struck by the similarities to his own offensive attack.

"They are pretty much a mirror image of us," Franco said. "They can run and pass, they have big linemen and they have a couple of halfbacks who can run. I'm really impressed by what they do."

Grove City coach Jeff Bell is equally impressed with Tyrone.

"They're big up front," Bell said. "They'll probably be one of the few games where we won't have the size advantage up front. They are a big front and they are an athletic front."

And they are all seniors, with tackles Ralph VanAllman and Mike Jones, guards Ron Miller and Jacob Houck, center Terry Tate, and tight end Tad Chamberlain paving the way for the Golden Eagles' dynamic offense.

In fact, most of the team is back after losing to Slippery Rock last year in the playoffs.

Tyrone has 16 senior starters. As juniors, all were disappointed in not going further in the playoffs.

"We always hope to go a little bit further," Franco said. "It's not a given you will."

It wasn't a given everywhere but in Tyrone that the Golden Eagles would defeat WPIAL champion Seton LaSalle last week.

Seton LaSalle scored on its first possession, but didn't score again in a 28-7 loss.

Franco didn't see it as an upset, even though many pundits did.

"The Pittsburgh people asked me if I was shocked or stunned or surprised we won," Franco said. "I wasn't any of those things. We've played the WPIAL four times in the playoffs and have won three. I think District 10 is just as tough, if not tougher, than the WPIAL. The WPIAL may have more teams, but with Slippery Rock last year and Grove City this year, it's pretty easy to see how tough D-10 is."

Whatever Franco's plan is to end Grove City's playoff run, he is being tight-lipped about it.

"You don't think I'm going to tell you, do you?" Franco said, laughing. "You make adjustments, utilize your strengths to win. You have to throw a lot at them formation-wise and see what type of advantage that gets you. That's always been my philosophy."