FAST START CARRIES TIOGA TO 29-13 WIN OVER ATHENS
By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | October 28, 2022 | Photo courtesy David Alliger
ATHENS — Tioga scored on its first three possession of the game en route
to a 29-13 win over Athens here Friday night in non-league football
action at Alumni Stadium.
The game marked the first meeting between the two schools separated by just 14 miles.
“We
had a good week of practice,” said Tioga coach Nick Aiello. “Once we
knew we were playing Athens, I think the kids locked in. I’m sure Athens
was the same way.
“We’ve never played before, but I guess you’d
call it a rivalry, or a ‘Border Brawl,’” noted Aiello. “The kids were
definitely focused, and wanted to come in here and put a good game
together.
“We treated this week like a playoff game,” he added.
“In the end, it was a great week. I’m glad we could come down here, and I
really appreciate Athens hosting us.”
In a normal year, Athens
would have hosted Sayre in the “Rusty Rail” rivalry game, but Sayre
folded its varsity program in mid-August.
“We didn’t want a week
off, and the kids deserve to play,” said Athens coach Jack Young. “How
fortunate was it for this game to happen?
“For 10 weeks, I’ve
called multiple states, and all across Pennsylvania trying to get us a
game, and was unsuccessful,” he noted. “We left here Monday thinking we
were going to have Tuesday off, so it was exciting to have this game
come together.
“It was a little stressful Tuesday and Wednesday
trying to put game plans together,” added Young. “I just wish we could
have been better tonight. I think this could have been a barn-burner. We
just weren’t good enough to make it one.”
With both teams heading into the playoffs next week, neither coach wanted a week off.
“Playing
this game is huge,” said Aiello. “I didn’t know until Monday at 7 p.m.
(that Deposit-Hancock was canceling) … to be able to pick up this game
it really set our focus.
“Going into the playoffs next week, I
thought this was the exact game we needed,” he noted. “We needed to be
focused, which we were. We needed to come out and do some really good
things, which we did.
“It’s a great springboard into next week when we start playoffs, and you have to be 1-0 every week,” added Aiello.
“We definitely didn’t want a week off heading into the postseason,” said Young.
Tioga
took the opening kickoff, and marched 69 yards (although they covered
74 yards after a penalty prior to the first snap) on nine plays in a
drive that consumed nearly five minutes.
Junior QB Caden Bellis
connected with junior tight end Karson Sindoni for an 11-yard completion
on Tioga’s first play, then a pair of short runs gave the Tigers their
initial first down of the game.
Bellis added runs of 11 and 8 yards on QB keepers as the Tigers moved into Athens territory.
The big play in the drive was a 34-yard pass from Bellis to junior Valentino Rossi that moved the ball to the Athens 2.
Junior
Drew Macumber plowed into the end zone on the next play. Junior Gavin
Fisher’s PAT kick made it 7-0 with 7:08 remaining in the first quarter.
Athens’
opening possession of the game ended in a three-and-out, and the Tigers
took over at its 16 following a 46-yard punt by senior Lucas Horton.
On
third and seven, Bellis hooked up with junior Evan Sickler for a 7-yard
gain. Athens was also assessed a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct
penalties that moved the ball to the Wildcat 46.
After another
7-yard pass to Sickler, Tioga went to the ground and picked up 25 yards
on five carries to the Athens 14. Macumber chewed up 23 yards on four
carries in that stretch.
After a 9-yard pass from Bellis to
Duncanson, Macumber picked up 4 yards to the Wildcat 1 on the final play
of the first quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter,
Macumber bulled his way into the end zone to make it 13-0 with 11:56
remaining in the first half. After Athens jumped offsides on Tioga’s PAT
attempt, the Tigers chose to go for two, and Macumber ran it in to make
it 15-0.
The Tigers were penalized after their TD run, and the
ensuing kickoff was from their 20. Horton fielded the kick at his 25,
and returned it 28 yards to the Tioga 47.
Senior QB Mason Lister
connected with sophomore wideout Xavier Watson for a 13-yard gain on the
first play of the drive, and senior tailback Caleb Nichols followed
with a 9-yard run.
On third-and-1, Tioga batted down a pass, but
was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play to move the ball
to the 13-yard line.
Nichols covered the final 13 yards on three
carries, capping the eight-play drive with a 5-yard TD run with 9:33
remaining in the half. Lister’s PAT kick closed the gap to 15-7.
Rossi quickly erased any momentum the Wildcats had with a 58-yard return of the ensuing kickoff to the Athens 27.
Duncanson
opened the drive with a 12-yard run, and three plays later, Bellis
scored on a 4-yard run with 7:28 remaining in the half. Fisher’s PAT
kick made it 22-7.
Athens went to its short passing game on its
next possession, overcoming a sack of Lister by Tioga junior Trent
Browne, thanks to a 4-for-4 effort by Lister, moving the ball to the
Tioga 27.
The drive stalled there as Sindoni and Duncanson combined on a QB sack for a 10-yard loss to move the ball back to the 37.
After
an incompletion and a penalty for a false start, Athens faced a
third-and-25 at the Tioga 42. Sindoni and Duncanson once again got to
Lister for a 1-yard loss.
Athens punted to end a possession that chewed up 7 minutes off the game clock, but came up empty.
The Wildcats, who won the pre-game coin toss and deferred, quickly drove the second-half kickoff from its 35 to the Tioga 13.
Lister
was 4-for-4, completing back-to-back passes of 8 yards to senior Matt
Machmer, a 12-yarder to junior Josh Martin, and a 21-yarder to Nichols.
After
back-to-back incompletions, Nichols was stuffed for no game to force
Athens into a fourth-and-10. Lister’s fourth-down pass was picked off in
the back corner of the end zone by Rossi.
Tioga moved the ball to midfield, but gave Athens life with a fumble that Lister pounced on at the Tioga 49.
Two plays later, the Wildcats were in the end zone.
After
a 33-yard scramble by Lister, he completed a quick slant to Martin for a
16-yard TD with 2:26 remaining in the third quarter. The PAT kick was
blocked, and Tioga’s lead was 21-13.
On the first play following
the ensuing kickoff, Martin stepped in front of a Bellis pass to give
the Wildcats the ball at the Tioga 35.
On fourth-and-3 at the Tioga 28, Lister found Watson for a 5-yard gain to the 23 on the final play of the third quarter.
On
the first play of the fourth quarter, Lister, after being flushed out
of the pocket was hit by Duncanson and sophomore Brennan Sindoni.
Attempting to get rid of the ball, Lister, as he was being driven to the
ground, unleashed a pass that went backwards and resulted in a 16-yard
loss.
Two plays later, Lister’s 19-yard pass to Martin for an
apparent first down, was nullified by a holding call downfield, leaving
Athens in a third-and-15 situation.
After a 9-yard pass to
Horton, Lister was again flushed out of the pocket, but this time
Duncanson finished off the sack for a 13-yard loss.
The Tigers
needed just three plays — all on the ground — to cover 67 yards. After a
15-yard run by Macumber, Duncanson ripped off a 34-yard run up the
middle. Macumber finished off the drive with a 16-yard TD run with 9:02
remaining. Fisher’s PAT kick made it 29-13.
The Wildcats put
themselves in a hole on their next possession with a holding call on
first down that resulted in a first-and-27. Three plays later, they
punted. Athens was penalized eight times for 85 yards.
Tioga took
over with 6:20 remaining, and with the aid of a pair of first downs was
able to run nearly five minutes off the game clock.
Athens’ final possession ended on downs after four plays, and Tioga took a knee to run out the clock.
“The message all week was ‘we have to play Tioga football, come in here and do what we do,’” said Aiello.
“I
told the guys, ‘you might not be the biggest team out there, or even
the most talented, but you have to do the little things right, and you
have to execute on offense, and play great defense.’
“I’m very proud of the boys,” added Aiello. “They had a very good week of practice, and it showed tonight.”
“I think we played out of character tonight,” said Young.
“When
you play an opponent like (Tioga), you have to be better than we were,”
he noted. “They are a well-greased machine, and it’s obvious why
they’re successful.
“We shot ourselves in the foot, we went
backward too many times offensively, and, especially in the first half,
our physicality wasn’t there at the line-of-scrimmage on either side of
the ball.
“All year long the penalties have killed us … every
time we got ahead of the sticks, it seems there was a penalty or a sack,
and we were back behind them.
“We did some things that were
positive and productive, but against a team like that we have to be much
better than we were,” added Young. “Again, hats off to them. They did
the little things that had to be done.”
Tioga had 295 yards in total offense, while Athens totaled 193, including just 31 on the ground.
Macumber
led the Tigers with 106 yards and three TDs on 20 carries, while
Duncanson ran for 57 yards and one TD on seven carries, and Bellis added
29 yards and one TD on seven carries. In all, Tioga had 207 yards on 41
carries.
Bellis completed 5 of 9 passes for 68 yards, and was intercepted once. Rossi led Tioga with two catches for 41 yards.
Lister completed 21 of 32 passes for 162 yards, one TD, and one interception.
Machmer
led Athens with seven receptions for 41 yards, and one TD, while Horton
had five catches for 38 yards, Watson added four grabs for 35 yards,
and Martin had three catches for 47 yards.
Nichols led Athens with 42 yards and one TD on 11 carries.
Tioga
— now 9-0, winners of 22 straight, and ranked No. 1 in Class D in New
York State — takes on SVEC Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Section IV, Class B
semifinals.
Unofficially, Athens, now 6-4, will host
Montoursville (4-6) Saturday, at a time to be announced, in the
semifinals of the District 4, Class 3A playoffs.
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