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THE FINAL WORD: TIOGA FOOTBALL — 'THE FAST AND THE PHYSICAL;" A LOOK BACK AT 'CRYSTAL BALL PREDICTIONS' (2021-11-27)

If I was to pen a Hollywood screenplay about the 2021 Tioga football Tigers, it would have to be titled "The Fast and The Physical," or perhaps, "Too Fast, Too Physical."

Friday afternoon's 49-6 domination of Oakfield-Alabama-Elba, ranked second in Class D, was another example of Tioga's team speed and physicality.

OAE is a good football team. You don't get to the state semifinals from that region unless you are a quality team, but this Tioga team is special.

OAE entered the game averaging 45.5 points and more than 400 yards per game. The Tigers held them to 141 yards in total offense on 46 offensive plays. And, 128 of the Aggies' yards came on four plays, which means the other 42 plays netted a total of 13 yards.

The Tigers shut down OAE's bread-and-butter, the buck sweep, and also shut down a talented running quarterback in Bodie Hyde. They did it by getting hats to the ball.

On more than one occasion, OAE's stud running back Gaige Armbrewster broke the first tackle, only to run into multiple Tioga defenders.

The Tigers recorded seven tackles-for-losses in the first half, and four more in the second half. They also held OAE to no gain on five more plays, and forced five incomplete passes. In all, the Tioga defense had 21 plays that resulted in negative-44 yards in offense for the Aggies.

There was the usual cast of characters leading the way for the Tioga defense in seniors Isaac Peterson, Emmett Wood, Gavin Godfrey, and sophomore Ousmane Duncanson, but senior Justin Hopkins, who has been an under-the-radar performer all season, sophomore Caden Bellis, in his first defensive start, and sophomore Karson Sindoni all had outstanding game as well.

A goal-line stand late in the first half, with Peterson coming up with the stop, seemed to take any remaining air out of OAE's collective efforts.

Offensively, Tioga set the tone early with a 14-play scoring drive that chewed up nearly 6 1/2 minutes off the game clock. Their next two scoring drive consisted of six plays and two plays to take a 21-0 lead into half.

The Tigers scored on all four second-half possessions to put the game away.

Coach Nick Aiello's recipe for success against OAE was pretty simple: a heavy does of tailback Emmett Wood, sprinkling in a few carries from Godfrey, Bellis, and Peterson.

Tioga's offensive line of seniors Chris Walsh, Josh Snell and Matt Watson, sophomore Karson Sindoni, and freshman Tate MaCawley, under-sized as they are, have been fantastic this season, helping the Tigers to more than 375 yards per game on the ground.

But, what makes this team's ground game so prolific is the willingness of Peterson, Godfrey, Duncanson, and Wood to block for each other, creating a numbers advantage at the point-of-attack. And not only do they block for each other, they do it very well.

Wood gained 189 yards and scored four TDs to give him 7,190 yards for his career, which is fifth all-time in New York State history. He has 97 TDs.

Godfrey, who had 21 yards on his first four carries, carried the ball three times in the fourth quarter. A 22-yard run to set up Wood's final TD of the game - an 8-yard scamper - and he added TD runs of 52 and 65 yards on consecutive touches. He has 883 yards and nine TDs this season.

Wood and Godfrey have made a lot of the headlines, and rightly so, but the straw that stirs the drink has been sophomore Caden Bellis.

He is masterful at handling the ball in the backfield in the counter game and the option game, He is also a dynamic runner, who can make tacklers miss, and is tougher to bring down than his 145-pound frame would indicate.

Bellis also throws a nice ball, and has a pair of big receivers in fellow sophomores Evan Sickler and Valentino Rossi, who can go up and get the ball. And, senior Cobe Whitmore has been a very good receiver in the short passing game.

Another overlooked facet of the game has been the kicking game. Sophomore Gavin Fisher has been nearly automatic with the extra point, has connected on a pair of field goals, including a 33-yarder, and has been effective kicking the ball deep, and in the direction kicking game.

The Tigers are a complete team, and they're just one win away from the program's second state title.

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A friend called my attention to my "Crystal Ball" column on the 2021 fall football season that I wrote in late July.

So, I figured  now is a good time to look back and see how I fared in the realm of mysticism.

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Anyone who knows me, knows I love to give my opinion. And, I hate to be wrong, but when I am I own it.

I couldn't have been more wrong about Jason Miller's Waverly football team.

A few weeks before the preseason began, I picked the Wolverines to finish the season at 5-5, with a loss in the Class B semifinals ending their season.

Flash forward, the Wolverines were 10-0 heading into a Class B title match-up at Chenango Forks. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils were as good as advertised, and advanced to the state playoffs.

Honestly, in my opinion, they arrived a year ahead of schedule.

How was I so wrong? Let me count the ways.

First of all, sophomore QB Joey Tomasso took not just a step forward in his progress, but a huge step. Miller took the reigns off him, and his ability to run the ball added another element to the Waverly offense, and also helped the passing game.

Sophomore Jay Pipher made a statement early in the season with his big-play capabilities at wide receiver, and Brady Blauvelt put together a very good season at the other wideout. Senior Tyler Talada and junior Isaiah Bretz also proved to be dangerous options in the passing game.

The running game improved as the season progressed with junior Gage Tedesco running behind an under-rated line, led by junior Ty Beeman and seniors Cayden Turcsik and D.J. Shaw.

The real key for this Wolverine team was its defense, which swarmed opposing running games, pressured opposing QBs in the pocket, and denied receivers down field a chance to make a play on the ball.

Under-sized linebackers Shaw and Turcsik were the heart-and-soul of the defense, Beeman was a playmaker on the defensive line, Talada was a terror at defensive end, and Pipher, Tomasso, and senior Thomas Hand made plays in the secondary.

When injuries struck late in the season, freshman Cam Hills and 8th-grader Troy Beeman stepped up and started on both the offensive line at the end of the season and senior Kaden Wheeler saw more time in the backfield and at linebacker. All three performed above and beyond expectations.

One of Waverly's biggest weapons was junior place-kicker Ryan Clark. He was nearly automatic on the PAT, made three field goals, and consistently drove kick-offs inside the opposing 10-yard line.

The Wolverines will lose seven senior starters, including a few two-way starters, but return a host of talented underclassmen, including Tomasso, Pipher, three starters on the offensive line, as well as Hills and Troy Beeman, who saw extensive time late in the season.

As I said, Waverly was a year ahead of schedule. I'm thinking the Wolverines will make another run at Chenango Forks and the Class C title in 2022.

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I had Athens pegged at 6-5 with its season coming to an end in the District 4 quarterfinals. The Wildcats finished 6-5 with a loss at Montoursville in the Class AAA quarterfinals.

It was a bit of a tale of two seasons for the Wildcats, but seasons within the season.

They did what good teams are suppose to do, they beat mediocre teams. Not only did they beat those teams, they dominated them, with their first by wins of the season by an average of 38.6 points per game.

Unfortunately, against physical opponents - Troy, South Williamsport, Canton, and Montoursville - they were unable to generate any offense, scoring just 24 points in those games.

The Wildcats played in four games I would term toss-ups. Two of these were Troy (13-0 loss) and South Williamsport (7-0 loss). The other two were Wellsboro and Sayre.

Wellsboro qualifies as the Wildcats' "stinker of the year" - a 49-13 loss.

Sayre was probably the "win of the year" - a 7-6 victory at a rain-soaked Lockhart Street Bowl.

I thought the Athens defense was outstanding for the large majority of the season. The prime example was the 7-0 loss to South Williamsport - a game that featured 28 tackles by senior Karter Rude.

The Wildcats ran just six plays in the first half, while the Mounties piled up 210 yards on 36 offensive plays. The game was scoreless at the intermission.

In all, Athens ran just 17 plays for 53 yards, while South ran for 300 yards, but won just 7-0.

Rude and senior Dylan Harford were the heart-and-soul of the Wildcat defense, while junior Caleb Nichols, and seniors Shayne Reid, Troy Pritchard, Troy Jennings, and Jared Peterson had very good seasons.

Offensively, Reid was a workhorse with 1,047 yards and nine TDs, while junior QB Mason Lister had an efficient season, completing 62 percent (108 of 174) of his passes for 1,560 yards, 16 TDs and five interceptions.

The Wildcats lose a lot to graduation, including Reid and Lister's top three receivers in Rude, Reid, and 6-5 J.J. Babcock, but Lister returns, along with Nichols and a pair of potential game-changers up from the JV ranks.

It's pretty simple, Athens has to get better up front if it wants to win an NTL Large School crown.

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I had Sayre pegged at 7-4, with a loss in the Class AA semifinals. The Redskins lost at Troy in the semis, but finished the season at 5-6.

A Covid outbreak cost them an early-season, 26-19, loss at Cowanesque Valley, but the Redskins were 3-1 heading into a mid-season showdown at Muncy. It did not go well as the Indians rolled to a 48-8 win.

Sayre bounced back with a big win over Huntingdon, and a stunning 22-21 win over Troy to improve to 5-2, but a surprising 30-20 loss at Northwest started a four-game season-ending losing streak.

Senior QB Brayden Horton had a solid season, completing 62 percent (101 of 162) of his passes for 1,325 yards and 11 TDs, but was intercepted eight times. He also led the team with 574 rushing yards and 11 TDs.

The Redskin defense was solid for the majority of the season, but hurt itself on numerous occasions with penalties, including a host of personal fouls.

The Redskins will graduate 12 seniors, the majority of them two-way starters. It will be interesting to see what they bring to the table in 2022.


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