NEW YORK STATE FOOTBALL: TIOGA'S AIELLO EXCITED TO PLAY RANDOLPH IN CLASS D SEMIFINALS (2022-11-24)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
TIOGA CENTER — With its 10th Central Region championship in 11 years in the books after a convincing win over Dolgeville last week, Tioga turns its attention toward a New York State Class D semi-final match-up against Section VI champ Randolph Friday at 3 p.m. at Union-Endicott High School.

“It always feels good,” said Tioga coach Nick Aiello, whose teams are 10-for-10 in the state quarterfinals. “If you get to this point, you’re playing some good football.

“These kids have put their noses to the grindstone all year long,” he noted. “We had to work through some bumps and bruises during the season, but the kids are getting healthy again.

“For them to come out and play the way they did last week … you’re talking state quarterfinals — final eight in the state,” continued Aiello. “The look in their eyes when they’re ready to go out and play, it’s just a lot of fun to be a part of.

“I’m proud of them,” added Aiello.

The Tigers enter the game at 12-0, winners of 25 consecutive games, and ranked No. 1 in the state, while Randolph is 11-0 and ranked No. 2 in the State.

While Aiello’s teams are 10-0 in the quarterfinals, they are just 2-7 in the semifinals, including consecutive losses to Randolph in 2012, ’13, and ’14.

Aiello said the previous match-ups against Randolph are ancient history.

“There are just two coaches (Aiello and Adam Macauley) and one former player (Jake Howland). who is coaching with us now, that have any history with Randolph.

“We played three times in a row (in the state semis) and they went on to win three state championships, but that was a while ago,” said Aiello.

“The kids we have now were in grade school,” he added. “I don’t think it really has any effect on them, they just know (Randolph) is a good team.”

Randolph did have an impact on Aiello, however, who was in his third year as head coach the first time the Tigers lost to the Cardinals.

“We really looked at them, and modeled what we wanted to be, and where we wanted to be as an entire program,” he said.

“The thing about Randolph, and it’s similar to traditionally-strong teams around the state, is they stick with their program,” noted Aiello. “They build kids from the youth program all the way up through.

“They put a lot of pride in their youth, and a lot of work in their youth program,” continued Aiello. “They build their program from the bottom up, and I think that’s why they’ve been able to sustain a Class D program being just one school, and that’s tough. We see how tough in our own Section. And, they’ve been doing it for a long time. It’s a real process.

“They talk about how the group they have now, they knew was a special group back in PeeWee and Midgets. And, that’s the way we look at our groups, too, especially this group we have right now.

“I’m excited to play them,” added Aiello. “It’s the state semifinals, you get to this point, everybody is good, and everybody is playing well. I think it’s going to be a really good game.”

WHEN RANDOLPH HAS THE BALL
The Cardinals advanced to the semifinals with a 42-26 win over Section V champ Oakfield-Alabama-Elba Monday night — avenging a loss in the quarterfinals last year.

Randolph enters the contest averaging 37.6 points, and 367.7 yards in total offense per game, while Tioga allows 10.9 points per game, and has forced 23 turnovers.

The Cardinal offense runs through senior tailback Xander Hind, who has rushed for 2,331 yards and 30 TDs on 263 carries (8.9 yards per carry). Senior fullback Payton Slade has 347 yards and three TDs on 63 carries this season.

Senior QB Carter Conley has completed 59.1 percent of his passes (26 of 44) for 651 yards, 11 TDs, and three interceptions. Tight end Jaiden Huntington, a 6-4 senior, leads Randolph with 14 receptions for 253 yards and six TDs, and Hind has five grabs for 191 yards, and two TDs.

“You’re going to see No. 37 (Xander Hind) a lot, mixed in with a couple of other guys,” said Aiello. “He’s really good. We’ve had some backs like that, too. He’s impressive.

“He’s a workhorse for them, and he seems to like it.

“Randolph is power football,” noted Aiello. “A lot of I-formations, a lot of power, a lot of dive-option, and then they’ll get into some weird sets that force defenses to really game-plan … but when it comes down to it, they’re feeding No. 37.

“They have a big tight end (Huntington), they’ll throw the ball up to,” continued Aiello. “He high-points the ball really well going down the field. They’ll lull you to sleep on a long drive, and then play-action off of it.

“We have a tough task ahead,” added Aiello.

Getting the defense off the field will be a key, says Aiello.

“They want to go on long drives, and they will chew the clock up,” he said. “We need to take advantage of opportunities when they arise.

“We’ll have to do what we can to limit those long drives. Once they cross midfield, they’re in four-down territory.

“The biggest thing is tackling … when you watch film, Randolph can wear on teams with their size up front, and then tackling No. 37,” Aiello noted.

“You have to be able to tackle for four quarters if you want to be successful against them,” added Aiello.

WHEN TIOGA HAS THE BALL
The Tigers advanced to the semifinals with a 42-6 win over Section III Dolgeville Friday night.

Tioga enters the contest averaging 45.8 points and 375.7 yards per game in total offense, while Randolph allows 12.5 points per game, and has forced 12 turnovers.

The Tigers average 268.3 yards per game on the ground, led by junior tailback Drew Macumber, who has 1,165 yards and 22 TDs on 132 carries, while junior fullback Ousmane Duncanson has 730 yards and 13 TDs on 58 carries, and junior QB Caden Bellis has 552 yards and eight TDs on 68 carries.

Bellis has competed 65.1 percent (69 of 106) of his passes for 1,299 yards, 21 TDs, and three interceptions.

Junior Valentino Rossi leads the Tigers with 520 yards and eight TDs on 21 receptions, while junior Evan Sickler has 19 grabs for 298 yards and five TDs, and junior tight end Karson Sindoni has 14 catches for 218 yards and four TDs.

“(Randolph) runs a run defense,” said Aiello. “They key a lot … they have guys on their defense assigned to guys on the offense. They key and react to their keys very, very well. It’s very similar to what Walton and Delhi do.

“They have a big linebacker (No. 87 — Huntington) who plays in the middle, and they have two big horses right over the guards,” noted Aiello. “They bring a lot of pressure, and try to funnel everything into No. 87.

“After that, it’s a lot of scrappy guys who fly around and tackle.

“It really comes down to winning the line-of-scrimmage,” added Aiello. “You have to do everything you can to get off the ball and win the line-of-scrimmage if you’re going to be able to move the ball on them.”

KEYS TO THE GAME
“It’s the state semifinals,” said Aiello. “You have to play a clean game, and you have to play with emotion. You know what’s on the line, a ticket to the Dome.

“You have to limit our mistakes, but really you have to play to win,” he noted. “Play the play, whistle to whistle, and have a short memory. All that stuff that matters in a big game.

“I think field position will be big,” continued Aiello. “The fact (Randolph) wants to go on long drives, the longer field we create, the more opportunities we have to get a stop.

You want to win the field-position battle,” added Aiello. “A lot of times in big games, if you can get the short field, your chances of scoring increase dramatically.”

——————

IN PHOTO: Tioga coach Nick Aiello and junior QB Caden Bellis. … PHOTO BY DAVID ALLIGER — TRAVELING PORTRAITS.