NEW YORK STATE FOOTBALL: BALL-CONTROL OFFENSE SETS TONE IN TIOGA'S 28-14 WIN OVER LOWVILLE IN CLASS D QUARTERFINALS (22 PHOTOS) (November 21, 2025)
TIGERS, UNDER AIELLO, IMPROVE TO 12-0 AGAINST SECTION III IN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
BY TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
VESTAL — Tioga set the tone early with an old-fashion ball-control ground game on its way to a 28-14 win over previously-unbeaten Section III champ Lowville Friday night in the quarterfinals of the New York State Class D football playoffs here at Dick Hoover Stadium.
Tioga coach Nick Aiello is now 12-0 against Section III teams in the quarterfinals, which doubles as the Central Regional Championship.
"12-0? It's kind of unbelievable I've even been in 12 of these games," said Aiello. "It just feels new all the time because you're always with a new group."
Aiello said his team was "laser-focused" prior to the game.
"These guys were so excited this week because they accomplished their goal of a sectional championship," he said. "All they wanted to do is come here and win this ball game.
"They were just locked in," noted Aiello. "I don't know if you could hear her pins drop before the game in that locker room, but it seemed like it.
"They were ready to roll, and I'm just really happy for them," added Aiello. "They were really, really sharp tonight, and it showed."
Aiello said his team didn't try to do too much.
"The key tonight was to come out and play our game," he said. "You get to this point in the season, you don't want to necessarily try to do anything new.
"We were drilling drilling fundamentals (Thursday) and I really thought that's what this game would come down to I thought we were very good with the fundamentals tonight."
The Tigers pounded out 354 yards on the ground in the win.
"I thought getting off the ball was going to be essential for us tonight," said Aiello. "We really put a lot of pressure on our offensive line this week.
"We didn't think we played very well last week, and a lot of guys stepped up tonight.
"Up front is where it all starts for us," added Aiello. "That's why Logan had a good night. That's why we were able to spread the ball around."
Tioga won the pre-game coin toss and deferred to the second half.
The Red Raiders took the opening kickoff and picked up a pair of first downs to move the ball quickly into Tiger territory.
With a first down at the Tioga 39, Tiger senior Dominic Palmer and junior Shane Platukis paired up on a first-down stop, seniors Logan Bellis and Kadin Cole combined on a second-down stop to force a third-and-11.
After an incompletion, Lowville punted and pinned Tioga at its own 2.
Bellis ripped off a 22-yard run on Tioga's first play. He added five more carries of five or more runs on the drive, while senior Jayden Duncanson added runs of 8 and 9 yards, and junior Max Stauder added two carries for 12 yards.
Bellis capped the 98-yard, 14-play drove that chewed up 6 minutes and 59 seconds off the play clock with a 5-yard TD run with 1:07 remaining in the first quarter. Bellis tacked on the conversion to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead.
Aiello believes the Tigers set the tone with the long, time-consuming drive.
"We've been in that situation quite a few times as of late, and we practiced that situation," said Aiello of being pinned deep.
"Logan was able to pop that first play, and then we just kind of got back into the swing of things," noted Aiello. "We were just getting chunk plays and chunk plays and chunk plays.
"I thought we got them on their heels early," added Aiello. "Then we were able to punch in another one to go up 14-0, and that put us in a really good spot."
Three plays after the ensuing kickoff, Palmer sacked Lowville freshman QB Toran Zehr for a 5-yard loss to force another Red Raider punt.
Tioga took over at its own 35, and marched 65 yards on 10 plays to take a 14-0 lead.
Stauder and Palmer each had 7-yard runs, Bombard ripped off an 8-yard run, and Platukis added an 11-yard run early in drive to move the ball to the Lowville 15.
Three plays later, Bellis picked up 12 yards to the Red Raider 1, then scored on a 1-yard run with 7:37 remaining in the half.
Lowville took the ensuing kickoff and moved into Tioga territory. On a fourth-down play from the Tioga 26, Zehr launched a pass toward the end zone, but Tioga sophomore Brendan Clark intercepted the pass to end the threat with 2:27 remaining in the half.
"I think we played good defense tonight," said Aiello. "That pick in the end zone by Clark was just a huge play to go into the half 14-0.
"What a great moment for a sophomore to have," added Aiello on Clark's pick.
Tioga worked quickly to move into Lowville territory with Gage Hopkins gaining 9 yards and Palmer ripping off a 19-yard run to midfield.
An 11-yard middle screen from junior QB Jackson Bombard to sophomore Josh Rought moved the ball to the Lowville 39, but two plays later time expired on a 20-yard pass from Bombard to Palmer.
The Tigers had 223 yards of total offense, including 192 on the ground, in the first half, while Lowville had 69 yards, including 44 on the ground.
Cole returned the second-half kickoff 25 yards to the Tioga 41, the Tigers needed just four plays to extend their lead to 20-0.
Bellis moved the ball to the Lowville 29 with runs of 6, 13, and 11 yards, and a wide-open Cole hauled in a 29-yard TD pass from Bombard with 10:12 remaining in the third quarter.
"That opening drive of the second half was big," said Aiello.
"Kadin Cole is kind of quiet on offense, but he's a huge piece to what we do, and he works so hard," noted Aiello. "I'm just so glad he was able to catch that pass.
"It was a beautiful pass by Jack (Bombard)," added Aiello. "I'm really happy for Kadin Cole to have that moment as well, it was really big for us."
Lowville took the ensuing kickoff and put together its best drive of the night, marching 57 yards on 12 plays to close the gap to 20-6 with 4:50 remaining in the third quarter.
As it had done on its first three possessions when time was not a factor, Tioga took the ensuing kickoff and drove 80 yards for another score.
Cole reeled off a 12-yard run on the second play of the drive, and Bellis followed with a 10-yard run.
Tioga kept churning out the yards, and consecutive runs of 6 yards by Bellis and Stauder moved the ball to the Red Raider 24, where Bellis finished off the drive to make it 26-6.
Bellis added the conversion to up the advantage to 28-6 with 10:47 remaining in the game.
Lowville answered with a scoring drive on its next possession, and tacked on the conversion to close the gap to 28-14 with 7:20 remaining in the contest.
Playing for an onside kick, Tioga had to chase down a deep kick, and was pinned at its 9 when junior Caden Bradley pounced on the loose ball.
The Tigers reeled off four first downs, but a penalty put them behind the stick in Lowville territory. Tioga, after a 5-minute possession, punted the ball away with Bombard 29-yard punt pinning the Red Raiders at their 14 with with 2:16 remaining.
Zehr completed a pair of passes — one for 16 yards and the other for 25 — and Lowville took advantage of a personal-foul call against the Tigers to move the ball to the Tioga 10.
Four plays later, Zehr's pass into the end zone on fourth down fell incomplete.
Tioga went into victory formation to run out the final 55 seconds of the contest.
Aiello noted the Tigers were able to keep the ball away from Lowville at key times with a dose of ball-control offense.
"We were able to work the clock, and you love when that happens," said Aiello.
"But you're always trying to think of the backup plan, so all week long, we're working on contingency plays and counterplays, and what we're going to do if they're stopping certain things.
"We are able to really just kind of call the game as we wanted to, though" he noted. "We didn't have to talk about much in terms of adjustments.
"We actually just talked about different plays off the plays we've been running and it worked out for us," Aiello added.
Bellis led Tioga with 230 yards and three TDs on 28 carries, while Stauder added 32 yards on seven carries, and Palmer and Duncanson added 26 yards apiece.
Bombard was 3-for-3 through the air for 60 yards and one TD.
Lowville finished the game with 121 rushing yards on 33 carries, led by Cole Zubrzycki, who had 65 yards on 15 carries.
Zehr, who added 43 yards on 11 carries, completed 8 of 14 passes for 82 yards and one interception.
Tioga, now 11-1, with face unbeaten Section VI champ Newfane Friday at 3 p.m. at Cicero-North Syracuse High School in the state semifinals.
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga's Kadin Cole hauls in a TD pass. IN TOP PHOTO: Tioga's Logan Bellis follows his blockers. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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