NEW YORK STATE FOOTBALL: TIOGA FACES BIG CHALLENGE IN SECTION VI POWERHOUSE NEWFANE IN CLASS D SEMIFINALS (November 28, 2025)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
TIOGA CENTER — Tioga won three states in a row, and is one win away from making it back to the title game after a year's absence, but standing in the way Sunday is unbeaten Section VI powerhouse Newfane.


Newfane has outscored its opponents by an average of 43.8 to 13.1.

"They are just under the cut-off for Class D, coming down from C, and they really took it to a lot of teams in Section VI," said Tioga coach Nick Aiello.

"After talking to some people out there, and watching them on film, they are the real deal," he added.

Newfane's senior QB Mac Capen, who has received interest from several Division I programs, including Buffalo and Albany, is 6-3, 210 pounds, and is a legitimate dual-threat QB. He has rushed for 1,872 yards and 32 TDs on 150 carries (12.5 yards per carry), while completing 93 of 149 passes for 1,193 yards, and 11 TDs, with just one interception.

"He definitely has the size and speed to play Division I football, and you don't see that all the time in Class D," said Aiello. "If he breaks a tackle, he could be gone. Every time he touches the ball, you're probably going to be holding your breath.

"A big focus of ours this week has been getting a lot of hats to the ball, and tackling like we have been all year," he added.

WHEN NEWFANE HAS THE BALL
Aiello said the Panthers are not a one-man show.

"We're also impressed with their running backs, they have a couple good running backs, and they have the ability to throw the ball a little bit," he said.

Camlo Flowers has rushed for 677 yards, while Cam Stover has gained 433 yards, and Tristian Smith has 274 yards. The trio has combined for 19 TDs.

On the receiving end, Jake Morello has 30 catches for 312 yards, Nasir Spencer has 28 grabs for 370 yards, Isaiah Gerstung has 15 receptions for 267, and Mikey Henning has 15 catches for 222 yards. The quartet has combined for 12 TD receptions.

"Newfane runs primarily a shotgun offense," said Aiello. "We'll see a little bit of zone reads, and zone running plays, we'll see some counter plays similar to what Waverly does inserting the H-back and pulling guards.

"We'll also see the plays off those plays, like the quick screens, bubble screens and play-action," noted Aiello. "And, they'll get into certain sets to exploit the talents of their quarterback.

"They've been able to do what they want throughout most of their games," added Aiello. "They stick to what they're good at."

Aiello said one of the big keys for his defense is to limit big plays, which Newfane has produced with alarming regularity.

"Any time you're in these types of games, limiting the big play and forcing teams to go on sustained drives is what you need to do," said Aiello. "It's about being patient until you can get those stops.

"Tackling is going to be key. It's going to be cold and windy, and it could be rainy, a cold rain.

"We need to make sure were tackling, wrapping up, and getting a lot of hats to the ball ... constant hustling to the football is going to be key for us," added Aiello.

WHEN TIOGA HAS THE BALL
"Defensively, it seems like they have good team speed," said Aiello. "They only have one or two guys on the field with linemen numbers on, so that means they have a lot of skill guys on their defense and that shows on film in how fast they get to the ball."

Senior Logan Bellis has rushed for 1,767 yards and 25 TDs to lead the Tigers, while junior Max Stauder, and seniors Jayden Duncanson, Kadin Cole, and Dominic Palmer have been consistent contributors in the ground game.

Junior QB Jackson Bombard has smoothly directed Tioga's offense, and has completed more than 50 percent of his passes with Palmer, senior Gavin Albrecht, and sophomore Josh Rought his main targets.

Morello leads the Panthers with 84 tackles, followed by Stover with 70, Spencer with 65, including a team-high nine QB sacks, and Gerstung with 60. Capen and Smith lead Newfane with four and three interceptions, respectively.

"They seem to sit in a 4-3 base defense, but there's a lot of moving around," said Aiello. "Sometimes they'll drop down to a 50-front.

"Their outside backers are a couple of their running backs, so they're pretty athletic. You'll see them in and out and blitzing here and there," he noted. "And (Spencer( brings some speed off the edge at defensive end.

"They usually play a two-high safety, but they occasionally bring a safety down, which we might see quite a bit.

"They seem pretty comfortable in their defense, and they seem like a defense that hangs their hat on speed and getting to the ball quickly," added Aiello.

SCHEDULE CHANGE
The game was originally scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday, but a major lake-effect snow storm, with forecasts for as much at 18 inches of snow, forced the shift to Sunday.

Aiello doesn't believe the change will have much of an impact.

"It's a little bit unique," he said. 

"All week long, you're stressing about being ready by Friday," noted Aiello. "We found out it was going to be moved toward the end of our practice (Thursday), so it seemed like it took the wind out of our sails a little bit, but maybe it was just the coaches overthinking it a little bit because we had a great practice (Friday).

"We're just trying to stay ready for the game ... we have one more practice on Saturday.

"Our guys are locked in. I wished we played (Friday) because we were ready, but we'll go over more of the little things we may not have had time for during the week," said Aiello.

"We had a great practice (Friday), the field was covered with snow. The guys were laser-focused, but we had a lot of fun. It was fun being out there," added Aiello. "We have one more day to lock-in, and Sunday at 2 (p.m.) it's go-time."

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IN PHOTO: Tioga QB Jackson Bombard and coach Nick Aiello. ... VSR STOCK PHOTO.

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