NEW YORK STATE FOOTBALL: TIOGA CLAIMS FOURTH STATE TITLE IN FIVE YEARS (24 PHOTOS) (December 5, 2025)
KEY FIRST-HALF DEFENSIVE STOP PROPELS TIOGA TO 42-31 WIN OVER TUCKAHOE IN CLASS D FINALS
By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
SYRACUSE — Tuckahoe had no answer for Tioga's powerful ground game, but it was a key defensive stop late in the second quarter that propelled Tioga to a 42-31 win, and the program's fourth New York State Class D title in five years here Friday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome.
The state title, the Tigers' fifth since 2015, capped a whirlwind postseason.
"We had to beat two good teams to get out of the section," said Tioga coach Nick Aiello. "We do that, and then we had a quick turnaround for the quarterfinals.
"We had a heck of a week with the delay before the semifinals last week, and then for today's game, we had to get ready in three-and-a-half days.
"This week, after practicing indoors, we had to shovel the field off Tuesday, so we could practice outside the rest of the week ... and everything just seemed to kind of come together," added Aiello. "And now, we're walking away with the state championship."
One of the big keys to the state title run was the play of offensive line of senior Austin Mumbulo, juniors Markel Watkins, James Howey and Gavin Kithcart, and sophomore Mark McCane, who was replaced by senior Nate Hulbert after suffering a first-quarter leg injury Friday.
In three state playoff games, the Tigers averaged 378.3 yards per game on the ground, but Aiello said the o-line was not one of the team's bright spots at the start of the season.
"We had to piece (our offensive line) together," said Aiello. "In that Windsor game, we were bad, real bad, up front. I mean, we had kids just up from the JVs, newbies, out there.
"We lost (Derek) Mills, our only three-year starter in the first game, and had to piece our line together in the two weeks before our next game.
"The one thing is, the same five guys have been there all year, except for Mark (McCane) getting hurt against Trumansburg and again today; we were able to stay healthy up there.
"And, we just got better and better as the season progressed, and finished with a pretty dominant line," added Aiello, who also praised the play of Hulbert.
"When our right tackle (McCane) went down today, Nate Hulbert went in and played great for us."
After trading TDs through the first four possessions of the game, Tuckahoe led 15-12 and was driving again when it faced a fourth-and-5 at the Tioga 26.
Tuckahoe's standout QB Connor Brice was flushed out of the pocket, and Tioga junior Caden Bradley hooked his ankle short of the line-of-scrimmage, forcing Brice to throw the ball short of his intended receiver and force a turnover on downs.
"That was an unbelievable stop on fourth down, and a big play by (Caden) Bradley," said Aiello.
"I tell the guys all the time that you have to stay patient on defense in a big game because the other team is good.
"We started doing some different things because we weren't getting the stops we wanted ... we were just kind of trying some things out," said Aiello.
"We liked what we saw," he noted. "We were able to go into halftime with the lead, and then we were able to talk through our defensive adjustments.
"And really, the game plan we had three-and-a-half days to put together went out the window and we went back to some base stuff that we've been doing all year long," added Aiello.
The Tigers took over at their 26 with 3:20 remaining in the half. After four run plays moved the ball to near midfield, junior QB Jackson Bombard found senior Gavin Albrecht, who made a nice catch along the sidelines, for a 33-yard gain to the Tuckahoe 19.
After a 3-yard run by Bombard moved the ball to the 16, Tioga called time out with 44 seconds left in the half.
Senior Dominic Palmer came out of the time out and ripped off a 13-yard run on a counter, and senior Logan Bellis finished off the drive with the first of his five TDs — a 3-yard run — with 34 seconds left in the half.
The conversion failed and the Tigers led 18-15 at the halftime break.
"I told the guys, 'if we get a stop, we have to capitalize,'" said Aiello. "The fact we could go down and score before half was huge."
Tioga, which won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, took the second-half kickoff and marched 66 yards on eight plays to up its advantage.
Junior fullback Max Stauder had three carries for 17 yards, and Palmer gained 15 yards on another counter, before Bellis capped the drive with a 6-yard TD run with 7:31 remaining in the third quarter.
Bellis tacked on the conversion to give the Tigers a 26-15 lead.
"That was a big drive and a big score," said Aiello.
"We felt we could move the ball on them. We felt we had a really good handle on their defense and where their personnel was," noted Aiello.
"We were able to really put some drives together, keep the drives alive, and punching it in right after halftime was huge," he added.
The Tigers forced another stop on Tuckahoe's first second-half possession, but Tuckahoe answered with its first defensive stop of Tioga.
"We had a chance there to ice it," said Aiello.
"Honestly, all year long, I try to tell these guys to keep the pedal down, but it just seems to be their MO," noted Aiello.
"I almost think they like to make it interesting on me," laughed Aiello.
Bombard's booming 53-yard punt bounced into the end zone to pin Tuckahoe at its 20, but Brice busted loose on a QB keeper off the right side for an 80-yard TD with 2:13 remaining in the third quarter. Brice tacked on the conversion to close the game to 26-23.
Tioga moved the ball into Tuckahoe territory on its next possession, and seemed poised to score again when Bombard found sophomore Josh Rought open across the middle for a 16-yard gain to the Tuckahoe 20, but a flag for an illegal chop block forced a Tioga punt.
Three plays later, on third-and-5, senior Kadin Cole's hit on a Tuckahoe receiver forced an incompletion. Tuckahoe chose to punt and Tioga took over at its 44.
Thanks to runs of 18 yards by Bellis and 7 yards by Stauder, Tioga quickly moved the ball to the Tuckahoe 29. Three plays later, Bellis broke loose off the left side for a 23-yard TD run with 5:50 remaining in the game, then tacked on the conversion to give the Tigers a 34-23 lead.
Tuckahoe needed just 59 seconds to find paydirt again when Declan Connelly busted loose on a 47-yard TD run up the middle on fourth-and-2. Brice tacked on the conversion to trim the Tioga lead to 34-31 with 4:51 remaining.
Tuckahoe kicked away and senior Jayden Duncanson returned the ball to the Tioga 40.
Tioga ripped off three first downs on six running plays, forcing Tuckahoe to burn its first time out.
After Bellis was stopped for a 1-yard loss on first-and-10 at the Tuckahoe 26, Tuckahoe used its second time out.
Bellis then gained 10 yards and Tuckahoe used its final timeout.
On third-and-1, Bellis found a hole in the middle of the line, and glided 16 yards into the end zone to seal the win with 58 seconds left in the contest. He tacked on the conversion to provide the final margin.
Tuckahoe opened the game with a 12-play, 58-yard scoring drive that chewed up six minutes of game clock. Brice capped the drive with a 6-yard TD run, and tacked on the conversion to make it 8-0.
Tioga answered with a seven-play, 60-yard drive to close the gap to 8-6 with 2:42 remaining in the first quarter.
Stauder did most of the damage with 41 yards on three carries, including a 30-yard run to the Tuckahoe, while Duncanson added a 9-yard run, and Bombard tacked on a 6-yard run. Bellis capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run.
Tuckahoe put together another long scoring drive — this time eight plays for 70 yards — on its next possession. Brice capped the drive with a 6-yard TD run with 10:53 remaining in the first half, then added the PAT kick to make it 15-6.
Tioga again had an answer, this time a 34-yard TD pass from Bombard to Cole with 7:34 remaining in the half to cap a five-play drive and trim the deficit to 15-12.
Tuckahoe moved the ball again on its next possession until Bradley's big play on fourth down turned the momentum.
Tioga piled up 414 yards in total offense in the win, including 334 rushing yards on 53 carries.
Bellis led Tioga with 169 yards and five TDs on 27 carries. In three state playoff games, Bellis rushed for 618 yards and 10 TDs.
Stauder added a career-high 85 yards on 13 carries, while Duncanson had 36 yards on five carries, Palmer had 28 yards on two carries, and Bombard chipped in 17 yards on five carries.
Bombard completed 3 of 6 passes for 80 yards and one TD, with Albrecth hauling in two passes for 46 yards. In three state playoff games, Bombard completed 7 of 10 passes for 188 yards and two TDs — both to Cole for a total of 82 yards.
Brice led Tuckahoe's ground game with 167 yards and three TDs on 20 carries, and added four two-point conversions. Connolly had 102 yards and one TD on 12 carries.
Brice, who completed 4 of his first 5 attempts, completed 6 of 16 passes for 63 yards.
In all, Tuckahoe had 338 yards in total offense, including 275 on the ground.
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga's Max Stauder. IN TOP PHOTO: Tioga coach Nick Aiello hoists the championship trophy. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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