By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
TIOGA CENTER - Junior Ousmane Duncanson’s interception in the final minute allowed unbeaten Tioga to chalk up its 21st consecutive win — a 28-21 victory over a resilient Delhi here Friday night in Section IV, Division V football action at Haggerty Field.
The win was easily the Tigers’ most competitive game of the season. They opened the season with 28-point wins over Marlboro and Newark Valley, then won the next five divisional games by an average of 49 points.
"This game was exactly what we needed," said Tioga coach Nick Aiello. "It was a good game to grind out.
"It was a good game for our guys," noted Aiello. "It was a good game to play four quarters, and see how mentally and physically we were ready to play in that type of dogfight."
Tioga is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class D, while Delhi entered the game ranked sixth.
Aiello believes this game could serve as a wake-up call of sorts for his team.
"It was hard to measure how good Delhi was coming in," he said. "We knew they were undefeated, but it was hard to gauge with the film we had … they came in here and proved they’re the real deal.
"There are a lot of positives tonight in being able to grind out a win, but at the same time, and I tell these kids all the time, there’s a target on our back.
"Delhi came in looking to do whatever they had to do to win. They played with a lot of heart, and they are very physical," added Aiello. "Chances are we’ll see these guys again."
The Bulldogs scored the game’s first TD on the second play of the second quarter, and led 7-0 with 11:16 remaining in the first half. It’s the first time this season, Tioga, which only ran three offensive plays in the first 12 minutes, has not scored in the first quarter, and the first time its trailed in the second quarter.
"We only ran three plays in the first quarter, and they were deep in our own zone," said Aiello.
"It was the same as the Walton game," he noted. "(Delhi) was definitely playing keep away, and it was working. When you can keep the sticks moving, keep away works."
Delhi picked up a pair of first downs and took 4 1/2 minutes off the game clock on its first possession before punting the ball away.
The punt pinned Tioga at its own 3. Facing a fourth-and-1 at their own 12, the Tigers chose to punt.
Junior Gavin Fisher got off a 42-yard punt, but Delhi put together a 12-play, 56-yard drive that bridged the first two quarters.
The key play on the drive was a 7-yard run on fourth-and-7 by senior QB Logan Nealis that gave the Bulldogs a first down at the Tioga 32.
Moments later, Ryan Wilson, who had four carries for 33 yards in the drive, barreled 6 yards to the Tiger 3 to give the Bulldogs a first-and-goal.
Two plays later, Luke Schanbel scored from 1 yard out to make it 6-0. The PAT kick upped the lead to 7-0.
Tioga took the ensuing kickoff and quickly drove 72 yards to tie the score.
Junior tailback Drew Macumber ignited the drive with consecutive runs of 7 yards, then Duncanson ripped off an 11-yard run to give the Tigers a first down at the Bulldog 40.
After a 27-yard completion from junior QB Caden Bellis to junior wideout Valentino Rossi, Duncanson ran through several tacklers on an 11-yard run to the Delhi 2.
Bellis capped the seven-play drive with a 2-yard QB sneak for a score with 8:23 remaining in the first half. Junior Gavin Fisher’s PAT kick made it 7-7.
Delhi took the ensuing kickoff, and marched to the Tioga 21, but a holding call put the Bulldogs behind the sticks, and the drive fizzled on downs at the Tiger 32 with 2:45 left in the first half.
After picking up one first down, Tioga faced a third-and-9 at its own 44, but Bellis lofted a perfect throw down the home sidelines, and sophomore Shea Bailey hauled it in for a 39-yard gain to the Bulldog 18.
After Bellis was sacked for a 2-yard loss, he hit Rossi on a deep slant for an 18-yard gain to the Delhi 2. Bellis scored on another QB sneak with 29.2 seconds remaining, and Fisher’s PAT gave the Tigers a 14-7 lead.
The first half action wasn’t over yet, though.
After Sam Davis fielded a squick kick, and returned it to midfield, Nealis connected with Tanner Bracchy on a 32-yard pass to the Tioga 18. On the next play, however, Duncanson, junior Trent Brown, and senior Jack Woodcock sacked Nealis to end the half.
"We thought going into halftime we were lucky to have two scores because we really didn’t run that much offense," said Aiello.
Tioga only managed 57 rushing yards on 13 carries in the first half.
"Delhi is huge, they have some big boys up front," said Aiello. "They took away a lot of our interior stuff … we were just trying to find a couple plays that worked.
"But at the end of the day, I thought all our guys ran hard. We hit some big passes … we really executed what we want to do in a big game, and we were able to come out on top," he added.
Tioga, which won the pre-game coin toss and deferred, took the second-half kickoff, and drove 61 yards to extend their lead.
Macumber had runs of 11 and 19 yards early in the drive, but the Tigers faced a fourth-and-6 at the Delhi 22 after he was dropped for a 2-yard loss on an option play.
On the fourth down play, Rossi made a diving catch in the end zone for a 22-yard score. Fisher’s PAT kick made it 21-7 with 6:51 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs quickly moved the ball into Tioga territory on its next possession, thanks in large part to a 35-yard pass from Nealis to Noah Dungan, but Duncanson forced a fumble, and Browne pounced on it at the Tioga 28.
Four plays later, however, Tioga returned the favor, fumbling the ball away at its own 36.
The Bulldogs took advantage, with a 12-yard pass from Nealis to Schnabel capping a nine-play drive with 9:33 remaining in the contest. The PAT kick closed the gap to 21-14.
Tioga started its next possession at its 33, and six running plays later were at the Bulldog 9.
Macumber started the drive with back-to-back runs of 7 yards, and Bellis added an 18-yard scamper on a QB keeper, then Sickler took an option pitch for an 15-yard gain.
After a run of 2 yards by Macumber, Duncanson caught a ball from Bellis in the flats, bounced off a tackler at the 5, and raced into the end zone with 5:03 left in the game. Fisher’s PAT kick made it 28-14.
Fisher’s ensuing kickoff bounced into the end zone, pinning the Bulldogs at their own 20 to start their next possession.
However, a bit of trickery resulted in a TD as Angelo Krzyston took a pitch, and then lofted a pass down the middle of the field, where Dungan ran under it at the Tioga 40, and raced untouched into the end zone on an 80-yard completion. The PAT kick closed the gap to 28-21 with 4:49 remaining in the contest.
On the first play of the ensuing possession, Macumber took an option pitch and raced 22 yards to midfield.
On third-and-4, Bellis picked up 15 yards and an apparent first down, but a holding call negated the first down, and put Tioga in a third-and-13 situation at its 47.
Bellis then found Rossi open on the far sidelines for a 39-yard gain, but he was stripped of the ball, and Delhi recovered at the Tigers’ 14 with 1:51 remaining in the game.
Aiello pointed out the fact his team had chances to put the game away.
"We recovered a fumble, that was big, because we had a chance to go on a drive there, and go up by three scores, but then we fumbled.
"At the end, we have a chance to put the game away when we hit the big pass, but we fumble again," said Aiello.
"Those are things we’ll address, and you hate to see those things, but at the same time we definitely made enough plays to win the game," added Aiello.
After three straight incompletions, Delhi faced a fourth-and-10. On fourth down, Nealis was flushed from the pocket, and stopped well short of a first down, but the Tigers were flagged for a face mask, which gave Delhi a first down at its 27.
On the next play, junior Karson Sindoni sacked Nealis for a 3-yard loss.
After a timeout, Duncanson stepped in front of Nealis’ pass at the Delhi 26, and returned it to the 5 with 54 seconds remaining.
The Tigers took a pair of knees in victory formation to run out the clock.
Bellis completed 8 of 11 passes for 166 yards, and two TDs. Rossi led Tioga with five catches for 92 yards and one TD, and Sindoni had two grabs for 36 yards.
Macumber led Tioga’s rushing attack with 106 yards 16 carries, and Bellis added 38 yards and two TDs on nine carries.
Tioga ran for 184 yards on 35 carries, and had 350 yards in total offense, while Delhi rushed for 115 yards on 35 carries, and had 320 yards in total offense.
Nealis completed 10 of 19 passes for 125 yards, one TD, and one interception. Schnabel led the Bulldogs with six grabs for 39 yards and one TD, while Dungan had two catches for 115 yards and one TD, Bracchy had two receptions for 36 yards.
Tioga, now 8-0, hosts winless Deposit-Hancock Friday, while Delhi (6-1) travels to Walton (5-1) Saturday.
Barring a major upset next week, Tioga will host SVEC in the Class D semifinals, while arch-rivals Delhi and Walton will square off for the second consecutive week.
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga’s Shea Bailey. … PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
