By TIM TAYLORValley Sports Report
CICERO, N.Y. — There was plenty of anticipation of a knock-down, drag-out battle leading up to Friday's clash between two-time defending state champion Tioga and former two-time champ Clymer/Sherman/Panama in the NYSPHSAA Class D West semifinal.
That duel never materialized as the Tigers scored on their first eight offensive possessions (taking a knee to end the game on the ninth) and racked up more than 500 yards offense en route to a 63-16 drubbing of the Wolfpack at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.
Tioga had no intention of ending its season in November and was ready to prove it at the week’s onset.
"These guys rolled in Monday and they were locked in,’ coach Nick Aiello said. "They knew they had a good opponent and not to care less what the scoreboard said.
"These kids played really, really well today. They had a defensive game plan down and they knew on offense they had come out fired up, and they did.
"They came out firing on all cylinders and we were able to control the line scrimmage, and do what we do. They were a joy to coach all week and they were a joy to coach today for sure."
CSP defeated Tioga in the 2018 and 2019 semis, so this win was maybe a bit of sweet revenge for Aiello, but this group of players was not part of those teams.
"Our guys weren't really a part of that," he said. "CSP was loaded those years and we didn't match up as well as I thought we could match up today, and that showed out on the field.
"They're a good program. They do a lot of good things and they were undefeated coming in. That was a good team that we just played and we just had things rolling for us and, and that's why we put points on the scoreboard."
Tioga tailback Drew Macumber rambled through the CSP defense for a career-high 250 yards on 26 carries and four touchdowns, leading the Tigers to their 40th consecutive victory.
The champs’ longest drive of the game, 81 yards and just shy of eight minutes in duration, came on their first possession. Macumber scored on a 30-yard run on the 14th play and Gavin Fisher’s first PAT kick of the day made it 7-0 at 2:08.
"In the first drive you're always trying to get a feel for what they're going to do to you defensively, and they tweaked a little bit, but they were pretty much what we thought in terms of their scheme and stuff.
"To move the ball like that against them and they were a wall all year long, to move the ball against that defense, I'm real proud of our boys up front for sure."
Meanwhile, Fisher would go 9-for-9 in the extra-point department, giving the state record holder 85 for his career.
Tioga’s next drive started at the CSP 48 following an 18-yard punt. A holding penalty and a 5-yard sack pushed the Tigers backward to its own 47, but it took just four more plays to find the endzone. Macumber’s 13-yard run and the PAT made it 14-0 at 8:59 of the second quarter.
Just over two minutes later, it was 21-0 as Karson Sindoni picked off Tate Catanese in stride at the CSP 45 and raced down the Tioga sideline to paydirt.
The Wolfpack’s next putin traveled just 21 yards and it took the Tigers just seven plays to score again, this time with Macumber taking it in from the five, making it 28-0 with 1:57 remaining in the half.
CSP would finally move the pigskin past the 50 on its next possession, but ran out of time.
It took Tioga just four minutes to chalk up its first TD of the second half, a 39-yard pass from Caden Bellis to Evan Sickler, who made an over-the-shoulder catch and went untouched as the Tigers pushed their advantage to 35-0.
The Wolfpack finally got off a solid punt on the ensuing possession, 46 yards, but a personal foul moved the ball out to the 37.
Ousmane Duncanson darted through a giant hole in the middle of the line on first down and raced 63 yards to the end zone. With 6:53 left in the period, Tioga’s cushion had puffed up to 42-0.
CSP turned the ball over on downs at the Tiger 42 and on third down, Bellis tallied on a 52-yard keeper. With more than 15 minutes still to play in the contest, Tioga was sitting pretty at 49-0.
The Wolfpack would possess the rock for nearly 6 ½ minutes and avert a shutout, marching 53 yards in 13 plays. Catanese scored on a 1-yard plunge and added the PAT run to make it 49-8 at 8:47.
The Tigers went back to work with Macumber scoring his final TD on a 38-yard run 86 seconds later and Jonah Lamb racing past a host of defenders for a 36-yard score with 4:47 left in the game.
CSP ran about four minutes off the clock before scoring one more time on a 3-yard Anthony Cipolla run with 44 ticks left on the clock. Cipolla’s PAT run made it a 63-16 final.
The Tigers finished with 509 yards offense, 460 on the ground.
In addition to Macumber’s 250, Bellis added 87 yards on eight carries and Duncanson had 83 on four runs. Lamb tacked on one tote for 36 yards.
Bellis completed both pass attempts to Sickler (39 yards) and Sindoni (10 yards).
CSP (11-1) had 211 yards offense, 113 coming on its scoring drives. Catanese ran the ball 14 times for 48 yards and went 11-for-29 through the air for 61 more. Bryce Posker added 74 yards on 12 carries.
Tioga (13-0) faces Stillwater (11-1) next Saturday at noon in the championship game at the JMA Dome in Syracuse. The Warriors edged Haldane, 21-20, in the East semi.
NOTE: Gianni Silvestri was Tioga's recipient of the Sportsmanship Award.
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga’s Ousmane Duncanson. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
