By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
TIOGA CENTER - Tioga is an offensive juggernaut with weapons all over the field.
The Tigers enter Saturday’s New York State Class D Championship game at 13-0, averaging 55 points, and nearly 400 yards in total offense per game, but every football fan, especially former linemen, will tell you offensive success starts in the trenches; and Tioga coach Nick Aiello will tell you the same thing.
Behind the front of seniors Cam Rought, and Levi Bellis, juniors Tate MaCauley, and Garrett Godfrey, and freshman Derek Mills — with junior Jackson Clark getting a lot of reps along the line, the Tigers are averaging 298.2 yards per game on the ground, and a whopping 10.2 yards per carry.
Aiello said one of the big key to his the line’s success is experience.
"We returned four starting linemen from last year, and only needed to replace our center," said Aiello. "We went through a lot of different variations, but we were able to plug Derek Mills, a freshman, in at center, and he’s got the job done all year.
"These guys work real hard, and they’re coached up by coach Mac (Adam MaCauley)," he noted. "They’re wealth of knowledge helps them a lot. This is the 28th game those four guys are getting ready for together, and if you look at Tate (MaCauley), who is a three-year starter, it’s his 40th game.
"They understand the details of playing on the line," said Aiello. "They understand how important footwork is, hand placement, head placement … they understand all those things.
"We know going into games, especially this week, that our ability to get things done up front is going to dictate whether or not we’re successful," he added.
Aiello said after his team’s win at Waverly in Week One, he knew his line play was nothing to be worried about.
"We knew the biggest test of the regular season was going to be at Waverly because they are very good up front," he said. "I thought we held our own against them.
"We moved the ball, especially in the first half, and did enough on both sides of the ball to keep them at bay," added Aiello.
The longtime Tioga coach has nothing but good to say about his linemen:
On Tate McCauley: "Tate is really starting to get strong. He’s still a young kid, he just turned 16 in June. He’s going to fill out, and physically get bigger and stronger.
"He has a lineman mentality, which is ‘mean between the whistles,’ and that’s what you need to have.
"Having your uncle as a line coach, he doesn’t get any special treatment. If anything, we’ve been harder on him.
"He’s really come into his own as a lineman. Dropping some weight has really helped him, he’s moving a lot better this year. And, he understands things really, really well.
"We’re playing him at guard because he’s has good enough feet to handle it, so we’re pulling him a lot.
"He’s a leader for us up there, and he sets the tone for us up front."
On Garrett Godfrey: "Sometimes it takes big guys a little while to get use to their big bodies, and it’s ben that way since I got here. A lot of times it’s between the sophomore and junior year when they start to get control over that big body. Garrett wrestling last year, and transforming his body as a sophomore, helped him with that.
"He’s really come on strong of late. I’d say the second half of the season is the best football he’s played for us. He’s just playing tougher, playing faster, and hustling more.
"He’s another young guy, he just turned 16 in October. He’s a 16-yard-old whose body is just starting to mature, and you’re seeing the effects of that.
On Cam Rought: "Cam Rought started football late. The beauty of coaching other sports is you see those other athletes, and you try to get them out for football," said Aiello, who also coaches JV baseball. "Cam is one of those kids.
"He’s very strong, and he has great feet, which has really helps him. The physical aspects of being a lineman is what’s come on for him really, really strong.
"We saw it last year, and especially this year for his senior year, he came in with a great mentality, and has played really well for us. He’s had a great senior year, and is looking to finish it strong."
On Levi Bellis: "He’s a 150 pounds in the program," laughed Aiello. "Levi is just a good football player.
"I’m sure other teams look at the roster, see his size, and think they can beat up on him, but what they don’t realize is he’s too stubborn to beat up. He’s too mentally tough, and too physically tough, that it’s not going to happen. He’s held his own for 27 games, and we don’t expect anything less from him on Saturday in his 28th game.
"What helps is that we pull him a lot, and many times he’s releasing and his smaller frame can get up on linebackers pretty quick.
"We use him to his strengths, but we also know he’s not going to get out of anyone’s way. He’s going to make sure he gets to his block, and he uses leverage really well.
"Small guys usually have great technique, and he has great technique, plus he’s a little bit quicker than most linemen."
On Derek Mills: "I can’t wait coach (Derek Mills) for the next few years because he’s just going to continue to get better.
"He’s strong, and a mentally-tough kid. He’s a hard worker, fixes things on the spot, and put a ton of time in the weight room last year.
"I think he had a goal set that he wanted to play varsity as a freshman after we moved him up to JV as an 8th-grader, and man, he answered any and all questions during the summer, and the first day of preseason camp that he’d be the guy."
On Jackson Clark: "Jack is another one who was late to football … then he broke his collar bone as a freshman, so he finally got a full year on JV last year as a sophomore.
"He was raw, but just like Garrett (Godfrey), he’s played tremendous for us in the second half of the year. I think he understood that if he wanted to get in the game, he had to do certain things a certain way.
"He has great length, long arms and long legs, which helps him get separation on the defensive side of the ball.
"What’s nice is when a kid hasn’t played a lot of football, you can teach him the right way from the get-go, and he doesn’t have any bad habits. I think that’s the case with Jack, his technique continues to get better.
"He’s given us great minutes on defense, and it’s to the point were we’re comfortable in putting a to of guys out there on the defensive line, and Jack is one of them."
Aiello said the same cast of characters, minus Levi Bellis, who is a linebacker, along with Karson Sindoni, Josh Benjamin-Doyle, Austin Babcock, Hunter Fethers, and Valentino Rossi do an excellent job in the trenches on the defensive side of the ball
"Their job, first and foremost, is to control the line-of-scrimmage," said Aiello. "We tell them ‘if you’re making tackles that’s great, but you’re probably leaving your linebackers out to dry if you’re make a lot of tackles’
"They understand their job on defense, and if they forget, they get reminded when we watch film.
"It’s important that they understand technique, and their roles on defense," noted Aiello. "It takes a while some times for defensive linemen to understand that, but we’ve been rotating 9 or 10 guys on the defensive line in games because they’re all coached up really well, and they all do their job really well.
"It’s a luxury that we have a lot of hard workers, and a lot of talent there," added Aiello.
——————
IN PHOTO: Tioga’s Garrett Godfrey (72), Tate MaCauley (68) and Derek Mills (73) … PHOTO BY TIM TAYLOR.
