By TIM TAYLORValley Sports Report
DEPOSIT — Tioga rallied out of an early hole, then held off a late Deposit-Hancock comeback to win a 35-31 battle of determined Class D contenders here Saturday afternoon.
The host Eagles dominated the first quarter, but Tioga regrouped in the second period to squeeze out a 14-12 lead at halftime.
Trailing, 12-0, the Tigers scored on their first possession of the second quarter on a Logan Bellis 1-yard run. The 11-play drive began at the D-H 48 following Conner Streeter’s return of a short kickoff. Owen Parker’s PAT kick doinked off the left upright, leaving the score at 12-6.
Bellis is finally back full-time following a knee injury in the first game of 2024 that sidelined him and required major surgery. Bellis underwent surgery in March, but you couldn’t tell he had been injured after Saturday’s performance.
Coach Nick Aiello was thrilled for his return.
“You're always happy for kids like that, able to make it back for his senior year, after missing his whole junior year,” he said. “I hope he makes a name for himself this year because he deserves it.”
That was clearly evident on Tioga’s next possession. Three plays after James Howey recovered a fumble at the Eagles’ 48, Bellis broke free for a 39-yard touchdown run. Jack Bombard tossed the PAT pass to Max Stauder, giving the Tigers a 14-12 edge with 5:42 remaining in the half.
The D-H fumble wasn’t a motivator for the Tigers as much as it was just a little good fortune, according to Aiello.
“I think it was just a lucky break, because they were moving the ball on us pretty well, and we had just gone down and scored. I think they were moving the ball on us before they fumbled and then we answered well.”
D-H stalled out on its next possession and Tioga took the two-point edge into the half.
“To be able to take the lead into the half, I told the boys at halftime, and it didn't even really feel like we had the lead because we struggled quite a bit first quarter-wise, but we responded good enough to take the lead in the half,” Aiello said. “And that helps, because you're able to have a little bit more discussion instead of that sense of nervousness.”
The Tigers didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard in the second half as Jayden Duncanson returned the kickoff 79 yards for another Tioga TD and Parker’s PAT kick split the uprights to make it 21-12 with just 15 seconds gone off the clock.
“Coming out of halftime, we're getting the ball, you could go three-and-out and kill all your momentum, so to take it to the house like that, real proud of Dunc for that,” Aiello said. “It definitely helped us keep that momentum for quite a long time, really until we stopped playing football and let them back into the game.”
D-H would turn the ball over on downs at its own 45, but Tioga coughed the ball up at the D-H 31, then turned the ball over on downs at the 47.
The Tigers would possess the pigskin into the fourth quarter and extend their advantage to 28-12 with 10 minutes left in the game. On the 11th play of the drive, a scrambling Bombard found Dominic Palmer open in the end zone for a 5-yard TD. Parker's PAT kick made it a 28-12 contest.
That’s when the Eagles started their comeback attempt.
Connor Mills caught the kickoff on the run and returned it 47 yards to the Tioga 23. Two plays later, quarterback Brady Matthews dashed 17 yards to the end zone. The PAT kick failed, but D/H had closed the gap to 28-18 with 9:39 to play.
A penalty and a sack by Micah Simmons forced a Tioga punt, which went just 17 yards, giving the Eagles the ball at their own 42. Eight plays later, Brady Moss took it in from a yard out and the PAT kick trimmed the visitors’ lead to 28-25 with 4:50 to go.
The Tigers would start their next possession on the 30 and with the pressure on them mounting, produced a 9-play, 70-yard scoring drive to more or less seal their victory.
Bellis ran five times for 44 yards and Max Stauder rushed three times for another 21, including a powerful 4-yard surge into the end zone. Parker’s kick made it 35-25 with 2:05.
The theme for the day, followed by both teams, seemed to be “do not give up” and D-H was determined to see that through to the end as they drove 65 yards in seven plays with Mills scoring on a 1-yard run with 47.7 seconds on the clock.
The drive included a 12-yard run by Bass, a Matthews-to-Grayson Thomas-to-Bass for 10 yards and a 13-yard run by Matthews after he scrambled to avoid a sack. Tioga was also flagged for roughing the passer, moving the rock 15 yards closer to the end zone.
With D-H trailing, 35-31, Gavin Kithcart leapt up to block the extra point kick.
The Eagles attempted an onside kick, but it hit the knee of a D-H player before traveling the required 10 yards. Tioga was able to run out the clock.
At the onset of the day, D-H looked like it would run away with this one, scoring TDs on its first two possessions.
Mills capped an 8-play, 61-yard drive with a 19-yard run. The Eagles then went 93 yards in five plays as Bass burst up the middle on an 86-yard TD dash. Both PAT attempts failed.
“When teams run an option like that, we do it to teams too, sometimes it's hard to replicate in practice and really, any offense is hard to replicate, and I think it just took some game speed and getting up to game speed,” Aiello said. “I don't like giving a 12-point cushion, but I'm happy with the way we responded.”
Deposit-Hancock (1-1) dominated the stat sheet with 377 yards to Tioga’s 241.
Bass carried the ball 26 times for 222 yards, 122 of it coming in the first quarter. Mills had 95 yards on 10 runs and Matthews added nine rushes for 47 more. Matthews completed three of his nine passes for 10 yards.
Bellis picked up 127 yards on 21 carries and Stauder rushed nine times for 41. Duncanson picked up 18 yards on four rushes and Gavin Albrecht tacked on one run for 16 yards. Bombard went 3-for-5 for 29 yards through the air and Duncanson went 1-for-3 for nine yards. Bellis had two receptions for 24 yards.
Tioga (1-1) travels to Delhi (2-0) Friday night.
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IN PHOTO 1: Logan Bellis. IN TOP PHOTO: Gavin Kithcart (58). … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
