SECTION IV FOOTBALL: OPPORTUNISTIC TIOGA TOPS DEPOSIT-HANCOCK, 36-20; ADVANCES TO EIGHTH STRAIGHT CLASS D CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (24 PHOTOS) (2025-11-08)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
JOHNSON CITY — An opportunistic Tioga turned three Deposit-Hancock turnovers into three TDs on its way to a 30-point third-quarter lead in a 36-20 win here Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Section IV, Class D playoffs.

The win marks the Tigers' eighth straight trip to the Class D championship game. Last year, they had their streak of six straight titles snapped by Delhi.

Tioga will square off with Trumansburg, which upended Delhi 21-13, Saturday at 3 p.m. at Susquehanna Valley High School.

Aiello, who has 11 Section IV titles to his credit, is 11-1 in Section IV championship games, but this year is a little different as the Tigers, despite nine straight wins and being ranked No. 1 in the state, enter the title game as the hunter and not the hunted.

"I feel like we've been playing all year like that, with a little chip on our shoulder," said Aiello.

"This was a year-long process of getting these guys back here and a year-long process for them to work for it," he noted. "And so I'm really happy for them because they have the opportunity and it's going to be a really good week of practice. 

"I'm hoping we get everybody to practice, we've had a little trouble getting everybody there, but if we can get everybody there and just have another great week of practice, you know, we're going to be ready for it," added Aiello. "And that's what we preach — prepare and then play hard in the games and let scoreboard take care of itself."

The Tigers turned a pair of Eagle turnovers into a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

"The first half was all about the two turnovers we got to build that two touchdown lead, but I thought we did some really good things on offense," said Aiello. 

"I thought we overcame a lot of penalties called on us in the first half," he noted.

"We've been working real hard," added Aiello. "We had five days to work this week. I thought we had a really good week of practice, and I thought that's what we saw in the first half."

Tioga opened the game with the ball, but only managed five yards and were forced to punt from midfield. Junior Jackson Bombard's 39-yard punt pinned the Eagles at their own 11.

After an 8-yard run by Connor Mills, Tioga's Kadin Cole pounced on a botched option pitch on D-H's second play at the Eagles' 9.

Three plays later, on third-and-goal at the 6, Bombard rolled out to pass, reversed field and scrambled 6 yards to paydirt to give the Tigers the lead with 7:17 remaining in the first quarter. Bombard also tacked on the two point conversion to make it 8-0.

Deposit-Hancock returned the ensuing kickoff to the Tioga 35. On fourth-and-8, Brody Matthews connected with Micah Simmons on a 14-yard completion to the Tiger 19.

However, two plays later, Mills couldn't handle an option pitch and Tioga junior Max Stauder came up with the loose ball at the Tiger 16.

Tioga put together a 14-play, 84-yard drive that bridged the first and second quarters, chewing up nearly seven minutes of the game clock to take a 14-0 lead.

Seniors Logan Bellis and Jayden Duncanson opened the drive with runs of 10 and 11 plays, respectively. Two plays later, senior Gage Hopkins ripped off a 25-yard run to the D-H 41.

After a penalty put Tioga in a third-and-10 predicament, Cole ripped off a 16-yard run, but a block-in-the-call moved the ball back 10 yards and Tioga faced a third-and-4.

Hopkins picked up the first down with a 5-yard run, ad Duncanson followed with a 12-yard run to the D-H 6, but another block-in-the-back moved the ball back to the 16.

Two plays later, Bellis scored on an 11-yard run to make it 14-0 with 9:55 remaining in the first half.

The Eagles answered with a quick five-play, 52-yard scoring drive, capped by a 33-yard TD run by Noah Bass with 7:09 remaining in the first half.

The Tigers also had an answer on the ensuing possession, marching 58 yards on eight plays to take a 22-6 lead.

Stauder and Bellis started the drive with runs of 4 and 6 yards, respectively, to pick up a first down, then Bombard connected with sophomore Josh Rought for a 24-yard gain to the D-H 24.

Moments later, after a holding call, the Tigers faced a third-and-14, but an 11-yard gain by Bellis, and D-H jumping offsides on fourth-and-3 gave the Tigers a first-and-10 at the D-H 12.

On the next play, Bellis scored on a 12-yard run, then Bombard bulled his way into the end zone on the conversion to make it 22-6 with 4:05 remaining in the half.

The Eagles moved the ball into Tioga territory, but turned the ball over on downs at the Tigers' 40 with 38 seconds left in the half.

D-H opened the second half with the ball, but on the third play, Stauder stepped in front of a Matthews pass and returned it 30 yards for a score. Bellis tacked on the conversion to extend the lead to 30-6 with 10:12 remaining in the third quarter.

"I'm real happy with that, because we've been talking about linebacker depth in pass drops and just being able to react off the run, play action, to get to your pass drop," said Aiello. 

"I'm real happy for Max (Stauder)," added Aiello. "He's a hard worker for us, and I'm glad he had that moment."

D-H gambled on fourth-and-two on its ensuing possession, but a halfback-option pass fell incomplete and Tioga took over at the Eagle 47.

After four straight rushing attempts, the fourth a 13-yard gain by senior Dominic Palmer, Bombard hooked up with senior Gavin Albrecht on a 19-yard TD to up the Tioga advantage to 36-6 with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter.

"We try to practice those types of situations," said Aiello. "We actually practiced that on Thursday — a quick, sudden change, get a stop, and the put the dagger in.

"I'm glad the things we're practicing are coming out," he added.

To their credit, D-H did not throw in the towel, scoring on a pair of 10-play drives, while forcing a pair of Tioga punts, to close the gap to 36-20 with 3:14 remaining in the game.

After a 16-yard pass from Matthews to Mills moved the ball to the D-H 40 with 3:02 remaining in the game, Aiello called a timeout to let his team know the game was not over.

After an incompletion, Palmer sacked Matthews for a 12-yard loss. On the next play, Stauder and Palmer combined to stop Greyson Thomas for a 4-yard gain to set up a fourth-and-18.

Palmer finished off the game with another QB sack, dropping Matthews for another 12-yard loss and stripping the ball in the process. Junior Shane Platukis recovered for the Tigers with 1:29 remaining in the game.

Aiello was not happy his team let off the gas pedal for the final 9-plus minutes.

"That's something we talk about, closing the game out," said Aiello.

"I turn around and I see all these guys behind me, and I want to get them in the game. We start putting one in, start putting another one in, and the next thing you know it's a two-score game.

"I wish we would have closed out the game better," added Aiello. "It's a good team we're playing, but I wish I could have got all my guys in today."

Aiello said this trip to the Section IV finals is one of his most rewarding.

"Realistically, we were relatively young when the season started," he said. "We did have a lot of guys who played last year, but it was almost like we had to reteach them everything - and a lot of that started in the summer. 

"We were young up front, but we knew that they were good," noted Aiello. "We just needed some time to get the JV out of them. Then, we had our three-year starter (Derek Mills) go down in Week Double-Zero, and we had to move guys around, so it was basically a brand new line for Week One — the last time we played Deposit- Hancock. 

"It's been a year-long process. I think we've just been practicing really, really well," added Aiello. "I like the way we segment our practice just to work on the fundamentals because we knew that's what we had to do with these guys. And the more games they played, the more confident they got, and we're right where we want to be because of it."

Bellis led a balanced Tioga ground game (204 yards on 37 carries) with 67 yards and two TDs on 12 carries, while Hopkins had 44 yards on four carries, Duncanson added 33 yards on eight carries, Cole had 24 yards on two carries, and Palmer chipped in with 18 yards on two carries.

Bombard completed 2 of 5 passes for 43 yards.

Deposit-Hancock rushed for 119 yards on 42 carries, and also passed for 101 yards.

Bass led D-H with 112 yards and one TD on 20 carries, and Mills added 28 yards on eight carries.

Matthews, who was sacked three times for minus-34 yards, completed 7 of 10 passes for 101 yards and one interception. Mills led D-H with three catches for 28 yards, and Simmons had two grabs for 24 yards.

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