By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
ODESSA — Tioga's play in the trenches this season was expected to be a strength, and it proved to be just that Saturday night in a dominating, 43-12, win over state-ranked Schuyler in Section IV football action at Charles Martin Field.
The win puts the unranked Tigers, now 4-2 overall, in the driver's seat for a divisional title with a 3-0 mark. Schuyler, ranked eighth in Class D, and Groton, ranked 15th in the state, are both 2-1.
""It's a massive win," said Tioga coach Jake Howland. "If nothing else, it's a big confidence-builder, and it shows the guys we're in the midseason form we want to be in.
"Schuyler is a team that's been playing teams real tough and putting it to teams," added Howland. "It was nice to see our week of hard work put in the position it did."
The Tigers amassed 411 yards compared to the Storm's 205, which includes 72 yards against Tioga's second-team defense in the final minutes of the game, and had a 24-11 advantage in first downs.
Tioga ran 66 plays compared to Schuyler's 36, and had a time-of-possession edge of 37 minutes and 20 seconds to 10 minutes and 40 seconds.
Howland believes his team beat Schuyler at its own game.
"It's a bit ironic actually, that's the kind of game (Schuyler) wants to play — keep away. We have very similar mentalities on offense.
"All the credit goes to our kids," said Howland. "The entire week of intense practice and preparation on their part. And credit to my assistant coaches for really working these kids like crazy throughout the long week of practice for a Saturday night game.
"Saturday games are tough to prepare for because that extra day sometimes makes it feel like it's dragging, but not for these guys this week, they were laser-focused, and you could see that translate to the game today," added Howland.
Howland said the game was won up front, and all-state lineman, senior Derek Mills, said he and cohorts in the trenches just did what they worked on all week in practice.
"The focus this week was just digging our feet into the dirt and driving, driving, driving, just keep going forward," he said.
"We knew it was going to come down to whose line was tougher, and whose line came out more fired up, and tonight it was us for sure," said Mills.
The Tigers seemed to have found their identity in recent weeks, and at the center of it is old-school Jim Haggerty-like power football.
"I love that reference because it's still our identity; that's what we want to do," said Howland. "We want to show up and pound it down your throat.
"It was another situation where we felt we could do whatever we wanted," noted Howland. "Our offensive game plan coming in was working, and we just stuck with it.
"It feels good to be able to do our power run game that we love to do the whole game," he added.
The Storm had the opening possession of the game, but Tioga senior Max Stauder stuffed Noah Wright on a third-and-1 to force a punt.
Tioga took over at its 17, then put together a 14-play drive that consumed more than 9 minutes of the game clock, overcoming 25 penalty yards on three flags in the process.
Senior Shane Platukis battered the Storm defense for 51 yards on six carries, and senior Max Stauder added 20 yards on five carries, while senior QB Jackson Bombard added an 11-yard run, and senior Caden Bradley added a nine-yard run.
Tioga's first 13 plays were on the ground, but Bombard, on third-and-eight, capped the drive with a perfectly-thrown 18-yard TD to sophomore Josh Rought with 47.8 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.
Howland said the opening possession was key.
"It set the tone," he said. "That's our mentality to set the tone early, even if it's on the opening kickoff.
"Schuyler is a nasty football team, but we were prepared, and I didn't think they'd ready for us," said Howland.
Mills said Platukis' physical style also sets the tone.
"I love blocking for him because I know 'Cheeks' is going to go out there and run through somebody, then get up and smile in their face about it," said Mills. "You just can't get any better than that, Cheeks is one of a kind.
"The first time he runs the ball and hits them, they look up with their eyes bugging out, not knowing what hit them," added Mills. "That sets a tone for the game for sure."
Hunter Mowry completed four passes on Schuyler's next possession to move the ball into Tioga territory, but the Storm ended up turning the ball over on downs at the Tiger 40.
The Tigers then pounded out 60 yards on eight carries, including a 21-yard run by Stauder and a 6-yard TD run by Platukis with 4:37 remaining in the first half.
Freshman Carson LaBour made a diving one-handed catch on the resulting two-point conversion attempt to put the Tigers up 14-0.
LaBour made his presence known again two plays later when he collected a pass that was tipped by junior Cam Ross for an interception at midfield.
LaBour had two interceptions in the game, two other pass break-ups, numerous tackles, a two-point conversion catch, and three receptions in the game.
"These games are big confidence-builders for (Carson), said Howland. "For a young 9th-grader balling out in the last couple games, I'm real happy for him.
"And, he's only going to get better," he noted. "We know he has that athleticism in him. We've seen it in him since middle school and it was good to see that translate on to the game field as well.
"He was outstanding, it was a lot of fun to watch," added Howland.
The Tioga coach also noted that the Storm switching from its normal run formations to a spread offense was a good sign for his team.
"We game-planned like crazy to take away their bread-and-butter stuff, and as soon as we saw them start to spread it out early I got real confident.
"They were good at it, they got us a couple times, but the whole bend-don't-break mentality really kept us going," said Howland.
"Again, all credit to the guys for keeping their heads in the game and just dominating the entire game," he added.
Bombard connected with Rought for a 29-yard completion to the Storm 21 on the first play of the drive, and four plays later Platukis bulled in from 1-yard out to up the lead to 20-0 with 2:06 remaining.
Schuyler got on the board moments later when Jeremy Updyke's 75-yard kick return to the Tioga 5, set up a 1-yard TD run by Jared Watson with 1:29 remaining in the half.
After Tioga's hurry-up offense stalled and the Tigers punted, LaBour stopped Schuyler's ensuing possession with an interception as time expired in the first half.
The Tigers took the second-half kick and marched 53 yards on 10 plays, including a 16-yard hook-up from Bombard to LaBour on third-and-seven, before fumbling the ball at the Storm 5 midway through the third quarter.
Tioga's defense bailed out the offense by forcing a three-and-out, and the Tigers regained possession at the Storm 47.
Bombard connected with LaBour on a 16-yard pass early in the possession, and Bradley ran 12 yards to the Schuyler 1 to set up a TD run by Platukis on the eighth play of the drive with 1:00 minute remaining in the third quarter.
Bombard's toss to freshman Jonah Palmer on the conversion made it 28-6.
Schuyler moved the ball into Tioga territory on its ensuing possession, but Ross ended the threat with an interception at the Tiger 32.
Tioga was flagged four times for 30 yards, including three consecutive penalties for an illegal shift, but still drove the 68 yards on seven plays, with Stauder's 11-yard TD run with 6:28 remaining in the game capping the drive.
Bombard's run for conversion made it 36-6.
The Storm put together a quick scoring drive against Tioga's reserves, marching 67 yards on three plays, with Leon Lagramada finishing it off with a 38-yard TD run with 5:25 remaining to close the gap to 36-12.
Senior Elijah Bellis and Ross did the work on the Tioga's ensuing possession. Bellis toted the ball four times for 25 yards, and Ross had a 12-yard run and then a 4-yard TD run with 1:20 remaining.
Bombard's PAT kick made it 43-12.
Stauder led Tioga's ground game with 116 yards and one TD on 24 carries, while Platukis rushed for 96 yards and three TDs on 18 carries, Bombard had 37 yards on seven carries, Bradley had 34 yards on four carries, Bellis added 25 yards on four carries, and Ross chipped in with 16 yards and one TD on three carries.
Bombard completed 5 of 6 passes for 87 yards and one TD, with LaBour hauling in three catches for 40 yards, and Rought posting two grabs for 47 yards and one TD.
Tioga returns to action Friday when it hosts Groton, now 5-1, Friday.
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga's Josh Rought hauls in a pass. IN TOP PHOTO: Tioga's Shane Platukis (33) picks up a block from Max Stauder (40). ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
