By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
TIOGA CENTER — In a game that featured 112 points and more than 1,000 yards of total offense, Tioga scored in the closing seconds to sew up a 62-50 win over Groton here Friday night in Section IV, Division VII football action at Haggerty Field.
With the win, Tioga clinches a share of the division title, and will win its ninth straight division title outright with a victory over winless SVEC next week.
"The goals our guys set in the beginning of this season are right in front of them now," said Tioga coach Jake Howland. "There's a lot of drive, a lot of hunger to keep the pedal down and just keep winning games."
The Tigers gave up 523 yards in total offense to the Red Hawks, but amassed 533 yards of their own.
"Thank goodness for our offense," said Howland. "Our offense prepared like crazy throughout the week of practice, tightening the screws on a lot of plays that we've kept for the last few weeks.
"Thank goodness for them keeping us in the game," he noted. "Defensively, we have screws to tighten, but we threw a lot at our guys defensively, kind of a funky game plan that maybe they weren't as prepared for as I thought. And you know, I'll take that one."
The Tiger defense did come up with a pair of key stops on Red Hawk two-point conversions in the second half.
"It was gut-check time in the fourth quarter," said Howland. "For them to really bear down and understand that this game's not over till the clock reads zero was huge.
"We only got a couple of big stops, but it was enough," he noted. "We had our opportunities , and that's kind of frustrating, but I told our guys all week that's what Groton can do to you.
"They're outstanding," he added. "They have a lot of talent in the skill positions. The receivers are nasty. Their quarterback and running back are nasty. It's hard to contain everybody."
Tioga pounded out 459 yards on the ground on 44 carries in the win.
"All the credit to our line for really blocking their tails off for four quarters and executing the game plan," said Howland. "It was a tough game, and a tough defense to prepare for because they show you a lot of different stuff.
"When we had the ball on offense, thank goodness we could kind of do whatever we wanted to because it kept us in the game," added Howland. "It was just execution that kept us in this ballgame and ultimately got us the win."
Senior Max Stauder led Tioga with a career-high 233 rushing yards and three TDs on 19 carries, while senior Caden Bradley ran for 115 yards and two TDs on eight carries, senior QB Jackson Bombard had 111 yards and two TDs on seven carries, and senior Shane Platukis added 88 yards on nine carries.
Bombard also completed 3 of 4 passes for 74 yards, and one TD. Freshman Carson LaBour had two catches for 20 yards, and junior Brendan Clark had a 54-yard TD grab.
Groton got off to a quick start, scoring just 49 seconds into the contest on a three-play 66-yard drive to take a 6-0 lead.
The Tigers appeared to have a quick answer when Platukis broke loose on a 52-yard run to the Red Hawk 4, but two plays later Tioga coughed up the ball at the Groton 1.
The Red Hawks moved the ball down the field on a possession that milked more than 5 1/2 minutes from the game clock, but LaBour's interception of a Kameron McClain pass in the end zone gave the Tigers the ball back at their 20.
Three plays later, Bombard connected with Clark on a 54-yard TD pass to tie the game with 2:15 remaining in the first quarter. Bombard's pass to LaBour on the conversion gave the Tigers an 8-6 lead.
McClain did most of the damage on Groton's next drive, and capped the nine-play drive with a 2-year TD run with 11 seconds remaining in the opening stanza. His toss to Colin Brockway gave the Red Hawks a 14-8 lead.
Bradley broke loose on an apparent 62-yard TD run on Tioga's first play of its next possession, but a block-in-the-back call brought the ball back out to the Groton 42.
Five plays later, Stauder scored on a 14-yard TD run to tie the game at 14-14 with 9:32 left in the half.
A penalty and a QB sack by junior Mark McCane resulted in the only punt of the game on Groton's next possession, and Tioga took advantage — overcoming a pair of penalties in the process — with a six-play, 49-yard scoring drive, capped by Bradley's 38-yard TD run with 3:04 remaining in the half.
Stauder's run for conversion made it 22-14.
Groton hit on a 49-yard pass from McClain to Lane Darling on the first play of its next possession, then scored four plays later on a 13-yard connection between the same duo with 1:11 remaining. A conversion pass tied the game at 22-22.
Tioga only needed two plays — a 38-yard run by Bombard, and a 25 TD run by Bradley — and 29 seconds to answer. Bombard's pass to LaBour for the conversion made it 30-22.
Bradley ran for 106 yards and two TDs on just four carries in the first half.
"It's always good to get (Bradley) going," said Howland. "He only gets a handful of touches a game lately, so when he does get the ball, especially today, to see him really, really have a lot of fun out here and execute his few plays was a lot of fun to watch. It was an outstanding effort."
Tioga had the ball to start the second half with a chance to make it a two-score game, but a botched exchange on a double-handoff resulted in a fumble that the Red Hawks pounced on at the 50.
The rest of the game was a series of quick scoring drives until Tioga's final possession.
Groton tied the game with a five-play, 50-yard drive capped by Darling's 1-yard TD run, and a conversion pass to make it 30-30.
Tioga answered with a quick two-play scoring drive that consisted of a 66-yard run by Stauder, followed by his 9-yard TD run with 7:51 remaining in the third quarter. Stauder's run for conversion made it 38-30.
Groton's next possession saw McClain completed three straight passes 39 yards, and run the ball twice for 20 yards, including a 9-yard TD run, in a five play, 59-yard scoring drive. Another conversion pass made it 38-38.
Once again, Tioga needed just two plays — runs of 5 and 57 by Stauder — to regain the lead. Stauder's run for conversion made it 46-38 with 3:55 left in the third quarter.
McClain was 4-for-4 for 44 yards, including 16-yard TD pass to Jerome Turner with 48 seconds remaining in the third quarter, and ran the ball once for 11 yards in Groton's next drive.
McClain's pass for conversion sailed high, and Tioga led 46-44.
Tioga's next possession was a six-play scoring drive that covered 62 yards, and featured runs of 14 yards by Stauder, 17 yards by Platukis, and Bombard's 21-yard TD run with 8:58 remaining in the game. Stauder's run for conversion made it 54-44.
Tioga was on the verge of icing the win after two QB sacks — the first by seniors James Howey, Derek Mills and Gavin Kithcart, and the second by Howey — and an incomplete pass put the Red Hawks in a fourth-and-19 hole, but McClain eluded pressure on fourth down and hooked up with Turner on a 65-yard TD pass with 6:51 remaining in the game.
Groton conversion attempt failed again, and Tioga led 54-50.
Groton never ran another offensive play as Tioga chewed up all but the final 4 seconds of the game on its ensuing possession.
Tioga converted a fourth-and-4 early in the drive with a 7-yard pass from Bombard to LaBour, then picked up two more first downs before facing a fourth-and-18 with 10.4 seconds remaining.
After a Tiger timeout, Bombard sliced through the Red Hawk defense on a 25-yard scamper for a TD with 3.8 seconds remaining. Stauder again did the honors on the conversion to make it 62-50.
McClain completed 17 of 24 passes for 351 yards and three TD, and also rushed for 82 yards and two TDs on 17 carries.
Darling ran the ball 11 times for 82 yards and two TDs, and also had eight receptions for 127 yards and one TD.
Turner had three grabs for 111 yards and two TDs for the Red Hawks, and Brockway had five catches for 60 yards.
Howland tipped his cap to his team after the win. After an 0-2 start, Tioga has won five in a row.
"That 0-2 start kind of showed us where we needed to be," he said. "You know it really lit a spark under their rears and you can see what happened.
"This team has a lot of drive," noted Howland. "I give all the credit to the kids because they never quit.
"They understand the mentality of getting better every day, and you're seeing that translate to the game field," added Howland. "I'm super-proud of them."
Tioga, now 5-2, returns to action Friday at SVEC (0-7).
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga QB Jackson Bombard. IN TOP PHOTO: Tioga's Max Stauder. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
