Quantcast
OVERALL

0-0

PCT

0

CONF.

0-0

PCT

0

STREAK

W0

HOME

0-0

AWAY

0-0

NEUTRAL

0-0

Tioga 45 Harpursville 20

Posted On: Tuesday, October 15, 2013
By: Sherm McElwain

Published in the Binghamton Press, October 13, 2013

HARPURSVILLE — It would appear most all is well in the football headquarters of Tioga Central, New York’s second-ranked Class D team up to a 6-0 record with Saturday’s 45-20 thumping of seventh-ranked
Harpursville.

Let the record reflect 392 rushing yards on a per-carry average of 7.7 for the Tigers, who accounted for the first 25 points in a game that attracted a heartier-than-usual gathering and made for an atmosphere not
experienced in recent memory at Harpursville.

Of Tioga’s seven touchdowns, four came from 28 or more yards, which is to suggest that this offense has some quick-strike pizzazz to complement its pound-on-the-ground signature.

Victory No. 6 this season — and No. 25 in their past 28 games — brought the Tigers a fourth consecutive weekend with 44 or more points.

Leading man this time out was Jesse Manuel, who piled up 262 rushing yards on 27 carries. In fact, 180 of those yards were in the book by halftime.

Enter backfield mate Brad Jump, a 5-foot-4, legs-churning plugger who gained all but 14 of his 105-yard rushing total in the second half. That was when Manuel concentrated a good bit on his defensive duties, and made the second of his two interceptions.

The Hornets (5-1) got 186 passing yards from Devon Dean, who delivered two of his three scoring passes in the final quarter after Tioga’s lead had been built to a sturdy 32-6. Dean completed 13 of 28 passes — 10 of
the connections after halftime when there was little choice but to throw and throw some more.

“It’s very easy to get up on a team and just get, not lazy but just get a little flat and wish that the game was over,” Tigers coach Nick Aiello said. “It’s something we talk about, that when you’re up on a team you’ve really got to put the pedal down and seal up the win. I think that’s something we’re going to have to address and maybe even practice.”

Not that Tioga’s lead was threatened. It’s that such matters will need shoring up if this big-bodied, highly talented cast of potential program history makers is to realize its goal.

A 54-yard rushing touchdown by Manuel with 8:52 elapsed brought the first points of a contest between teams that brought in per-game scoring averages of 29.3 (Hornets) and 36.5 (Tigers). But Tioga was simply
warming to the occasion.

The Tigers’ next possession began after an “oops” of a 14-yard Harpursville punt at their 36-yard line with 2:15 left in the first quarter. The third play brought a 28-yard pass from Ryan Vergason to tight end Josh
Kithcart to the hosts’ 23.

Manuel turned in a go-right-and-fight rush to the 6 on the final play of the first quarter, and Jump followed his preferred interior path across the goal line to open the second and make it 13-0.

A healthy helping of defense and five punts followed before Tioga took the football at its 42-yard line 3:10 before halftime. Jon Andrews’first-down sack of Vergason backed the Tigers to their 39, but on second down Manuel parlayed vision, footwork and desire into a 61-yard TD rush for a 19-0 lead that held through halftime.

To open the second half, Tioga went into full-out bash-and-bang mode for a 12-play, 56-yard scoring drive on which no play gained two-figure yardage. Jump crashed over the left side 5:34 into the half and it
was 25-0.

At the time, the Tigers’ only real shortcoming was failure to make good on three conversion tries.

“They really have a good team out here in Harpursville, I know they’ve been building on it for a while,” said Tigers lineman Carter Jackson, whose 287-pound frame spent an inordinate chunk of time as a valuable
blocking back. “They’ve got real big boys on the line, they’re bigger than they looked on film. They played hard, but we came out and did our thing like we thought we would.”

Um, C.J., about the Tigers’ “thing”?

“We like to hit — we’ve been taught that since the time we could play football, we love hitting, we love making people not want to hit us and that’s our favorite thing to do every day.”

The teams proceeded to trade touchdowns through the conclusion, three-per-side, five of them coming during a lengthy final quarter in which the Hornets’ Dean passed for 103 yards — 72 registered on a throw
underneath that Andrews turned into a touchdown reception in the first minute.

Andrews closed with five catches for 158 yards, further establishing his reputation as a high-grade playmaker.

“I was not surprised at how good Tioga was,” said Hornets coach Tim Petras. “We knew what they were running, and particularly in the first half we just couldn’t stop it. Those plays we’d rep’d 1,000 times during
practice. I was surprised at the execution and consistency of Tioga. I mean, they’re No. 2 in the state for a reason.”

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google +
  • email
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
Processing your request, Please wait....

Alerts

     

    Please log in to vote

    You need to log in to vote. If you already had an account, you may log in here

    Alternatively, if you do not have an account yet you can create one here.