SECTION IV FOOTBALL: UNFAZED BY GRADUATION LOSSES, OWEGO COACH EXPECTS TO BE COMPETITIVE (2025-08-18)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Despite heavy graduation losses, Owego coach Patton Taylor thinks he has the makings for another competitive campaign.

“It's still early, but right now things are looking very positive,” he said. “We're pretty optimistic about this season.”

The River Hawks went 8-2 in 2024, their only setbacks coming against powerhouse nemesis Maine-Endwell.

“We graduated 19 last year, but the beauty of last season was we were able to build depth and experience with some of the returning players,” Taylor said. “We lost a lot, but I think we're also gaining a lot too. We're going to be more experienced than people think we are.

“We definitely have new faces this year. The energy so far has been fantastic. With this incoming senior class, they've done a fantastic job of kind of picking up the torch from last year's team and making their own mark on the program.”

The numbers at Owego are pretty good again.

“Right now, between JV varsity, we're kind of hovering right around 62, 63,” Taylor said. “We’ve got some kids getting signed up still, so I would like to see that number get closer to 70. Right now we have a decent turnout.”

Taylor says the experience level is spread out with 15-18 players at each grade level.

Class B looks to be a little more competitive this season with a solid Waverly team coming up from the Class C ranks. M-E graduated more than 20 players, but is one of those programs that just seems to reload every year. Also in Class B are Johnson City and Norwich.

Owego will get a good test in its season opener when it visits Chenango Forks on Sept. 5.

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IN PHOTO 1: Dylan Brace should get his hands on the pigskin a lot this season. IN TOP PHOTO: Patton Taylor is optimistic about the River Hawks this fall. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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