SECTION IV FOOTBALL: SVEC PLAYOFF HOPES DOUSED WITH LOSS TO TIOGA (24 PHOTOS) (2025-10-31)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
TIOGA CENTER — Tioga dominated play in the trenches and racked up several big offensive plays to rout of Spencer-Van Etten/Candor, 36-7, and clinch the Division VII title in Section IV football action at Haggerty Field here Friday night.

SVEC coach Gino Martone credited the play of the Tigers’ big men.

“They always have that strength on the inside that we just can't ever quite match and the same thing happened again this year,” he said. “They went up front and we knew coming into the game that was going to be the battle. If we could control that a little bit better, we would have had a chance here, and we just didn't execute and couldn't quite keep up with them.

“It comes back to them,” Martino said. “You know, they're well coached over there and they execute real well. Those guys up front, they're tough and they move and they move. They move the defensive line. They move that line of scrimmage and when you can do that consistently, it's hard to stop it. They get long runs off of it. We just weren't able to do that today to match them.”

Leading, 14-7, Tioga pulled away in the second half on the strength of a pair of third-quarter touchdowns.

The first was a 41-yard TD run by Jayden Duncanson on the third play of the third period. Logan Bellis converted the PAT run for a 22-7 lead at 10:32. The score was set up by Kadin Cole’s 23-yard kickoff return to the SVEC 49.

The Tigers' defense came up big on the Eagles’ ensuing possession, stopping Logan Aman a yard short on fourth-and-two at the Tioga 38 near the midway point of the quarter.

“It was a drive killer, literally,” Martino said. “In that second half there, I think they came out and scored on the opening drive, so we had to get something going, and when they held us there, it did take the momentum out of our sails a little bit. I don't think we hung our heads too quickly on that, but it definitely hurt us for sure.”

A 27-yard gain by Max Stauder and a 13-yard keeper by Jack Bombard highlighted a 62-yard drive capped by Stauder’s 1-yard run, making it 28-7 with 1:06 on the clock.

Four plays later, Cole intercepted Jakobe Foster at the Tioga 27 on the final play of the quarter, then Dominic Palmer bolted up the middle for a 36-yard TD run on the second play of the final stanza. Bombard’s PAT run made it 36-7 just 53 seconds into the quarter.

Duncanson added an interception and Connor Streeter recovered a fumble on SVEC’s final two possessions of the game.

The Tiger defense stepped up early in the game, plugging holes to force the Eagles into a three-and-out on the game’s opening possession.

Foster’s 49-yard punt would bounce into the end zone for a touchback and Tioga would turn it into an 80-yard scoring drive highlighted by a 19-yard Bellis run, a 17-yard run from Cole and Bombard passes of 23 yards to Palmer and 17 yards to Stauder. Stauder would cap the drive with a 3-yard TD run and Bellis ran for the PAT and an 8-0 advantage at 8:12.

SVEC marched 52 yards to the Tioga 11 before Cole tackled Foster for a two-yard loss and an incomplete pass snuffed out the drive.

Despite a 15-yard penalty and Rodney Vaow’s sack of Bombard, the Tigers would move the pigskin 87 yards to paydirt and a 14-0 advantage. Bellis had big runs of 11, 19 and 18 yards, and Bombard tacked on an 18-yard keeper before Bellis scored from two yards out at 5:59 of the opening period.

The Eagles responded with a 72-yard drive to trim the gap to 14-7. Aman opened things up with a 15-yard run, then capped it when it broke free for a 38-yard dash down the sideline. Jak Smith converted the PAT kick with 3:01 on the clock.

Teagan Kwiatkowski picked off Bombard at the SVEC 10, then Cole returned the favor, snagging the first of his two interceptions at the Eagles’ 45 with 10 seconds remaining in the first half.

The victory gave the Tigers their 13th division title since coach Nick Aiello took over the program in 2010.

Tioga (8-1, 5-0 division) piled up 442 yards of offense. The Tigers picked up double-digit yardage on 14 plays while the defense allowed SVEC just 191 yards and three double-digit gains.

Bellis carried the rock 15 times for 144 yards, Stauder had nine runs for 56, Duncanson had two for 47, Cole contributed three rushes for 37 yards, Palmer chipped in with one rush for 36 yards, Bombard added three for 25, and Brendan Clark, Streeter, Caden Bradley, Josh Rought and Shane Platukis combined for 46 on nine rushes.

Bombard went 3-for-7 through the air for 62 yards. Palmer caught two passes for 45 yards and Stauder had one reception for 17 yards.

Aman finished with 103 yards on 20 carries for SVEC (6-3, 3-2 division).Foster had 31 on six rushes, Charlie Hilbert added 26 on seven runs, Owen Beach had one carry for 23 yards, and Landon Lawrence and Landon Whitmarsh tacked on one 6-yard run each. SVEC is tentatively set to play Johnson City in a crossover game next week while Tioga takes the No. 1 seed to JC to face Deposit/Hancock in a Class D playoff game.

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