Tioga County Sports ReportTIOGA COUNTY — Owego needed to pull off a pair of upsets to win its first-ever Section IV title, and then another one register the program's first-ever state playoff win. On Saturday, it will need the biggest upset of all to reach the program's first-ever state finals.
The River Hawks, ranked 18th, topped 9th-ranked Maine-Endwell, 19-16, on a fourth-quarter pick-6 in the Section IV, Class B semifinals, then Owego (ranked 14th) rolled over 7th-ranked Waverly, 27-7, in the Class B championship game.
Last week, the River Hawks, ranked 7th in the state, let a 33-13 third-quarter lead slip away, but senior QB Garrett Phelps engineered a drive in the final two minutes, and junior Dylan Brace's 20-yard field goal lifted Owego to a 36-34 win over fourth-ranked New Hartford with 3 seconds remaining.
Owego, now 9-3, enters Saturday's game ranked fifth in the state, while Section V champ Monroe is 10-0 and sits atop the Class B rankings.
Monroe advanced to the semifinals with a 40-14 win over Lackawanna in the Far West Region championship game.
Monroe's 10-0 mark includes just two wins over teams that finished above .500 on the season. Monroe's opponents on the season had a 25-44 record.
The Red Jackets outscored their opponents 452-25 on the season, or by an average of 45.2 to 2.5 points per game.
Junior QB Footy Cunningham completed 75.2 percent of his passes this season for 2,466 yards, and 34 TDs, with just five interceptions.
His top target is Oregon-bound wideout Messiah Hampton (6-1, 200 pounds), who had 57 receptions for 952 yards and 11 TDs. Junior Ray Garcia had 26 grabs for 528 yards and seven TDs, and senior Luis Falu has 22 catches for 501 yards, and nine TDs.
Senior Jermaine Montgomery was Monroe's top runner with 346 yards and three TDs on 41 carries, while Garcia had 303 yards and four TDs on 30 carries, and junior Deshean Thomas added 281 yards and two TDs on 38 carries).
For the River Hawks, Brace leads a ground game that averages 221.6 yards per game with 1,217 yards and 11 TDs on 208 carries, while Phelps has 684 yards and six TDs on 140 carries, senior Stefano Scherrer has 262 yards and one TD on 44 carries, and senior John Farrell has 251 yards and six TDs on 43 carries.
Phelps has completed 49.5 percent of his passes this season for 572 yards, and two TDs, with seven interceptions.
Atlas Boland is Owego's top receiver with 15 catches for 192 yards, and Farrell has 12 grabs for 190 yards, and two TDs.
Christien Franklin and Jermaine Montgomery led Monroe in tackles with 88 and 87, respectively, while Anthony Omebe has 11 QB sacks and 19 tackles-for-loss, Zhiere McKnight has six sacks and 12 tackles-for-loss, and D'Markos Trammell and James Brumfield registered five and four interceptions, respectively.
Kickoff is 3 p.m.
