In the latest edition of the “Battle of the Bridge” between Collinsville and Tioga, the Collinsville Pirates defeated the Tioga Bulldogs 36-20 on Aug. 28.
The victory marked the fourth straight year that the Pirates have beaten their cross-lake rival.
“Our defense came out great, and our offense started a little slow, but we kicked things up in the second half,” Collinsville junior quarterback Jaxon Jenkins said. “Halftime really helped us come together as a team and find a way to win, but it was a hard-fought game by both teams.”
Tioga got the ball first, moving the ball to the Pirate 38-yard line before Collinsville linebacker Paxton Davidson intercepted a pass from Bulldogs’ quarterback Caden Collinsville then drove all the way to the Bulldogs’ 1-yard line before a fumble gave the ball back to Tioga.
The Bulldogs went three-and-out, and a short punt gave the Pirates the ball on the Bulldogs’ 26yard line.
Seven plays later, Jenkins threw a 3-yard strike to Jaxon Spivey for the first Pirate score of the 2025 regular season.
Kicker Isaiah Smith nailed the point after, and with only 44 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, Collinsville had a 7-0 lead.
That lead would be short-lived, as on the ensuing kickoff, Tioga return man Greeley McAden caught the ball on his own 9-yard line and sprinted 91 yards to pay dirt.
Downing then ran the ball for the 2-point conversion, giving the Bulldogs an 8-7 lead.
The two teams traded possessions for the remainder of the second quarter, with neither team finding the end zone, and Tioga holding a slim lead going into halftime.
Collinsville retook the lead in the third quarter when Davidson caught a short pass from Jenkins and turned it into a 61yard touchdown, followed by a 2-point conversion by running back Brandon Cantu that put the Pirates up 15-8.
After a sluggish start in the first three quarters, both offenses took off in the fourth, with the teams combining to score 33 points in the final quarter.
Collinsville got the scoring salvo started with an 11-play drive punctuated by a Jenkins 5-yard touchdown run, capped by a Smith point after, giving the Pirates a two-score lead.
Tioga refused to go away quietly, with McAden scoring two more long touchdowns: a 64yard receiving score and a 53-yard rushing score.
The Pirates would add two more touchdowns themselves, a 1-yard run by Chase Sheppard and a game-clinching 22-yard pass from Jenkins to Davidson, that sealed the win 36-20 for Collinsville.
Garrett Patterson, Collinsville athletic director and head football coach, said he hopes the Pirates will use the close win as an opportunity to grow as a team.
“We learned a huge lesson tonight because we lost some valuable leaders last year: Garrett Trevino and Cash Morgan, guys like that,” he said. “So, we had to grow up a little bit and develop our leadership. We hadn't done that up until this point, but tonight we had a great lesson. We had some leaders step up, and it kind of proved itself in the second half, so we’re really proud of those guys.”
Team leaders for the Pirates were Jenkins with 244 yards passing, 3 touchdown passes and 1 touchdown run.
Sheppard led all Pirate runners with 75 yards and a touchdown, while in the receiving category, Paxton Davidson tallied 89 yards and two scores, Chad Davidson added 59 yards, and Spivey had 55 yards and a touchdown.
Zach Birdwell, Tioga athletic director and head football coach, said he was proud of the way his team performed in the season opener after losing starting quarterback Cole Boyd for the season with an injury suffered in the team’s scrimmage with Pilot Point on Aug. 21.
“I saw our kids putting our brand on display tonight—on the field and on the sidelines, energetic and bringing the juice out there,” he said. “They were confident in the game plan, they were out there competing, and we’re going to hit that fourth core value, ‘being elite,’ eventually. We have a long way to go, but this group has the mind and the ability to get there.”
McAden led the Bulldogs, accounting for 266 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns.
Despite the loss, Birdwell said he told his team to keep their heads up after the game and that the Bulldogs have a lot of season still ahead of them.
“They do every single thing that's asked of them, and you’d love for it to pay off on a night like tonight, but it's going to pay off when it really matters. We have an unbelievable group of kids. They have big things ahead of them, and I love them. We will get there, and when we do, it's going to be awesome.”
Collinsville will hit the road to face the Cooper Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Friday, while Tioga will look to rebound at home against the Ponder Lions at 7 p.m. Friday.
Assistant editor Martin Edwards contributed to this report.
