The 0-2 Tioga Bulldogs, still hunting for their first win of the 2025 season, return home to face the undefeated Lone Oak Buffaloes on Friday.
The Buffaloes roll into Bulldog Stadium fresh off a shut out 56-0 home win over the Big Sandy Wildcats on Sept. 12, where they generated over 400 yards of total offense and 8 touchdowns.
“They’re 3-0 for a reason,” said Zach Birdwell, Tioga athletic director and head football coach. “Their a good ball club; it’s why they’re on the schedule. They have a quarterback that’s been their guy for a while, and nine of their 11 starters on the defensive side are seniors, and they play like it. … I’ve been extremely impressed with them on film, and they’re one more really good test for us before we kick the real season off in district next week.”
Lone Oak’s offense, led by quarterback Slayde Parnell, who threw for 1,510 yards passing and 23 touchdowns before being injured late last season, will arrive in Tioga averaging over 40 points a game.
“We have our work cut out for us this week with another really good offense, but there’s some really good offenses in our district,” Birdwell said. “We’re going to see a high-powered offense in Tom Bean, a division one running back and 6-foot-8 quarterback that can sling it in Wolfe City, and we’re going to see a new look from Alvord with their power running attack. We want to continue to test ourselves in nondistrict, so nothing really catches us off guard the rest of the season.”
On the flip side, the Tioga’s offense, which struggled to move the ball consistently in its season opener against Collinsville, found a spark in their most recent game with Edgewood, racking up over 500 yards of total offense.
“In that fourth quarter, we kind of got back to how we’ve been in the past— a little more spread a little more up tempo,” Birdwell said. “… Now, rolling into this week, we have the task of finding what have we done well these last two years that we can still operate with the personnel we have, what we want to continue from these first three weeks and to find a good blend of both rolling into district.”
Birdwell emphasized that the Bulldogs are still locked in on their own growth and season long goals.
“We have the end vision in mind and that’s what we’re focused on,” he said. “Instead of week by week, our eyes are set on keeping that district championship stand coming back here and being ready to make a playoff run, so I don’t think there’s any extra motivation this week. We have a whole lot of guys that didn’t get to play last year, so our kids are just excited to get another chance to compete.”
Tioga and Lone Oak will get their game underway at 7 p.m. Friday.
