The Tioga Bulldogs football team’s hunt for their first win of the season ended in success, with the Bulldogs stomping the Trenton Buffaloes 47-7 on Sept. 19.
A little home cooking was all the Bulldogs needed to find their footing, with their offense generating over 500 yards of total offense and their defense forcing 4 turnovers in the win.
“It’s been a four-week journey getting here, and our kids, they trusted that we would have a plan, and they trusted this process,” said Zach Birdwell, Tioga athletic director and head football coach. “We told them if we continue to set our daily habits, we continue to show up, work and trust what we’ve been laying out; eventually the process is going to love us back, and [it] showed us a little love tonight.”
Tioga received the opening kickoff and scored on their opening possession with a short 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Greeley McAden, putting the Bulldogs up 6-0 after a failed 2-point conversion attempt.
Lone Oak drove into Tioga territory on their ensuing possession, but the Buffaloes stalled out in the red zone and missed their field goal attempt.
After the Buffaloes missed field goal attempt, the Bulldogs took over at their own 20-yard line, and on the next play from scrimmage, McAden corralled a bobbled shotgun snap and sliced through Lone Oak’s defense for an 80-yard house call.
Tioga went for 2 after the touchdown, and McAden successfully carried the ball around the edge of Lone Oak’s defense, giving the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
McAden rumbled through a pair of Buffalo defenders and into the end zone in the second quarter for the Bulldogs’ third touchdown of the game, sending the two teams into the half with Tioga up 20-0.
Tioga continued to pour on the points in the third quarter, with an 83-yard touchdown run by McAden, an interception returned 67 yards for a touchdown by defensive back Quesyn Arrington and an 11-yard touchdown reception by receiver Justin Arrington.
The three touchdowns doubled the Bulldogs’ lead to 40-0 as the game entered the fourth quarter.
Tioga running back Jonathan Hernandez powered his way into the end zone from 4 yards out for the Bulldogs’ final touchdown.
Lone Oak would find the end zone during garbage time, but Tioga held on to take the 47-7 victory.
McAden, who led Tioga’s offense with 465 yards of total offense and 5 touchdowns, credited his performance to his coaches and his teammates.
“It’s a result of trusting the process and trusting the guys around me,” he said. “We’ve really grown this last month and a half, and it’s just been vital for us to really trust everything that Coach Birdwell and the staff have set up for us.”
Bulldogs safety Caden Downing spearhead Tioga’s defense with 5 total tackles and 2 INTs, followed by Quesyn, who had 3 tackles, 2 INTs and a defensive touchdown.
“We did a lot of preparation to be able to do what we did tonight,” Downing said. “… We worked a lot of individual drills and focused on keeping our eyes disciplined, which helped us know where the receivers were and when to make a play on the ball.”
Despite the fireworks Tioga displayed in the win, Birdwell emphasized that the Bulldogs are focused on “habits over hype” as they prepare for their district opener.
“We’ve preached that from Day 1,” he said. “There were a lot of negative things the first four weeks, and we could have very easily fallen into that trap, … but we didn’t. We stuck together, and we trusted the blueprint that’s been set out, and at the end of the day, our kids are confident because of what we’ve been through, so my message to the team is to continue to have those elite daily habits, and we’ll continue to produce on game night.
