TIOGA BULLDOGS
Fresh off their first win of the season, the 1-2 Tioga Bulldogs now set their sights on a familiar foe as they prepare to host the 2-1 Tom Bean Tomcats at Bulldog Stadium on Friday.
The Tomcats won last year’s shootout with the Bulldogs, 47-38, and roll into this year’s matchup riding a two-game win streak, with victories over Cumby and Valley View.
“They’re a quality ball club, which is the reason they have two wins under their belt so far this season,” said Zach Birdwell, Tioga athletic director and head football coach. “They graduated some key pieces, but they reloaded …, and they do some stuff really well scheme-wise, so it's another chance for us to play a good [team] and make sure we’re continuing to take the right steps.”
Tom Bean’s offense is led by quarterback Henry Cheek, who has racked up 790 yards of total offense and 9 touchdowns through three games.
“They have a really good quarterback who has a good arm and can make things happen with his feet, so first and foremost, we’re going to have to contain [him],” Birdwell said. 'He’s good on his feet and special when he gets out of the pocket, and their receivers are also good at coming back to him and finding open windows.”
Birdwell emphasized that eliminating the Tom Bean’s big plays could go a long way toward helping the Bulldogs' defense slow down a Tomcat offense that scored 39 points in Week 3 and 67 points in Week 2.
“They have some weapons, especially No. 1 Cain Pearson, that we’re going to have to watch out for,” he said. “We need to make them sustain double- digit play drives all the way down the field because if we can eliminate the selfinflicted mistakes, we like our chances on defense versus anyone.”
Defensively the Tom Bean is led by linebacker Tony Secreto, who has 28 total tackles, and Pearson, who also leads the secondary with 3 interceptions.
The Bulldogs’ offense had their best performance in Week 3, with 278 yards and 3 touchdowns, but will also face a tall test against a Tomcat offense that posted shutouts in back-toback weeks.
“We’re looking to take the next step this week and do what we do while taking care of the football: attack the box when we get numbers, throw and catch, and we have to take care of the football,” Birdwell said. “We’ve had glimpses of it, but we haven’t put it all together, and we’re looking to this week.”
Tioga and Tom Bean are scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. Friday at Bulldog Stadium in Tioga.
