Owego Free Academy secured the first Section 4 football championship in school history with a 27-7 triumph over Waverly in the Class B final Nov. 15 at Susquehanna Valley.
The River Hawks avenged a 14-7 regular-season loss to Waverly following a semifinal victory over a Maine-Endwell program that had played in four consecutive state finals. M-E also beat Owego during the regular season after topping the River Hawks in last year’s sectional final.
Friday’s victory was again spearheaded by the defense, which has now held 7 of 11 opponents to single-digit scoring.
The River Hawks took a 13-7 halftime advantage then added a touchdown in each of the final two quarters.
Dylan Brace led the Owego offense with 148 yards and two touchdowns on 19 rushes. His first TD was a 1-yard run and his second a 48-yarder that put Owego up 20-7 early in the third quarter.
Nolan Card started the scoring for Owego with a 41-yard interception return that put Owego up 7-0 three offensive plays into the game.
Ben Shaw had a 3-yard TD run for Waverly (9-2).
Owego (8-3) will face Section 3 champion New Hartford (11-0) in a state quarterfinal at 3 p.m. Nov. 22 at Vestal’s Dick Hoover Stadium.
Class D final: Tioga 44, Trumansburg 28
Logan Bellis ran for four second-half touchdowns Saturday as Tioga Central regained its position as top Class D team in Section 4 with a victory over Trumansburg at Susquehanna Valley.
Dominic Palmer (14 yards) and Max Stauder (34 yards) had first-half touchdown runs to help Tioga lead 16-6 at halftime.
Bellis’ second TD early in the fourth quarter gave the Tigers a 30-14 lead. He added a 48-yard touchdown for a 38-14 advantage less than two minutes later, then scored again with 6:47 left.
The game was delayed by lightning with 6:57 remaining.
The Tigers, ranked first in Class D by the New York State Sports Writers Association, won three straight Class D state titles before falling to Delhi in last year’s sectional championship.
Tioga (10-1) will play Section 3 champion Lowville (11-0) in a state quarterfinal at 5 p.m. Nov. 21 at Vestal.
8-man final: Unatego/Franklin/GMU 40, Moravia 20
Joe Sargent and Zack Sousa each scored three touchdowns Friday as Unatego/Franklin/Gilbertsville-Mount Upton downed Moravia in the Section 4 8-man championship game at Susquehanna Valley.
Moravia, which lost 32-29 to Unatego/Franklin/GMU during the regular season, finished with a 7-3 record after making it to the state final last year.
Unatego/Franklin/GMU (10-1) will play Section 9 champion Eldred in a state semifinal tentatively scheduled for noon Nov. 22 at Eldred High School. Eldred beat Sullivan West, 76-60, in the Section 9 final.
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Owego downs Waverly for first Section 4 football title; Tioga claims Class D championship
Reporting by Andrew Legare, Elmira Star-Gazette / Elmira Star-Gazette
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