SPRINGTOWN, Texas — When Tioga reinstated football in 2012, Cody Patton had been promoted to the position of head football after years as an assistant. This job description however did not include the title of athletic director, as most small schools in Texas tend to do.
After being turned down for the role the following season, the coach began searching elsewhere for the coveted title. He found one in Tioga, located southwest of Sherman-Denison.
Having only learned the program would be revived as a six-man program after applying, Patton considered turning down the job. Having no prior experience in six-man, he attended coaching classes to learn about the sport.
Some valuable knowledge must have been taught, as the Bulldogs are now competing in the fourth round of the postseason in 2017.
Tioga’s steady climb to success has been a sight to see, with the Bulldogs now one round further than in 2016. Patton credited the steady improvement to his assistant coaches, offensive coach Roy Mejia and defensive coordinator Terry Wolf. Both, also were former Holliday coaches.
“It’s hard to be successful year after year when you don’t have the same coaching staff coming back every year,” Patton said. “The kids have been wonderful also, they’ve always believed in what we wanted to get accomplished.”
Tioga’s successes this season were evident, with the Bulldogs only loss coming as a forfeit in what could have been a slugfest with Fort Worth THESA. The team did earn solid wins over Saint Jo in the season opener, and a 51-6 dispatching of Newcastle.
“Non-district is always interesting,” Patton said. “Preseason is a time where you want to correct your fundamental errors, and you’re trying to find where everyone’s going to fit.”
The Bulldogs claimed the district title as well, shutting out two of their three opponents in this portion of the schedule.
“As a coach, you want to try to get your team to reach its best play at the end of the season,” Patton explained. “We wanted to try to get rid of mental errors, and shoot us into the playoffs to build off of that. It’s been a really neat year how things have fallen into place.”
Tioga has one of the more exciting postseason performances under their belt. With close wins over strong Blum and Gilmer Union Hill squads as the highlights.
“Blum is probably the scariest team we played all year. They’re a well coached and really solid team,” Patton remarked. “I have a lot of respect for Union Hill, they have one of the better backs in the state of Texas. It was a shame there had to be a loser in that one. It was a great game and a great experience. All three teams we played are top-notch programs.”
The highlight of Tioga’s offense is a grinding run game, with three rushers racking up more than 200 yards on the season. The unit is led by Cade Kimbrell, who has torched defenses with 1,627 yards and 32 touchdowns.
The Bulldogs shape up to be another strong offense in Jonesboro’s 2017 season. The Eagles started out with a shutout over a 10-win Iredell team, and rebounded nicely from their week two loss to Milford. They haven’t lost since.
“We graduated nine seniors, so we knew there would be some holes,” Jonesboro coach Eddie Gallegos said. “But we knew we had guys to fill those holes. They started finding their form and playing better. We played a challenging schedule the past two seasons.
“We felt like it got us ready for district and later on in the playoffs. A lot of those teams had a lot coming back and were a little better this year. We made it out healthy, so we felt like it was definitely a benefit for us.”
10-1A DI was a deep district as well, with the Eagles, playoff round winner Zephyr and an improved Evant team. Jonesboro however pulled away to claim the title, holding the former two to 12 and eight points respectively.
“The district schedule wasn’t any easier, there were quality teams and dang good coaches within it,” Gallegos said. “Week one to week 11, we were challenged every week, we knew we had to prepare. That led into us getting ready for a playoff run.”
The Eagles are through to the fourth round after downing strong Bryson and May teams in the past two outings. The latter in a seven-point slugfest.
Jonesboro’s running back corps is just as deep and potent as their opponents, with the Eagles featuring four rushers with more than 450 yards on the season. Leading the unit is Wyatt Young, who has 2,333 yards and 38 touchdowns this season. Not too far behind, junior Ethan Lillijedahl has tallied 1,046 yards and 22 scores in 2017.
“We feel like the offense has gotten better as the season went on,” Gallegos said. “They got more comfortable and at ease as the season went on.”
Patton praised Jonsboro as did Gallegos in our interviews. The respect the two have for each other will show Friday night.
“Their coaching staff is extremely professional, they have a great approach to what they do,” Patton stated of the Eagles. “The kids are fundamentally sound. They have big, strong kids who’ll have us outweighed and outmanned. The backs they have aren’t ones you can give one bump to and knock them down. We have to be really good tacklers this week.”
“I’ve definitely been impressed,” Gallegos noted of the Bulldogs. “They’re physical and they get after it. They have some speed and a couple running backs who run hard. They can grind it out; it’ll definitely be another challenge for us.”
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