For the fourth straight year the Tioga Tigers made it to the State Semifinals.  For the fourth straight year, that's where their season ended.  For the third straight year, that final loss was at the hands of Randolph.  For the third straight year, Randolph went on to become Class D State Champs.

This year, the Tigers are back and looking to make it back and past the State Semis.  Led by senior captain and Section IV's All-Time Leading rusher Jesse Manuel, this could very well be the year they get by their Section VI rival.

"It could very well be," Manuel said.  "It's just going to take a lot of hard work and effort on everyone's part and that's what it's going to take.  It's nothing easy and it's nothing you can see from week one.  You got to see how the team progresses."

"When you go into any season, you have certain goals set and with us, we don't like to look too far ahead," said Head Coach Nick Aiello.  "But we just keep the goal the same: be a champion and play like a champion and if you take care of those things, that's what puts you in a position at the end of the season to reach some goals you write down on paper."

Tioga starts the season on Friday night at home against Lansing.

The Chenango Forks Blue Devils have established that if you want to get to the Class C State Title game, you have to go through them.  Forks enters the 2015 season owning back-to-back state titles and while, in the same section as Maine-Endwell's four straight may seem pedestrian, it's impressive by any standard.  Head Coach Dave Hogan has been around the program long enough, and leading the Blue Devils for several years and knows the importance of football to the Forks community. 

Nothing would make the Blue Devils fans happier than a third straight state title, but there's a lot of ball to be played before then and as always, as cliche as it may sound, Hogan and the rest of the team insist that they're not getting ahead of themselves and just taking it "one game at a time."  But every week, you can expect the same hard work and the same passion that have become a long storied tradition of Forks football.

"It pays off in the end, winning games and stuff," said Cody Lamond, senior RB/DB.  "It really does pay off.  It's just exciting.  It's a great tradition here and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

"I think that's just our coaches and our community," said Tony Silvanic, senior TE/DE.  "We have the best of the best.  They push us and they make it fun and they show us the way.  It's just great to play here."


"Once you get back out here, you feel like you never left," Hogan said.  "Especially with this group.  I think we got a pretty special group here as far leadership and hard workers and it just makes it that much more enjoyable."

Forks begins the season on the road under the lights on Friday, September 3 at Oneonta.

The Union-Endicott Tigers have won the Class A Section IV Title for three straight years.  The last team that wasn't U-E to win a Class A Section Title was Maine-Endwell in the first year of their four year state title run before heading down to Class B.  Last year, U-E had an automatic bid for the Class A Title as the Tigers and the Vestal Golden Bears were the only two teams in Class A.

This year, if the Tigers want to keep their streak intact, it will be a much tougher task.  This year, the Tigers have to contend not only with bitter rival Vestal but M-E and Johnson City who have both moved up from Class B to Class A.

While this makes for a much tougher season, it only makes things more exciting.

 "With Vestal, U-E, Maine-Endwell, and JC, I mean all four of those teams are high quality teams," said Head Coach Tom Baleno.  "It's going to be very exciting.  We look forward to that challenge.  We look forward to having every game, every competition mean a little bit more.  It's almost like a playoff atmosphere right in the middle of the season which makes the weeks go by faster and more exciting."

U-E starts the season at home on Friday, September 4 against Class AA Elmira Express.

Let's go down a class to Class C and discuss the Greene Trojans. This team is entering the season after ending last year with three straight wins over Sidney, Whitney Point, and Harpursville. 

The boys up Route 12 are getting ready for a tough task in Division Four with Chenango Forks and Newark Valley fighting at the top for the past few years. The Trojans this year have a senior driven line with a lot of athletic weapons from Lucian Austin at tight end and Luke Erickson in the backfield. Greene had a tough time scoring for the first five weeks totaling 16 points in that span. But the last three games, the Trojans scored 99 points and they think the scoreboard will reflect those same numbers.

"We just want to finish off where we started last year. We ended the season 99-0 in points and we just want to build right off of that, ride the confidence we have, and first off all see how we do in the scrimmage and go from there," said Lucian Austin, Senior TE/LB. 

"The off the field stuff, our mental toughness, and leadership is a lot better than previous years," said Luke Erickson, Junior HB/S. 

"Last year as the year went on we got stronger offensively but that also coincided with stop turning the ball over. So hopefully, that will continue into this season," said Dave Gorton, Trojans Head Coach. 

For Week One they head out to Unatego-Franklin, a tough place to play because the Spartans always protect their house.

Our High School Football show Fourth and Goal is two weeks away and the previews this week just keep on coming. Let's go out on route 17 east and check out the Windsor Black Knights who look to improve on a 4-5 record last season. 

Windsor has some talent on the offensive side of the football. The line is filled with senior leadership and the wide receivers are led by Jordan Haven on the outside. Now the offense did their job a lot last season, they scored 20 or more points in all their victories but the defense is what had troubles. In losses, Windsor allowed an average of 36 points a contest. But that's not what the Black Knights are thinking about for 2015. 

"You probably know that Windsor hasn't been the best team in the past but this year we are hungry for a win and hungry for victory," said Nick Miller, Senior C/DT. 

"Definitely, we are hungry to win. Especially with young kids we are going to be a lot faster this year. I mean last year we didn't have a lot of speed. This year every has gotten faster and everyone has been working out all summer. We will definitely be a better team," said Jordan Haven, Junior WR/LB. 

"Our best athletes are our wide receivers. A lot of times we will have four of them so you know they want to throw the ball but if we had to let the ball out of the air and try to run as much as we can we can do that as well," said Tim Hogan, Black Knights Head Coach. 

The Black Knights have our game of the week for Week One as they head on the road to take on the Susquehanna Valley Sabers.

Now let's turn to a team that seems to sting everyone in their way before reaching the playoffs and that's the Harpursville-Afton Hornets. The blue and gold have many weapons returning on both sides of the ball.

Tim Petras and the gang get ready for another run with sophomore quarterback Tyler King. King takes over for senior captain Devon Dean from last year and King looks to take over an offense that averaged 22 points a contest. And there are 13 seniors on the roster that will make an impact as they work to get past the first round of the playoffs. Last year, they lost to Unatego-Franklin 60-14 and they will not be repeating that result this season.

"We are coming back, trying to redeem ourselves from last year. After losing in the playoffs, we just want to come back and prove to everybody that is not us, that was just a bad year," said Mitchell Weist, Junior FB/LB.
"We have a lot more speed. We have a lot of guys working hard this year, dedicated to the team and wanting to do better than we did last year," said Deion Oakley, Senior WR/CB.

"You have to be consistent. I mean you don't reinvent your team during playoff time. You have to do what you do and do it better. I think everyone needs to step up as far as expectations are come with a good attitude and get ready to work," said Tim Petras, Hornets Head Coach.

The Hornets head to Newfield Week One and then host Whitney Point for Week Two.

Let's divulge into the Owego Indians. They believe Class B is open for the taking. Their 4-5 record from last year shouldn't make you think this is another rebuilding year.

This is a big year for the Indians because their senior offensive weapons are back. Starting quarterback Logan Neira returns from injury last season, Will "glad bag" Gladney is like the new force flex feature, the kid can catch 'em all over the field. Plus Patrick Bilbrey will be the starting running back after replacing Neira last season at QB. Watch out for OFA in 2015.

"It's exciting! I think it helps us out way more. Logan is a great Quarterback and Bilbrey is a great running back so it helps us out better than last year because we only had one of them," said Will Gladney, Senior WR/LB.

"A lot of heart, a lot of hard working guys who want to get out there and win. We really want to show something this year and prove something," said Logan Neira, Senior QB/DB.

"It's been a unique start to camp without Coach Virkler being here. It's been different but the guys have responded awesome. The intensity has been great and everybody has been doing their part to pick up the slack a little bit until he gets healthy and gets back," said Mark Burrell, Indians Assistant Coach.

Coach Virkler is recovering from surgery and has been wanting to coach the team since the start of camp. He expects to be back next week. The Indians host Watkins Glen week one and Owego scored 40 points in two out of their last three weeks of the season.

To another class d school and a team that was very good in 2014, the Deposit-Hancock Eagles. Last year this team went 6-3 in the standings but eventually fell to Tioga 40-6 in the playoffs.

So the boys are at it again! 17 seniors lead this team into battle week one against Sidney. In wins last season the Eagles averaged 36 points a game and in losses they only averaged 8 points. Senior Ronnie Ballard who was the quarterback last season will transition to running back full time with an experienced line in front of him. They are all working to get another shot at a playoff run.

"The Drive! They are hungry! These kids want more than just get into the playoffs. They want to get to at least the semifinals, if not, the finals in the Section. They want to compete and they have a championship on their mind this year," said Head Coach Jeremiah Johnson.

"This is my fourth year playing and this is definitely the most potential I have seen I think. We are ready to go," said Zach Gifford, Senior OL/LB.

"It's the hitting drills. You get a big hit, you are pumped up and you want to go out and play those big guys and get those big hits," said Ronnie Ballard, Senior HB/LB.

The Eagles are on the road the first two weeks before hosting Greene on Week 3, September 18th.

Let's stick with the small schools because they are certainly what section four football is all about and talk Bainbridge-Guilford. The Bobcats have 14 seniors on the roster.
 
This team in 2014 finished 3-6 but won their last two contests of the season beating Candor and Whitney point in overtime. The craziest game last year was the 26-21 loss to Delhi during week 3 and the the kids have certainly circled that game on their schedule. And now they have a deeper play book to put up more points to win.

 "It's given us the flexibility to put in a few more wrinkles in the offense. We don't have to spend as much time re-teaching some of these plays. Some of these kids have run them since youth football. It's given us the opportunity to be a little more diversified on the offensive end,"said Jim Mosher, Bobcats Head Coach.

"We are doing a lot more passing this year. We threw in some new pass routes and we are going to do a lot more passing than we did in the past," said Austin Carr, Junior QB/LB.

"Everyone has come back strong this year, a lot of seniors. We should have a pretty good season if everyone works hard and shows up to practice throughout the season and I think it will be all good," said Tyler Hart, Senior DE/OT.

Week one for B-G is a match-up with Oxford. Should be a good game betwween the Hawks and the Bobcats.

Lets talk about  the team that does have a flying mascot in their name, the Whitney Point Eagles. Last year they went 2-7 with wins over Sidney and Delhi and despite a young squad, the kids are working hard in camp every day.
 
In 2014 this team did get shutout twice and averaged 10 1/2 points a contest. The offense does lose Gabe Shrauger and only 6 seniors on the roster. A lot of players on this team are young coming up from JV but they are hungry to win and Week One is right around the corner.

"We don't have the most size on defense but I think our tenacity will be good and we just need to hound the ball and get to it on every play. I feel like that will be the key," said Zach Aleba, Senior OL/MLB.

"We are a younger team this year and I feel like if we play with the right amount of heart that we could actually go out there and do our best and hopefully win some games," said Josh Tyler, Senior RB/LB.

"Our guys need to prepare, work hard, and give a great effort on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. If we do that, I think we have enough senior leadership with enough of the younger guys mixing in that we can make some noise and have a little success," said Head Coach Mike Hakes.

The Eagles open up their season at Delhi this season where they beat the Bulldogs 21-6 last year in week two.

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Now SV beat the team I'm about to talk about 14-0 in their own stadium last year, that's Johnson City. But the wildcats and sabers were in class B. This year,  JC is moving into Class A and the move is at the right time.
 
The reason for that is because this team brings back a lot of talented seniors who have played with each other since pee wee's. Jake Thompson leads the offense at quarterback. The kid's got a strong arm and is very versatile. Running Back is Dominic Nadz, he rushed for big yardage and did a lot of scoring for the Wildcats. And on defense they've got the future Boston College product -- Adam Korutz, a bull on the defensive line to evade the QB. So right now, this team is a total package.

 "These guys have been around for a while, we've got a good core group of guys back and its nice to have them here," said Head Coach Fred Deinhardt.

"We have a lot of experience, last year a lot of us were coming as juniors we didn't have the varsity level under our belt, but this year we know what we want, " said Jake Thompson, Senior Quarterback.

"We all want to go out with a bang, and of course last year was up and down, but were  prepared and out here working hard," said Adam Korutz, Senior Defensive Lineman.

Johnson City lost only 7 Seniors Last Year. This Year there are 29 Seniors heading into the week one roster against Waverly.

When we hear the school name Susquehanna Valley right now we think of the Class B state champion girls basketball team. But the football team had a great 2014 season finishing with a record a 6-3 record. This season, they don't have those pesky Spartans anymore.
 
Don't mention the name M-E to the sabers because they don't want to hear about it anymore. SV fell to them twice, 27-14 in week two and then 13-6 in the playoffs. The sabers do lose Dave Matthews, Marquise Jackson, Lane Zembek,  and Jake Hawley. The words on their back read, hustle, hit, and never quit, SV looks to be better and stronger than ever.

"We have a lot of guys coming back that played varsity last year and also a lot coming from an 8-1 JV team. The nice thing is that those guys set the bar for how to play but we had very capable backups who could've stepped in and done that last year. Hopefully they are like a secret that no one is really aware of," said Head Coach Mike Ford.

"We can actually do pretty good this year, our offense looks pretty strong so far, we really haven't had any issues yet," said Matt DePersiis, Senior OL/DL.

"This year we are a little small but we are quick. I think if we spread out their defense, we can make things happen," said Cameron Manchester, Senior Quarterback.

The Sabers scored 40 points or more four times last season and they have our game of the week for 4th and Goal, Week One against Windsor.

I am very impressed with the work a lot of teams put into their off-season. One of them in particular is the Newark Valley Cardinals.

They may have lost Vinny Darpino but they still have a lot of talent and speed in the offense. Nick Shermerhorn toots his own horn at quarterback this season and David Crow continues to fly in the backfield. The cardinals averaged 36 points a contest and scored 60 points in a game three times last season. Newark Valley is going to show everyone that hard work pays off.

"I feel like we are a lot faster team and going to be hard to beat. I mean Forks is going to be hard team to beat of course but we are going to bring it to them," said Nick Schermerhorn, Senior Quarterback.

"We have a lot of returning lineman and in the past we have always been developing a line and so we are pretty excited. We have some of our more dominant players up front and that gives us something to build off of," said Brian Sherwood, Newark Valley Head Coach.

"Our saying this year is 'we are starting in the dome for our first game and we and we want to end in the dome," said Shawn Potter, Senior Guard/Tackle.

The Cardinals start their season like the NFL, on Sunday at the dome against Utica Notre Dame.

I am very impressed with the work a lot of teams put into their off-season. One of them in particular is the Newark Valley Cardinals.

They may have lost Vinny Darpino but they still have a lot of talent and speed in the offense. Nick Shermerhorn toots his own horn at quarterback this season and David Crow continues to fly in the backfield. The cardinals averaged 36 points a contest and scored 60 points in a game three times last season. Newark Valley is going to show everyone that hard work pays off.

"I feel like we are a lot faster team and going to be hard to beat. I mean Forks is going to be hard team to beat of course but we are going to bring it to them," said Nick Schermerhorn, Senior Quarterback.

"We have a lot of returning lineman and in the past we have always been developing a line and so we are pretty excited. We have some of our more dominant players up front and that gives us something to build off of," said Brian Sherwood, Newark Valley Head Coach.

"Our saying this year is 'we are starting in the dome for our first game and we and we want to end in the dome," said Shawn Potter, Senior Guard/Tackle.

The Cardinals start their season like the NFL, on Sunday at the dome against Utica Notre Dame.

August 17th should be named pigskin heaven day in the Southern Tier. Section IV football teams from all over began practicing with the hopes of winning a state title. We start with the state champions Maine-Endwell, a team that treats football as a culture - not just a game.

The Spartans return a lot of starters from last years team as they look for their 52 consecutive win in Week One against Corning at home. If M-E beats the Hawks on Friday, September 4th they will beat Hornell's consecutive win streak of 51, a streak that began in 2009 before losing in the state final in 2012.

When you look at this team they may be small, they all don't look stars, but they do one thing right, play like one strong unit.

The back of their shirts in practice said " Pressure is a Privilege" and they strive off it when battling on the gridiron.

"We are going to try to go week to week which we have done in the past but obviously our first game is the most important to us right now because it is our next game and there is also some extra added stuff to that so we are looking forward to it," said Head Coach Matt Gallagher.

"A lot of focus right now. It's going to be a big game because we have a lot riding into it. We will have some fans here for the game and we are going to work hard to get better and come out on top," said Senior Drew Gallagher.

"Our guys in Pee Wee football are winning games as well as Modified, and JV has been great for years so stepping is what this program has done for their whole life so it's kinda normal to us right now," said Senior Kyle Balmer.

And another story line that will be cool to follow is Head Coach Matt Gallagher will be coaching his youngest son Drew to wrap up the Gallagher trio at M-E.