Howland falls to Poland Seminary, 27-14
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HOWLAND -- Mistakes and a bit of inconsistency on offense proved too much for Howland to overcome, as the Tigers faltered to visiting Poland Seminary 27-14 Friday night.
The Tigers (1-2), powered by Matt Woomer, struck early and staged a late comeback attempt, but troubles in the second and third quarters made the difference.
Howland and Poland traded barbs early, as the Bulldogs took an early 7-0 lead on a Jack Fulton touchdown before Woomer answered with a 7-yard score of his own. From there, however, the Tiger offense sputtered.
Poland added two more scores on the ground in the second, as Cole Fulton and Jack Fulton each hit paydirt to put Poland up 21-7 going into halftime.
After gashing the Bulldogs for 78 yards in the first quarter, Woomer was held to no yards in the second.
"My hat's off to Poland. They're a very well-coached team, and they did a great job of swarming to the ball," Howland head coach Steve Boyle said.
In the third quarter, Poland forced a pair of Howland punts, and the Tigers were intercepted deep in their own territory. The Bulldogs parlayed that into a 13-yard Dillon Smith touchdown to take a 20-point lead into the fourth.
"We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball, and we have to be able to limit the big plays we're giving up defensively," Boyle said. "And we have to try and establish a better run game."
The Tigers came back to life in the fourth, as John Perry hit Carter Mock for a 52-yard touchdown to clip Poland's lead to 27-14.
Meanwhile, Woomer got going again, piling up yardage in chunks to finish the night with 138 yards and a score on 23 carries.
Howland had a chance to get within a possession late in the fourth, as the Tigers drove into the red zone. But a sack of Perry stalled the scoring threat out, and Poland took over on downs on the next play.
Poland recorded three sacks on the night, and pressure also contributed to one of the two Howland interceptions.
"We had great pressure from our linemen: Zach Christianson, Stephen Solic, Jeff Muslovski and Dom Parker," Poland coach Tom Pavlansky said. "They did a really great job of getting pressure, and good things can happen in the secondary when you do that."
Howland was kept to 81 yards of passing on 19 attempts as a team.
Boyle said the team will examine its roster moving forward in order to jumpstart its offense, which has been held to 14 or less points in each of the team's first three games.
"We'll have to look at some personnel and find out what guys can do and what guys can't do and really figure out the solution," he said.
The Tigers nearly got the ball back late in the fourth, but a 45-yard pass from Jack Fulton to Ross Dedo allowed the Bulldogs to ice the game away.
Fulton finished 7-of-16 for 151 yards through the air, and added 133 yards on the ground.
Dedo hauled in two passes for 93 yards.
"He's making some progress," Pavlansky said of Fulton. "Offensively, we're learning more and more about ourselves, and it's encouraging to see. The guys work hard, they care and they're together. Tonight wasn't all wonderful, but I'm proud of the effort."