Canfield scores 21 first-half points before cruising to 31-7 victory over rival Poland
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CANFIELD -- The Battle of 224 is one of the few events that can draw a few attendees away from the annual Canfield fair.
In front of the nearly sold-out home section, the Cardinals defended their turf over arch-rival Poland at Bob Dove Field, 31-7, extending their rivalry winning-streak to six games.
"It's a win, we're excited as all get out to get a win. I thought our defense played really well all game long," said Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky. "Offensively, we're still trying to find our way, (Poland) had a really good defensive scheme against us.
"We were able to spread that ball around no doubt, but when there's a chance to make plays, we got to make plays and find guys who do that for us."
Senior quarterback Broc Lowry had his Cardinal teammates buzzing early following a 47-yard run down the home sideline for paydirt.
"That was all on my line and receivers on that play," Lowry said. "It's a confidence booster and it really settled the nerves for the game."
Early in the second quarter, Danny Inglis shook at least a pair of Poland defenders as he stumbled and sprinted over 50 yards to set his team up. A score from Lowry to Dom Marzano from three yards out ensued.
Whenever Canfield needed a chunk play, Inglis seemed to be Johnny on the spot on both sides of the ball, tallying 99 yards rushing on three carries.
"Coach Hurley is really tough on their tendencies, they gave us a lot of checks for me and Dom, we just tried to execute to the best of our ability," Inglis said. "Our front seven, everyone inside the box, we all played collectively, we're partners, that's what we take pride in."
Following the intermission -- the Bulldogs were down 21-0 after Lowry scrambled in for his second rushing touchdown of the night -- Bulldogs coach Tom Pavlansky knew he needed to bring out some trickery.
Poland booted an onside kick and successfully recovered it. They scored immediately afterwards on a 40-yard bomb from Cole Fulton to Dominic Pagano, who beat the defense for an open field.
Another Bulldogs onside kick followed, but Canfield was ready the second go-around.
"The first one we just didn't attack the ball, we got to go get the ball and be aggressive," Pavlansky said of the onside kicks. "We know their MO is to do that. We prepared for it all week long, we get to be aggressive upfront and go get the football, the second time we were."
Canfield (3-0) struck back on the following drive which was capped off by a great throw from Lowry to Gavin Ramun on a fade into the end zone. A 23-yard boot by Joel Misasek during the fourth quarter rounded out the scoring.
Lowry was 11-21 passing for 133 yards, with 118 yards rushing on 11 carries.
Pagano was 8-17 passing for Poland for 89 yards, with 60 yards rushing. Matt Boccieri added 41 yards on six carries, with Fulton leading the air game with 55 yards on four catches.
"Canfield is very good, give them credit. Broc is the real deal," said Bulldogs coach Tom Pavlansky. "They know how to use him and they do it pretty well. We're really proud of our kids effort, thought we battled and competed."
The Cardinals outgained the Bulldogs 354 to 229 and walk away averaging a hair over 31 points per contest, but credit much of their success to not turning the ball over once so far in 2022.
Although on the flip-side, they haven't forced a turnover on defense either.
"Our front seven was really good today, they were stopping the run a lot and our defensive backs stepped up," Lowry said. "We knew they were a heavy run team, a lot of their passes from previous games came because they were down a lot trying to play catch-up."
"If we stopped the run game, that's our main goal. We wanted them to beat us with the pass."
At the end of the evening, a sizeable crowd huddled around the bell behind the locker room with a plethora of students basking in the victory with the marching band.
"We're pleased, there's no doubt. We love our kid's efforts and how hard they play," said Mike Pavlansky. "You win a rivalry game, you're pleased with that, but there are certain things we got to get better at if we want to continue on the trajectory that we are."