Poland earns heated victory over Northeast 8 foe Girard
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POLAND -- Missed opportunities plagued Girard in a 24-6 defeat to Poland on Friday night in a key Northeast 8 Conference showdown.
The Indians had three trips into the red zone throughout the game in which they came away with no points.
"We gotta finish drives and we gotta take advantage of turnovers," Girard head coach Pat Pearson said. "I thought our kids played extremely hard tonight. I'm really proud of them, and I thought they represented the Girard community really well -- a lot of heart, a lot of emotion. But we gotta be able to channel that into not making mistakes and finishing drives. (There were) a lot of missed opportunities on our end that could have made that even closer down the stretch."
Meanwhile, Poland's defense weathered an early onslaught by the Indians to limit Girard's normally-potent offense to just 162 total yards and six total points.
"We had a really good week of practice, and our seniors have been tremendous all year," Poland head coach Tom Pavlansky said. "They're all about approaching each day as a new day and trying to get better. So I can't say enough about them, and I can't say enough about our defensive coaches. Our guys play hard and I'm really proud of the effort because Girard is talented and they're skilled. They're tough to defend, for sure."
By every discernible measure, Girard dominated Poland in the first quarter, but had nothing to show for it.
The Indians significantly outpossessed and outgained the Bulldogs, but simply couldn't finish off a pair of drives that each ended in or near the red zone with a turnover on downs.
Poland, however, was able to capitalize on its opportunities, particularly in the second quarter.
After recovering a muffed punt by Girard's Mykel Collier-Dixon, the Bulldogs were able to convert the fumble into a two-yard touchdown run by Pano Xipolitas a few plays later.
"It was a huge turn of momentum there on the punt return when we recovered the fumble," Pavlansky said. "Our guys were able to put a drive together and put it in the end zone."
Then after getting the ball back on a Girard three-and-out, Poland again drove into the red zone. But after a pair of penalties stalled out the drive -- including one that wiped out a 24-yard touchdown pass from Vito Komara to Chase Jones -- the Bulldogs still managed to get points out of the possession thanks to a 27-yard field goal by Jas Stefancin.
At halftime, the Bulldogs clung to a 10-0 lead even though the Indians had outgained them offensively 113-108.
"We just kept playing one play at a time," Pavlansky said. "In a football game, things aren't always going to be perfect or go how you want them to go. We were trying to find ourselves a little bit offensively early on. Credit to our defense for holding us in the game and our special teams too."
On the second play of the third quarter, Girard recovered a Bulldogs fumble inside the Poland 10-yard line. Yet the Indians still couldn't capitalize, after a sack and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty led to a missed 49-yard field goal.
After the miss, Poland moved 80 yards down the field, ending on a 15-yard touchdown run by Ricky Madeline. Forty of the Bulldogs' yards on the drive came from Girard penalties.
Poland added one more score in the fourth quarter, as Komara was able to connect with Josh Macejko for a 23-yard touchdown strike. Then the Indians scored their only points of the game on a 1-yard touchdown run by Josiah Hunter with under seven minutes to go.
"We started falling behind a little bit, so then we were trying to create big plays and things," Pearson said. "They're a solid defense, and I think we had some good opportunities there. But when you're playing Northeast 8 football and you're playing a good team like Poland, who's well-coached and whose kids play really hard, the little things add up. We didn't do enough of the little things to put ourselves in position to win this game."
With the win, Poland improves to 6-2 overall and controls its own destiny with regards to a playoff bid to the OHSAA Division V postseason tournament. The Indians sit a few spots behind the Bulldogs at 4-4 and no longer control their own destiny.
Girard finishes off the season with a pair of home games against Hubbard and Niles, while Poland will close things out on the road at Lakeview and at Struthers.