Chaney hangs on to defeat Poland

By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Failing to capitalize on a potential second-quarter scoring drive ended up dooming the Poland High football team.
And failing to capitalize on four potential scoring drives almost doomed Chaney.
In the end, Mike Hall's ground attack and Justin Hood's pass interception with just seconds remaining foiled Poland's last-ditch comeback attempt, and enabled the Cowboys to emerge with a 14-7 victory Friday at Stambaugh Stadium.
Hall, a quick-moving, hard-driving senior running back, scored a pair of first-half touchdowns on runs of 14 and 59 yards, and rushed for a season-high 134 yards in 16 attempts to help stake the Cowboys to a 14-0 halftime lead.
Then Chaney (5-1) managed to survive Poland's rejuvenated passing attack fueled by quarterback Reid Lamport and split end Dave Koval that changed the complexion of the game.
Lamport completed 13 of 23 passes for 162 yards, including 8-for-15 for 96 yards in the second half.
Koval made nine catches for 134 yards while Dan McGarry and Lew Spirtos had two catches each.
A passing drive
Lamport completed five passes in a seven-play, 71-yard drive capped by Jim Shurilla's 3-yard TD dash and Shawn O'Halloran's placement with 5:38 left in the game to cut Chaney's lead to 14-7.
But after Poland (4-2) got the ball back at its 1 on a punt and advanced to the 50 on three Lamport-to-Koval pass connections, Lamport was called for intentional grounding. Then Hood intercepted a pass at the Chaney 40 to blunt the Bulldogs' comeback and clinch the victory.
"Mike Hall has been steadily getting better. This was a break-out game for him. He has great open-field acceleration," Chaney coach Ron Berdis said. "Justin Hood is special. He just comes to play."
Berdis also noted that his defense has been outstanding.
"In six games, we have had only one turnover," Berdis said. "That is exceptional."
Chaney's defense tough
Chaney limited Poland to just 16 net yards in 17 carries, Shurilla getting 33 yards in 13 runs.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys rushed for 279 yards in 49 attempts, Hood contributing 90 yards in 20 carries. He also was 2-for-3 passing for 24 yards.
But penalties hampered Chaney drives to the Poland 15 in the first quarter, 33 in the second quarter, 21 in the third and 38 in the fourth quarter.
Berdis was grateful for the bench support after starting offensive guards Ron Palowitz and Kelvin Elkins went down with knee injuries, and were replaced by Anthony Whitaker and Robert Snipes."We had two brand new guards, they did OK," Berdis said. "We were able to move the ball, although we lost some of our" inside game."
Factor in outcome
Poland coach Paul Hulea said the Bulldogs' inability to score in the second quarter when they got to Chaney's 16 after falling behind 14-0, was a big difference in the outcome.
And he didn't know why his passing attack came alive in the second half.
"Our quarterback [Lamport] got hot. We had a chance at the end but we didn't finish," Hulea said.
Hood's 59-yard punt return to the Poland 26 set up Chaney's first TD, as the Cowboys covered the distance in six plays capped by Hall's 14-yard dash at 6:33 of the first quarter.
Hall rambled 59 yards to his second TD at 7:03 of the second quarter, after Chaney took a punt at its 41. Then Hood connected to D'Andre Rogers for the conversion and a 14-0 lead.
kovach@vindy.com