MAC Chaney's defense stymies Poland

The Cowboys contained the Bulldogs to only 77 yards in a 28-2 victory.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
POLAND -- When a team plays a schedule as tough as the one Chaney High played in the first half of the season, there's bound to be some disappointments.
After starting the season with two demoralizing losses to the likes of Austintown Fitch (40-7) and Northwest (56-21), the Cowboys' defense wasn't feeling too good about itself.
But the lessons the unit learned early in the season are starting to pay off, as evidenced by the way the Cowboys shut down the Poland offense Friday night.
Chaney limited the Bulldogs to just 77 yards of total offense and seven first downs, as the Cowboys handed Poland a 28-2 setback to improve to 3-3 on the season.
It was the fifth straight win in the series for Chaney, which owns an 8-1 advantage in the rivalry.
"I respect Poland's program and its winning tradition very much, but I guess sometimes there are just teams you're comfortable playing against and for us Poland is one of them," said Chaney coach Ron Berdis. "We made a lot of mistakes tonight, but the kids banded together to overcome those mistakes and we were fortunate to come away with the victory."
Chaney's defense dominates
Chaney's defense dominated from the start, forcing Poland to punt on four of its five first-half possessions. The fifth ended in a recovered fumble by Chaney.
The Cowboys' offense was able to move the ball, but was plagued by penalties. If it were not for two big plays in the first half, Poland would have been in the ball game.
Chaney got on the scoreboard on its opening possession with an eight-play, 83-yard drive. The big play came on a spectacular 46-yard scoring run by Tory Johnson, who was stopped at the line of scrimmage but bounced back outside and outran the Poland defense.
Two possessions later, Poland (1-5) scored its only points of the game. The Cowboys were forced to punt from their own end zone and the snap sailed through the back of the end zone for a Bulldog safety.
Botched punt sets up TD
Another botched punt, this one by Poland, led to Chaney's second touchdown.
A nine-yard punt gave the Cowboys prime field position at the 50 with 7:54 left in the second quarter. Chaney needed just one play to capitalize, as Kory Jackson took a reverse hand-off from Lamar Sykes and bolted 50 yards for the score.
The two-point conversion run by Sykes gave Chaney a 14-2 lead at the half and proved to be more than enough for the Cowboy defense to hold.
"Our defense played really well and we were missing some guys, too," said Berdis. "We had a great game plan and the kids played hard. We've played a tough schedule and it's a credit to our kids that we're back to even as we start league play next week."