Ursuline's defense blanks Poland 13-0

The Irish's held the Bulldogs to just 55 yards rushing, 11 in the first half.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
POLAND -- On a night when the Ursuline High football team lost its quarterback to a mild concussion and its top running back to a hip injury, the Irish did something all good teams eventually have to do.
They won ugly.
"Our goal tonight was to play hard on every play," said Ursuline coach Dan Reardon. "Last week we got a little gassed [against Mentor] and we wanted to make sure we kept up our intensity the whole game.
"I think the kids did that."
Thanks to an exceptional defense and a couple big running plays, the Irish held off Poland 13-0 before a standing-room-only crowd on Friday.
And while the Irish (2-1) might not be as sexy as they were last year, they're right where they need to be.
"We're in the same place we were last year," said junior Matt Yarab. "We can't have the same result. We need to stay after it and stay hungry. We can't let up."
Good defense
Ursuline held Poland (0-3) to 55 yards rushing -- 11 in the first half -- and flustered the Bulldogs' offense into eight plays for negative yardage. Yarab had Ursuline's only sack, but Poland quarterback Chris Lovell was pressured all night. He completed 11-of-17 for 89 yards, but Poland's offense never got inside Ursuline's 20.
"We just tried to blitz and put as much pressure on them as possible," Yarab said. "We were swarming to the ball."
Irish junior Ryan Curry carried the biggest load on offense, rushing for 92 yards on 10 carries and the game's first touchdown before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter with a hip injury. (Curry was still walking gingerly after the game.) Starting quarterback Bryant Youngblood had 17 yards rushing before leaving with a concussion early in the second quarter.
"It was pretty mild," Reardon said of Youngblood. "He probably could have played but we wanted to be safe."
Yarab leads way
Yarab picked up some of the slack in the running game, gaining 50 yards on eight carries. He also had a 17-yard touchdown run just seconds after the game's biggest play. Early in the second quarter, Poland sophomore Brandon Beachum dropped a fair catch at his own 17 and Ursuline sophomore Roberto Morales recovered to set up Yarab's score.
"It was a big momentum swing," Yarab said, "and we took advantage."
Beachum, who ran for 43 yards on 14 carries, sat silent in the Poland locker room after the game, but Poland coach Mark Brungard had nothing but praise for his running back.
"Beachum does so much for us," Brungard said. "He made a mistake, but he does so many good things that you can't point to that."
Poland's defense
Poland's defense also did a lot of good things -- the Irish had just 221 yards of offense -- but it wasn't enough. And after losses to Louisville and Hubbard in the first two weeks, Brungard knows his team can't be satisfied with being competitive.
"I'm tired of moral victories," he said. "We're getting better, but our record doesn't really show that.
"It's good that we're battling, but I guarantee that nobody's happy in our locker room just because we held them to 13 points. We need to win."
scalzo@vindy.com