Poland grinds way past Beaver Local

The Bulldogs rushed for over 400 yards in a 38-19 victory.

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

POLAND — The Poland Bulldogs were in a rush to get back on a winning track after losing last week to Parma Normandy on the road.

Poland (2-1) rushed for over 400 yards and five touchdowns to turn back Beaver Local 38-19 in the Bulldogs’ home opener Friday night.

“There was an urgency to avoid going one and two,” said Poland coach Mark Brungard. “Prior to the season we thought we had a pretty good shot at winning the [Metro Athletic Conference] and so we had to win this game to get things back on track.

“It was also our home opener against a good team and we were coming off a bitter loss last week,” Brungard said. “All those things spurred our preparation for this game.”

But it was the Beavers who got in the first punch when they struck the Bulldogs with a 55-yard pass play from quarterback Ethan Russell to Ben Adkins and easily scored four plays later on a 4-yard run by Russell.

“We didn’t expect that,” Brungard said. “Our defensive coordinator, Ryan Williams, was going berserk but we settled down and made adjustments to recover.”

Poland then unleashed the ’Dogs.

Running back trio

Running backs Trent Valinger, Tyler Vallinger and Greg Sabol orchestrated a running attack that would have made Woody Hayes proud.

Trent Valinger rushed for 150 yards on 11 carries while Sabol had 118 yards on 13 hauls and scored on

runs of 15 and 10 yards. Tyler Valinger rambled for 87 yards on 11 carries and scored Poland’s first touchdown on a 1-yard run which gave the Bulldogs a 7-6 first quarter lead after Ryan Gill tacked on the extra point.

Valinger also scored on a 10-yard run in the second quarter and Gill tacked on a 42-yard field goal as Poland took control of the game 17-10 at halftime.

“It wasn’t pretty,” said Beaver Local coach Rich Wright. “We got beat in every phase of this football game.

“Obviously we’ve got some work to do. We knew we would have some growing pains with the change in our offense. We have some injuries but we know what we have to do to recover.”

Continued to dominate

Poland continued to dominate the football game in the third quarter when Sabol tallied his two touchdowns before the Beavers tried to rally and get back in the game.

Beaver Local opened the fourth quarter with a scoring drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Mitch Thompson.

After Poland quarterback Gannon Hulea scored late on a 1-yard run, the Beavers got one final score on a well-executed hook-and-ladder pass play that resulted in a 68-yard touchdown by Matt Clutter.

“We made some bonehead plays defensively,” Brungard said. “But offensively there was no doubt.

“We played extremely well tonight on offense. We hung in there on defense and did what we had to do.”