AAC Red pits the battle of unbeatens

Photo

The Vindicator/Robert K. Yosay ----- TD TD TD #4 Poland Darius Patton pulls in a huge pass in the first half of Hubbard vs Poland by beating the Hubbard defender #3 Andre Givens. - Darius went on to score - 08272009

By Joe Scalzo

Over the last two months, Poland junior wide receiver Darius Patton has gone from being a promising newcomer to one of the Valley’s biggest playmakers.

“He reminds me of [former Warren Harding standout] Omar Provitt,” said Howland coach Dick Angle, whose team plays host to Poland in a matchup of 6-0 teams tonight. “He’s one of the best in the area. He has a great focus on the football and he catches it with a lot of ease. He’s very impressive.

“I wish I had a Christmas present like that.”

In a big game like tonight’s, playmakers can make a difference. And there’s no bigger one on the field than Patton. Add in senior RB/safety Luke Wollet and Poland has the two premier skill players in the All-American Conference’s Red Tier, Angle said.

“Poland is an exceptional program,” Angle said. “They’re like Canfield and I’d like to think we’re in that category, too. They’re three very similar programs and it makes for great competition against each other.”

Since 1993, starting with the last year of the Mahoning Valley Conference then stretching through the Metro Athletic Conference (1994-2007) and the AAC Red, Poland, Canfield and Howland have won or shared 16 conference titles. Only three years (1997, 2000, 2004) did one of those three fail to win the league crown.

“That’s a great compliment to us, because if you look at enrollment numbers, they both have at least 100 more boys,” Bulldogs coach Mark Brungard said. “We’re proud of the fact that we’re put in that group and we can compete with those two Division II schools.

“At the same time, we want our program to be at that level.”

Poland is the Red Tier’s smallest school, with just 299 boys in grades 9-11 at this time last year. Howland is the biggest with 437. Canfield has 408, followed by Beaver Local (311) and Niles (320).

Howland has a two-game winning streak in its series with Poland, albeit by the slimmest of margins. The Tigers won last year’s game 10-7 and won the 2007 game 20-14 in overtime. In fact, Howland has lost just one league game in the last two years, falling to Canfield last season 20-14.

“We’re very proud of our program,” said Angle, whose team lost several standouts to graduation but hasn’t missed a beat this fall. “The kids have bought into it since I’ve been at Howland. They work hard in the offseason and we play a lot of kids during the season.

“We probably average 30-35 kids on offense, defense and special teams. And even though special teams is just a little game time, you get a feel for varsity play and it gets you excited to work in the winter and the summer.”

Howland’s big threat is senior RB/DB Mike Mangiarelli, whose biggest problem has been a lack of opportunity because the Tigers are so far ahead in so many games. (Only two of the six wins have been by less than four touchdowns and all six have been by at least 10 points.)

Senior QB Matt Preston, a four-year starter, has been terrific both under center and at outside linebacker.

As always, Howland’s defense has led the way.

“That’s where we’ve always hung our hats,” Angle said. “We’ve been blessed with great coaches. That’s where it starts.”

Poland’s defense is strong, too, even after losing senior defensive lineman Jordan Williams with a broken arm against Lakeview. The Bulldogs shuffled around some players and the results have been terrific, with back-to-back shutout wins over Niles and Chaney.

Offensively, Poland’s biggest surprise has been talented sophomore QB Colin Reardon, who has been unflappable in his first season at varsity.

“Colin has answered a lot of questions with his play,” Brungard said.

The Bulldogs still have big games remaining against Steubenville and Canfield, so they aren’t in a must-win situation playoff-wise. But a win tonight all but clinches their third straight postseason berth.

“This is a good league game and we haven’t shied away from tough nonconference games,” Brungard said. “We want to get to the point where the playoffs are a huge jump in speed and talent.

“This is our first real test since Hubbard in the opener. We’ll find out how good we are [tonight].”

scalzo@vindy.com