Poland rallies for 22-17 win over Lakeview

By Greg Gulas

POLAND — Poland High’s football squad probably won’t face a team the remainder of the season as emotional as Friday’s opponent, Lakeview.

With coach Tom Pavlansky and his team making its first official appearance at Poland’s renovated stadium, and playing on the field named after his late father, Dave, the former Poland head coach, there was nothing more than his squad wanted to do than to present him with a win.

On the other hand, Poland was aware all week of the type of emotion their opponent would be bringing and they were up to the challenge, scoring the last nine points of the game for a 22-17 victory in an All-America Conference intra-division contest.

“It was a very emotional game for me,” said Pavlansky. “There are a lot of good people here in Poland and we have a lot of good people in Cortland as well.

“No doubt about it, it was a special night being here. What they have here is outstanding but I think we’re pretty special in Cortland, too,” Pavlansky said.

Luke Wollet rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown but it was the play of junior wide receiver, Darius Patton, that ignited the Poland offense.

Patton had seven catches for 146 yards and while he failed to reach the end zone, two of his catches set up scores; one a field goal and then Wollet’s game-winning tally.

“We stepped it up as a team tonight and the reason I was able to post good numbers was because of the play of our offensive line and quarterback, Colin Reardon,” said Patton.

“Lakeview really had an excellent game plan and played hard the entire game.”

Poland (4-0) got on the board first when Reardon scored on a 5-yard run with 4:30 remaining in the opening quarter, holding that lead until Lakeview’s Clint Hess connected on a 29-yard field goal just 41 seconds into the second frame.

Te Elias, the game’s leading rusher with 111 yards, then scored on a 13-yard run to give Lakeview (3-1) a 10-7 advantage but Wollet’s 5-yard tally 1:02 before intermission helped Poland forge a 13-10 lead.

Elias, the area’s second leading rusher entering the game, called the overall effort of his team exceptional.

“We had the best week of practice and knew that this would be a four quarter game,” he said.

“Our special teams play tonight was excellent and with a few breaks here and there, the outcome might have been a little different.”

Elias’ second touchdown of the game, this one from 9 yards out midway through the third period, gave Lakeview a 17-13 lead but when Poland’s Kyle Filicky nailed a 24-yard field goal at 3:12 of the session, the Lakeview lead was 17-16.

Ed Kosec’s 7-yard run at the 8:20 mark of the final period then turned out to be the game-winner for Poland.

“This was a hard fought game by both teams,” said Poland coach Mark Brungard. “Give a lot of credit to Lakeview because they played inspired football and had an excellent game plan.

“We lost two key tackles early in the game and we’ll learn a lot form this game tonight. Thankfully, we’ll learn from a ‘W’.

“Darius [Patton] is a difference-maker for us. He’s a great tool to have on the outside; a tool that keeps the safeties honest,” he added.

Poland had 280 yards of total offense with 177 coming off the arm of Reardon. Reardon was 12 of 22.