Poland vs Howland

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Poland vs Howland Oct. 7, 2011.

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A sausage sandwich sale is a fundraiser for the Howland Athletic Booster Club.

Team

Poland

Record	Div.	Conf.
8/3	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

Team

Howland

Record	Div.	Conf.
6/4	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

Howland

With his band playing the “Superman” theme song and his teammates needing a boost after a shocking end to the fourth quarter, there was no doubt Howland junior De’Veon Smith was getting the ball to start overtime on Friday night.

“He’s a man-child,” said Tigers coach Dick Angle.

A Superman-child.

On the first play of overtime, a simple toss sweep to the left, Smith did the ol’ dip-and-slip, faking inside then bouncing outside for a 20-yard, momentum-seizing touchdown.

Minutes later, the Tiger defense forced a fumble on Poland’s possession to secure the 21-14 win and help Howland avoid dipping and slipping out of the playoff race.

“It was definitely a must-win,” said Smith, whose team entered the game in the eighth and final playoff spot in the computer ratings despite being undefeated. “If we didn’t win, we wouldn’t have been in the playoffs. It’d have been our bad. We’d have been crying.”

Smith carried 28 times for 205 yards and all three TDs for the Tigers (7-0, 3-0 All-American Conference Red Tier), who led 14-0 midway through the fourth quarter and seemed headed for a decisive win.

“That’s why we watch,” said Bulldogs coach Mark Brungard. “In sports, you never know what can happen.”

The Bulldogs (4-3, 1-1) began the comeback with an 11-play, 54-yard drive capped by a 6-yard TD run from Jerry Lawman with 4:46 left. After a failed onside kick attempt, Poland forced a Howland punt with just over two minutes left, taking over at its own 27.

Five plays later, on a third-and-1 at his own 40, Brungard called for a simple inside crossing route. Junior WR Anthony Marchionda ran a deep pattern over the middle designed to clear out the safety, but the safety never cleared and Bulldogs QB Colin Reardon found Marchionda for a 50-yard pass that set up first-and-goal. On the next play, Reardon hit Jimmy Morocco for the game-tying touchdown.

Reardon then intercepted Eric Lockney’s pass at the Poland 36 on Howland’s first play, but Brungard opted to run out the final 23.6 seconds.

After Smith’s touchdown, Poland used two plays to drive to the Howland 5. But Lawman was stripped near the Tiger 2 and Dan Russell recovered for Howland.

“Perseverance and resolve — that’s what defines this team,” said Brungard. “But we made too many mistakes.

“We have to find a way to fix that so that’s not what defines our season.”

Howland’s season should now be defined by the ability to win close games — the Tigers also pulled out last-minute victories over Warren Harding and Canfield — rather than by missing Week 11.

“We’ve beaten some teams that we think are good football teams that have kind of shut it down after we play them,” Angle said. “I don’t think Poland will and Canfield hasn’t.

“We just have to take care of ourselves and we’ll be OK.”