Poland gets offense going vs. Northwest

September 1, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

POLAND

Mike Turnbull scored a touchdown and added a safety and Tyler Evan added 106 yards rushing to pace Poland to a 23-7 victory over Canal Fulton Northwest on Friday night at Dave Pavlansky Field.

With points at a premium for the Bulldogs through the first six quarters this season, Poland coach Mark Brungard was happy his team kicked it up a notch in the second half and even happier that his defense accounted for nine of the 23 points.

“This is a team game and while the defense picked up our offense, our offense showed some improvement from our opening game as well,” Brungard said. “We made some stupid mistakes and it wasn’t pretty, but it goes in the left side of the column and that is the only column that counts.”

Jake Aiello got the Bulldogs on the board first with both his and the team’s first touchdown of the season; a 1-yard run with just 19 seconds left before halftime. The score capped a 10-play, 84-yard drive.

“We took a giant step forward and that was our goal as we practiced all week long,” Aiello said. “They called my number in the huddle and all I did was follow Nick Sesonsky into the end zone.”

Midway through third period, Turnbull added a 2-yard run to make it 14-0.

“This was a huge win for us because we had such a sour taste in our mouth after last week’s loss,” Turnbull said. “When you play as a team, good things usually happen.”

Northwest’s Tristan Mullane got the Indians on the board with 1:53 remaining in the third frame when he hauled in a T.D. Culp aerial and raced 14 yards for the score.

Turnbull’s safety with 5:14 remaining then gave Poland a 16-7 lead and with time running out and Culp hurrying to pass, David Morocco picked off the Indians’ signal caller on the Northwest 48-yard line and raced untouched for a touchdown with just over two minutes to platy.

“We’re just making too many mistakes and with nine dropped balls tonight, you really put yourself at a disadvantage,” Northwest coach Vic Whiting. “We’re a young team with all but two of our skilled kids moving up from the junior varsity last season.”

Poland held the Indians to just 17 yards rushing on 17 carries and 142 total yards.

The Bulldogs racked up 178 yards on the ground and 269 total yards.

Culp was 14 of 38 with three interceptions for the Indians (0-2). The Bulldogs’ Jake Wolfe was 8 of 10 for 91 yards and an interception. Poland lost two fumbles.