By Kevin connelly

kconnelly@vindy.com

CHESTERLAND

In a game that the Poland High football team trailed by 21 points, never had the lead until the finish, turned the ball over three times and committed 11 penalties, Bulldogs head coach Mark Brungard decided to listen to his players with the season on the line.

The fifth-seeded Bulldogs had just scored a touchdown on their first possession of overtime to answer West Geauga’s score and Brungard signaled for the extra-point kick.

His players had other ideas in the 29-28 Division III Region 7 quarterfinal victory.

“Honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about it,” Brungard said of going for two. “I was going to double overtime.

“Our kids pretty much made that call — they convinced me, ‘Let’s do it, let’s do it,’ so we said let’s run our best play and give it to our best back and see what happens.”

The result was Ross Gould, who was held to 55 yards on 20 carries in regulation, muscling his way into the end zone and jubilation on the Poland sideline.

The Bulldogs (10-1) played about as bad a first 18 minutes of football as possible. Their first four drives resulted in a three-and-out, a fumble on the first play, a botched fake punt after another three-and-out and a second fumble.

With the first half winding down, the Bulldogs were staring at a 21-point deficit without having picked up a first down.

“We made some mistakes, obviously turnover-wise, and did some things to give them good field position,” Brungard said. “They took it to us, so I think the thing that we did that made the difference was we didn’t panic.

“We kept playing hard and we just stayed calm.”

After converting on fourth down to keep a drive alive, Bulldogs quarterback Dom Patrony found George Chammas across the middle from 20 yards out to give Poland its first score, just 49 seconds before halftime.

On the ensuing kickoff, Robert Devito rolled a squib kick that the Wolverines muffed, giving the Bulldogs a chance to cut into the deficit even more.

Patrony found Chammas again, with three seconds remaining on the clock, and all of the sudden Poland was looking at a manageable halftime score of 21-14.

“Poise on our guys, the coaches and the kids, just not panicking,” Brungard said. “There wasn’t a lot of yelling at each other, just a real urgency about doing a better job of what we’re doing.”

Patrony led the offense on a 13-play, 67-yard scoring drive to open the second half. The drive ate 6:28 off the clock and Gould capped it ith a 11-yard touchdown run to tie the game.

“I knew that if I stepped up and made plays, that everyone around me would,” said Patrony, who was making his third consecutive start at quarterback for the injured Jacob Wolfe. “My offensive line did great and wide receivers did great.”

The Bulldogs defense held the Wolverines scoreless for the final two-and-a-half quarters.

“They’re a tough team, very well-coached, and you have to give them all the credit.” West Geauga coach Lou Cirino said. “We wouldn’t have done anything differently.”

On the opening play of overtime, Wolverines quarterback Connor Krouse hit Joe Kijauskas on a 20-yard fade route to the back corner of the end zone.

On Poland’s overtime possession, Adam Wollet caught a pass out in the flat and broke a number of tackles to pick up a first down. Gould punched it in two plays later.