By Tim Cleveland

sports@vindy.com

HOWLAND

Trailing by four points at the half to Howland and its undefeated record in danger, Poland got itself back on track for the final two quarters. The Bulldogs almost completely shut down the Tigers’ offense en route to a 17-7 victory Friday.

“I felt we moved the ball,” Poland coach Mark Brungard said. “Obviously, we had a costly turnover in the first quarter. They’re a great team. We knew coming in that it was going to be a four-quarter game. They could very easily be a 6-0 team. We were not taking them lightly.”

Howland coach Dominic Menendez said his defense kept his team in the game.

“Defense played well,” he said. “We lost [senior] T.K. Fortson [with a shoulder injury], one of our better players. They caught us on a couple things. Field position didn’t help us out. We got pinned back deep and got caught in some third-and-long situations and we just couldn’t capitalize.”

Howland’s defense kept Poland from two touchdowns in the first half. In the first quarter, the Bulldogs had a first-and-goal on the 8 but Ramirez fumbled at the 1 and the ball was recovered in the end zone by Austin Osborne. Late in the second quarter, a first-and-goal opportunity was wasted as Williams pressured Wolfe into an incompletion on third down as Polnd settled for a 32-yard field goal by Bob Devito.

Getting the ball to begin the third quarter, Poland (7-0, 4-0 All-American Conference, American Division) marched 66 yards in 10 plays as Ross Gould went in from the 5. Victor Williams blocked the extra point as the Bulldogs led 9-7.

After Howland (4-3, 0-2) went three-and-out on the next possession and a short punt gave Poland the ball on the Tigers 33, Gould and Marlon Ramirez carried the Bulldogs to the 7, where Jacob Wolfe hit Art Duran for the score. Ramirez ran in the 2-point conversion for what ended up being the final score with :45.9 left in the third.

Gould, who finished with 86 of Poland’s 171 rushing yards, said establishing the running game was crucial.

“That’s something we talked about all week,” he said. “We talked about running the ball and trying to pound the ball.”

Poland held Jaquore Marrs, Trumbull County-leading rusher, to 82 yards rushing, with only 5 coming in the second half. Marrs was also held out of the end zone.

“He’s the leading rusher in the county for a reason; he’s good,” Brungard said. “We had a great game plan our coaches put in for our kids. Our kids had to do the executing and they did.”

In addition to his blocked PAT and pressure on Wolfe, Williams — just a freshman — accounted for Howland’s touchdown on a 37-yard reception from Ross Griffin.

“Victor’s obviously a great athlete,” Menendez said. “He’s a special kid. We need him to continue to play well.”

Brungard said it was definitely the defense that won the game for Poland, as the Tigers accumulated only 147 total yards.

“It was a great second half from everybody on our side with the defense shutting them out and the offense just taking advantage of what was there; playing very physical, holding onto the ball and just fundamentals,” he said.