By Greg Gulas

sports@vindy.com

CANFIELD

Heading into Friday’s regular season finale with Canfield High, the Poland Bulldogs were well aware that they needed to win the “War of 224” if they expected to go to the postseason an 11th time.

They also knew that they would have to establish the run against the Cardinals in order to set up their passing game.

Austin Wilson rushed for 119 yards and two scores, Marlon Ramirez added 77 yards and a tally while quarterback Dom Petrony threw for 130 yards and a touchdown as the Bulldogs defeated the Cardinals, 28-7 in the All-American Conference, American Division regular season finale for both schools at Bob Dove Field.

“Our offensive line was absolutely tremendous tonight, opening holes that were unbelievable for the backs while providing protection all night for quarterback Dom Petrony,” Wilson said. “We needed our running game to set up our passing game and that is exactly what happened tonight.”

After a scoreless opening frame, Petrony found 6-foot-5 wide receiver Tate Duarte from 27 yards away just 22 seconds into the second stanza for the game’s initial score and 7-0 margin at the intermission.

“It’s always special when you win a rivalry trophy. Our goal was to attack their defense with our run and then look to pass,” Duarte said.

The Bulldogs (9-1, 4-1) racked up 156 total offensive yards in the opening half, including 103 on the ground while the Poland defense limited the Cardinals (5-5, 2-3) to just 34 total yards on 21 plays in the first 24 minutes of play.

Petrony said that he “heard” his scoring heave to Duarte.

“It was a post pattern, Tate beat their cornerback and I just heaved the ball in his direction,” Petrony said. “I was knocked down as I threw the ball and the crowd noise told me that he came down with it for a touchdown. Man, I loved that sound.”

The Bulldogs found their offensive groove after halftime as Wilson scored the first of his two touchdowns from four yards away at 4:54 for a 14-0 advantage, stretching the lead to 21-0 when Marlon Ramirez crossed the goal line from five yards away with 37 seconds remaining in the frame.

Wilson’s 65-yard run just 44 seconds into the final stanza gave Poland a 28-0 lead but after the Cardinals blocked a Bulldog punt midway through the fourth period, Canfield quarterback Aaron Jenkins needed just one play as he scored from a yard away to cut the lead to 28-7 while avoiding the shutout.

“This is a great rivalry game and in rivalry games you need to be able to run the ball if you expect to win. Poland did tonight and we didn’t,” Cardinals coach Mike Pavlansky said. “Poland isn’t necessarily a passing team but when they do throw the ball they are very effective. Their running game makes their passing game that much more potent and we weren’t consistent in that department tonight. Four turnovers were also costly for us.”

Under head coach Mark Brungard, Poland has defeated Canfield five consecutive times while improving to 40-28-3 overall since going to 11-man play in time for the 1944 season.

The Bulldogs clinched an eighth consecutive playoff appearance.

“Our game plan is to always try and establish the line of scrimmage while that first touchdown to Tate kind of relaxed us,” Brungard added. “Our run sets up our pass and tonight I was really pleased with the way that Dom managed the entire game. Our offensive and defensive fronts did a great job as well and they are to be commended for their overall play.”

The Bulldogs racked up 431 yards of total offense while their defense held the Cardinals to just 87 overall yards on 42 plays or less than two yards per play from scrimmage.

Junior defensive back Dylan Garver, who had a career high two interceptions and now has four picks on the season, said the game was dedicated to all of the seniors.

“We wanted the seniors to finish the regular season on a winning note and we played for the seniors tonight. Our goal defensively is to not allow any points, then turning the ball over to the offense so that they can put the points on the board,” Garver said.