Team

Poland

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

Team

Lakeview

Record	Div.	Conf.
9/2	Div. IV	All-American Conference White Tier

Garver runs for 209 yards, three TDs

against short-handed Lakeview

By Greg Gulas

sports@vindy.com

POLAND

There are a variety of reasons as to why the Poland Bulldogs are undefeated this season.

Running back Dylan Garver just happens to be one of a myriad from which his coaching staff can choose.

Garver rushed for a game-high 209 yards and three touchdowns, the Poland offense racked up 363 yards total yards and the Bulldogs’ defense registered its first shutout of the season as they stopped Lakeview 35-0 Friday night at Dave Pavlansky Field.

It was the 13th straight regular-season win for Poland (8-0) as they moved to 25-5 overall at home during the decade.

“I need to credit everyone on the offensive line because they make my job a very easy one. They opened huge holes the entire night and all I had to do was run through them,” Garver said. “I’ve never run behind a better group of guys. We’re 8-0 and that means the world, but we have to keep our focus with rivals Canfield and Hubbard still remaining. We want to finish strong and maintain the momentum that we’ve built thus far.”

Poland took their opening drive 65 yards on eight plays, Garver scoring the first of his three tallies from three yards away as they forged the early 7-0 advantage.

Freshman signal-caller Cole Kosco then found Tyler Smith from 16-yards away at 8:44 of the second frame for a 14-0 margin and when Garver added his second score, this time on a 37-yard scamper, Poland was able to open a 21-0 halftime margin.

Lakeview (5-3), playing without injured quarterback Angelo Marino, was held to just 91 overall yards at the half, all but seven of which came via the passing game.

“We’re a confident group defensively and approach each and every game with a positive attitude,” linebacker Anthony Audi said. “We set goals every game and expect to achieve them.”

Garver’s 9-yard score midway through the third stanza then increased the lead to 28-0.

Nick Buccieri found the end zone from the 2 with 4:42 remaining to cap the scoring on the night.

“Our kids, for the most part, executed what we called and were pretty methodical about carrying out our game plan,” Poland head coach Mark Brungard said. “Credit coach [Tom] Pavlansky and Lakeview. They were shorthanded at quarterback and never quit.”

Pavlansky said his team hung in and had some opportunities offensively.

“There’s no excuses as we played hard the entire game and I am really proud of the effort we put forth on both sides of the ball,” Pavlansky stated. “Poland is an excellent team as they’re well-coached and they played hard as well. They’re 8-0 for a reason. We’ll watch the film tomorrow and look to get better. We had a lot of bright moments tonight and we’ll learn from this as we move forward.”

Poland held a 16-6 first-down advantage while the Poland defense held Lakeview to -1 yards on the ground on 23 attempts and just 115 total yards.