By Brian Dzenis

bdzenis@vindy.com

CANFIELD

Poland and Canfield shared the Mahoning Valley media stage Friday morning, but the Cardinals took the night for themselves.

After a surprise announcement regarding the future of The Battle of 224, playoff-bound Canfield ran Poland off the field in a 34-7 victory.

“It’s a crazy thing, you go [into school] the morning not know if you’re ever going to play them ever again,” Canfield running back Nick Crawford said. “You find out the news that you are and it’s awesome for the younger guys. It’s just a great feeling going out there and playing them.”

The 75-year-old rivalry’s future became questionable last year after Poland and several area schools chose to leave the All-American Conference to form the Northeast 8. Canfield wasn’t invited to the new league and scheduling conflicts put the rivalry’s existence in doubt.

Early Friday morning, the two schools put out a joint announcement: while varsity football will take a one-year hiatus in 2019, the series will resume beginning in 2020.

The two sides will open the 2020 season against each other before playing in Week 3 in 2021. Going forward indefinitely, they will play in Week 3 unless Week 10 is open.

The schools’ other sports teams will continue compete against one another.

“I think it was just the sheer determination to see if we can make it happen and with our league affiliation changing, some things opened on their end,” Poland superintendent David Janofa said before the game. “I think it was just due diligence on everybody’s part.”

Canfield (9-1, 3-1 AAC Red) came out methodically running the ball, burning up half the first quarter before Crawford scored the first of his three touchdowns from a yard out. Canfield finished with 259 rushing yards.

“Our guys up front got better every week, led by Jarod Tincher, a three-year starter,” Canfield coach Mike Pavlansky said. “That first drive was something we talked about all week long with setting the tone and those guys up front with Jarod played unbelievable on that drive.”

Poland (6-4, 2-2) was held to 22 yards in the first half while Canfield ran rampant. Mehlyn Clinkscale broke off a 54-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

The real knockout punch came in the final minute before halftime. Crawford punched in a 1-yard score with 49 seconds left. After kicking off to the Bulldogs, the Cardinals forced a quick three-and-out, which led to an 11-yard punt. Quarterback Max Dawson hit Colin Hritz for a 22-yard touchdown with two seconds to halftime.

“We were really ready for this,” Canfield senior P.J. Hallof said. “We treated it just like any other week, but in the back of our minds, we knew it was Poland and we knew what needed to be done.”

Clinkscale had a team-best 106 rushing yards and Crawford had 67 on the ground.

Poland’s Dean Gessler scored on a 7-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to break the shutout and avoid eight consecutive quarters of scoreless football. Jake Rutana rushed for 67 yards to lead the Bulldogs.

The loss eliminated Poland from playoff contention in Division IV, Region 13. Canfield will host a first-round game in Division III, Region 9 next week.