No. 11 seed Poland Seminary pulled off a first-round road upset Friday night, Oct. 30, defeating No. 6 seed Woodridge 41-38 in a Division IV, Region 13 playoff game in Peninsula — a matchup of Bulldogs that Poland never trailed, according to the Akron Beacon Journal’s game coverage.
Poland (7-4) struck first after Woodridge fumbled on its first offensive play, with sophomore kicker Salvatore “Salvi” Carramusa hitting a 37-yard field goal. Carramusa accounted for 15 points on the night with four field goals and three extra points, the Beacon Journal reported.
Quarterback David Xipolitas ran for a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter and later threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Chase Jones, who also scored on a 5-yard run and finished with 112 yards on 13 carries, according to the Beacon Journal.
Woodridge (8-3) got a school-record night from junior Johnathan Tyree, who ran for 274 yards and touchdowns of 80 and 3 yards on 32 carries. Quarterback Blake Pumper completed 12 of 20 passes for 141 yards, with touchdown passes of 55 yards to Kellen Morr and 29 yards to Carter Maxa, the Beacon Journal reported.
Poland’s special teams and defense kept answering. The Bulldogs blocked a punt to set up a short touchdown drive in the third quarter, returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth, and junior Pete Zoumis recovered two fumbles, according to the Beacon Journal.
“I am so proud of our kids,” Poland coach Tom Pavlansky told the Akron Beacon Journal. “We had a really good week of preparation, and we needed that to have a chance to be on the same level with such a well coached team and a really good team in Woodridge.”
Woodridge coach John Daraio told the Beacon Journal his team hurt itself: “We had two fumbles in their own red zone, a blocked punt for them in their own red zone and on special teams we gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown. You can’t do that many things and then expect to win a football game.”
Poland sealed the win with 1:48 to go, converting a fourth-and-1 from its own 39 on Ashton Sattarelle’s 6-yard run before kneeling out the clock. It was the first football meeting between the two schools, and Poland’s 24th playoff appearance.
What happens next: Poland advances to the Division IV, Region 13 quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 6. Woodridge’s season ends at 8-3.
Photo: SilentMatt Psychedelic, CC BY-SA 4.0
[…] across Northeast Ohio, where NewsForce247 has been following the bracket game by game — including Poland Seminary’s 41-38 upset of Woodridge in the battle of the Bulldogs and the ongoing Glenville playoff dispute, in which a judge restored […]