Staff file photo / Brian Yauger Canfield quarterback Broc Lowry runs the ball in last season’s opener against Poland in the “Battle of 224” rivalry game.

Rivalry games always bring out the best between two teams.

Regardless of the history or current records, more than any other, rivalry games are decided by the players on the field.

Poland head coach Tom Pavlansky put it best: “it’s a one-game season,” when rivals meet on the gridiron.

On Friday, Poland and Canfield will continue their storied rivalry in another edition of the Battle of 224, as the Cardinals host the Bulldogs.

“Every workout in the offseason, summer and preseason, I think both schools have their rival on their minds,” Pavlansky said. “Everybody’s been working towards this game. They always work towards this game. It means everything to both communities and we just want to make sure that we’re doing all we can to prepare ourselves and give ourselves the best opportunity to have success.

“Our guys are excited about the challenge, but more than anything else, we’re excited about playing in this rivalry game. Poland and Canfield have a proud tradition football-wise and it’s a privilege to be a part of this.”

Recent history has largely favored the Cardinals in this matchup, as Canfield defeated the Bulldogs 24-12 in last year’s opener and Poland hasn’t beaten Canfield since a Halloween-night 28-7 win in 2014. But all that goes out the window in a rivalry showdown.

“We take it one year at a time,” said Canfield head coach Mike Pavlansky. “The game that’s most important is the game in front of us and not the games behind us.”

If Poland is finally going to get the monkey off its back, it starts with figuring out how to slow down Canfield quarterback Broc Lowry.

The Indiana-commit has been electric so far, rushing for at least 100 yards and throwing for at least 100 yards in each of Canfield’s wins over West Branch and Bellevue to open the season, while accounting for eight total touchdowns.

“We have to be able to try to contain or control a little bit, and it’s hard to do, but contain their offense and try to prevent big plays,” Tom said. “Certainly we have to stop the run and make them beat us with the pass. I don’t think there’s a big secret there. Broc is an unbelievable player and he’s an unbelievable competitor.”

After a tough loss to a talented Chaney team to open the season, the Bulldogs responded with a gritty win over Louisville last week.

Poland fell behind 10-0 in the first half, but the Bulldogs defense locked down the Leopards after that and the offense outscored Louisville 21-0 the rest of the way. Quarterback Dominic Pagano carried the Bulldogs’ offense with 126 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while the defense forced and recovered five Louisville fumbles.

Poland’s defense will likely need another similar defensive performance against the Cardinals Friday night.

“They’re extremely well coached,” Mike said of his brother’s team. “They enjoy playing with each other and you can see that on the sidelines — the excitement when a big play happens. They improved tremendously from week one to week two and obviously they’re looking forward to improving again this week. In this ball game, you can throw out the records. Anything can happen and generally anything does happen in this game.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. tonight at Bob Dove Field.