Correspondent photo / David Dermer South Range’s Tristan Toy throws the eventual game winning touchdown pass during the second half of their OHSAA State Playoff game on Friday night against Poland. South Range won 17-16.

BOARDMAN — Eight weeks ago, South Range staved off a late comeback to defeat Northeast 8 Athletic Conference rival Poland 38-30. On Friday, in a rematch with the Division V regional championship hanging in the balance, things could not have been any different.

The undefeated Raiders led only for 16 seconds during Friday’s regional title game. Fortunately for them, those 16 seconds were the final ones in a thrilling 17-16 come-from-behind win at Boardman Spartan Stadium.

South Range erased a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit and took the lead for the first time all evening with a successful extra point by Luke Starkey after a touchdown pass from senior Tristan Toy to freshman Tommy Titus with 16 seconds left on the clock.

Poland quarterback Vito Komara’s final pass fell well short of the end zone as time expired, sending the Raiders sideline and supporters into a frenzy.

“Just so proud of the character of those kids,” South Range coach David Rach said. “Hats off to Poland. They did an amazing job as a coaching staff. They played their tails off. [We] just kept telling our kids, just keep battling. And here they are. So proud of them.”

Unlike last week, when it took until the second quarter for the Bulldogs to even register a first down against Akron Manchester, Poland wasted little time getting on the scoreboard Friday.

Just moments after forcing a South Range punt, Poland quarterback Vito Komara took the snap, made a cut and sprinted into the wind and into the end zone for a 65-yard rushing touchdown.

While it took longer, the Raiders generated the same result on their next offensive possession.

As the capper for an extended, 80-yard drive, South Range quarterback Tristan Toy carried the ball eight yards for the Raiders’ first score of the game with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

While Poland’s next drive would conclude with a punt, Bulldogs coach Tom Pavlansky decided to call a timeout with two seconds remaining in the first quarter, giving Jas Stefancin the opportunity to punt with the wind at his back.

The move paid off. Stefancin pinned the Raiders at their own 5-yard line, and when the Poland defense forced South Range to punt, the Bulldogs took over at their own 49.

Poland did not let the favorable field position go to waste. On the first play of the drive, Komara, much like he did a week ago, ran to his right, spun around a defender and took off.

While Komara was pushed out of bounds at the Raiders’ 15 after a 36-yard gain, the Bulldogs’ Richard Madeline finished off the drive with a 12-yard rushing touchdown. South Range kept it a six-point game by blocking Stefancin’s extra-point attempt.

On their next drive, penalties proved to be costly for the Raiders, who took over after a failed surprise onside kick by Poland.

South Range, in large part due to the rushing attack led by Aiden Dominguez, charged down the field and into the red zone.

However, during a run, Dominguez earned a face mask penalty after stiff-arming a defender, backing up the Raiders up from inside the Bulldogs’ 15-yard line to near the 30. A few plays later, on fourth-and-2, Poland stuffed Toy at the line of scrimmage to force a turnover on downs.

The Bulldogs initially seemed content to burn the remainder of the 2:17 left in the half, but with less than 40 seconds remaining, Pano Xipolitas took a handoff 55 yards, instantly putting Poland near Stefancin’s field-goal range.

Despite kicking into the wind, Stefancin managed to lift the ball just over the crossbar on the 37-yard attempt to give the Bulldogs a nine-point lead in the dying moments of the first half.

Scoring became even more of a rarity in the second half as the late-November chill set in.

Stefancin’s second field-goal attempt, a 43-yarder, fell just short of the crossbar, keeping the difference at nine points.

The teams traded empty possessions back and forth until, with nine minutes remaining in the game, Starkey pulled the Raiders within a single possession by hooking a 33-yard field goal inside the left upright.

Like it had last week, Poland seemed more than capable of icing Friday’s game with one last long possession. The Bulldogs took their time driving down the field, forcing South Range to begin to call its timeouts.

However, a holding penalty put the Bulldogs behind the chains and eventually led to a long fourth down and a short punt by Stefancin.

Needing to drive 70 yards with no timeouts and 2:10 on the clock, South Range relied on Toy to lead the Raiders offense down the field.

Toy did just that, completing passes and rushing effectively to put the Raiders within striking distance.

Once they were there, Toy attempted a pass to Titus, whose defender grabbed him before the ball arrived, leading to a defensive pass interference call.

A few plays later, Toy looked for Titus again; this time, the freshman got a chance to catch the ball and did just that, tying the game with 16 seconds left.

“We’ve got a great group of senior leaders,” Rach said. “And ironically, we end up throwing a touchdown pass to the freshman down here.”

Starkey put the Raiders ahead on the PAT, and the defense kept Komara and the Poland offense contained on the final play of scrimmage to clinch a regional championship.

“I just told the kids, we got a chance to go win a football game,” Rach said of his message before the game-winning drive. “For all the mistakes and all the things that Poland did well for the previous 46 minutes, we had a chance to go win the football game.”

For Poland, the defeat ends the best season of Pavlansky’s tenure as the Bulldogs head coach.

“There’s no shame in losing those guys,” Pavlansky said. “They’re really good. We are too. I’m really proud of our guys and how they competed.

“…If this is the worst thing in the world that is going to happen to them, they’re going to be OK.”

Once the celebrations end, South Range (14-0) will turn its attention to Liberty Center, its state semifinal opponent who beat Edison 34-7 on Friday.

The site of next week’s game is expected to be announced by the Ohio High School Athletic Association over the weekend.