The neighbor rivalry brought out the best in the Spartans, as senior quarterback Zach Ryan led the way with an inspiring performance on the way to a 27-14 Spartan victory.

“We just get really hyped up for road games for some reason,” Ryan said. “Last week was rough, and we didn’t do a lot of things well. We came in today and still made some mistakes, but we put up 27 points. It was a pretty good performance for us.”

Poland senior running back Jake Rutana began the scoring on the night with an 8-yard rushing touchdown to cap off an impressive opening drive by the Bulldogs, while capitalizing on a Boardman turnover.

The Spartans had success passing the ball early in the game, as Ryan had 128 passing yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

Correspondent photo / Michael Taylor Boardman’s Nate Thompson (2) is brought down by a host a Poland defenders Friday night.

“We’re a young football team,” Boardman coach Joe Ignazio said. “Our guys were willing to come in after a week that we got licked pretty good and still continued to learn and grow. I’m proud of them for that.”

Senior tight end Connor Miller was a force for Boardman, catching two touchdowns in the first half. His 16-yard touchdown put the Spartans on top 14-7.

“When the plays break down our chemistry kicks in,” Ryan said. “Connor is one of my good buddies, so we have a pretty good feel for each other’s game.

Miller led the Spartans with three catches for 57 yards along with the two touchdowns.

“After watching his JV games the past few years, I broke him down,” Miller said. “There is an art to his game. Tonight, I was just able to find the open spots in the defense.”

The Bulldogs did their damage on the ground in the first half, combining for 55 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

Rutana led the way for the Bulldogs on the ground, as he turned 10 carries into 38 yards.

The Boardman defense responded well after giving up 41 points a week ago, and Ignazio was pleased with his team’s maturity.

“We’ve talked about the maturation process with our guys,” Ignazio said. “I’ve asked them not to get so frustrated with the mistakes. It’s easy for a young guy to live and die on every play, but on Friday night, if you want to play big-boy football, you can’t do that. We improved a lot this week in that area.”

After the Bulldogs answered with a 5-yard touchdown run from Josh Alessi, the Spartans quickly responded with a 22-yard field goal by senior kicker Tommy Fryda to take the halftime lead.

“Turnovers and penalties are drive killers and momentum swingers,” Poland coach Ryan Williams said. “The ball was on the turf a couple times tonight, and it’s just unfortunate that there were a couple more for us.”

On Boardman’s first possession of the second half, Ryan took a read-option 25 yards to the end zone to give the Spartans a 24-14 lead. It would be a lead they’d keep.

Poland junior quarterback Brody Todd was injured in the third quarter and did not return. He finished with 90 passing yards.

Sophomore running back Sean O’Horo carried the rushing load for the Spartans, taking 26 carries for 110 yards.

“I think this game really showed the mental strength we have,” sophomore running back Sean O’Horo said. “We came off a bad loss last week with a lot of errors. This week we did our best to correct and perfect those things.”

Fryda tacked on a 34-yard field goal to close out the Spartan victory.

Poland travels to Howland next week, and Williams hopes to see similar heart from his team.

“I was proud of the way we battled,” Williams said. “That’s a Division II football program. They are a good program, well-coached and the kids are tough. Obviously, there are things you’d like to do over, but I was proud of our kids for hanging in there.”

Boardman will face a tough test next week when it travels to play Massillon Jackson.

“We’re still making mistakes,” Ignazio said. “We’ve got to take care of missed assignments and things like that. We’ve got to continue getting better.”