Staff photo / Greg Macafee Poland senior quarterback Dom Pagano throws a pass during a 7-on-7 scrimmage against Conneaut (Pa.) this summer at Poland Seminary High School. Pagano is returning from an injury this season and is looking to making an impact for the Bulldogs.

POLAND — Needing to stay healthy is an age-old cliche, Tom Pavlansky admits, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Coming off of an injury-riddled 2022 season, Pavlansky enters his third year at the helm of Poland with one critical first objective: keep starters on the field.

But, with the combined experience of those starters along with younger players who saw time in their stead in 2022, Pavlansky likes what he sees.

“We think we have a group of guys that are eager, and they’ve had a good offseason,” Pavlansky said. “We’re working hard. We think (the players) care about each other, and they care about the game of football and understand the price that needs to be paid in order to give themselves a chance. We have an unbelievable schedule; it’s brutal. So we have to make sure that we’re getting better each day.”

Despite their injuries — Pavlansky noted it was nearly 80 games missed between various contributors — the Bulldogs managed a 5-6 record and a Division IV postseason appearance before suffering a heartbreaking 14-13 loss to Jefferson Area in the opening round.

Now, the Bulldogs return 20 letterwinners to a roster of 41, which includes 19 seniors.

That experience is critical, because — as Pavlansky mentioned — the Bulldogs face a gauntlet in terms of scheduling.

Poland begins its 2023 season with back-to-back road trips to Salem in Week 1 and Howland in Week 2. The Bulldogs host Oberlin Firelands in Week 3, and then take on Canfield at home in Week 4. Canfield is one of two defending state champions on Poland’s schedule this fall. The Cardinals took the Division III crown.

Salem (6-5), Firelands (7-4) and Canfield (14-1) combined to go 27-10 a season ago, while Howland (2-8) made a change at head coach and hired Brian Jones to take over. Jones served as a Poland assistant under Pavlansky the past two seasons.

That precedes a grueling Northeast-8 slate that includes four playoff teams from a season ago, including defending Division V champion South Range, which ran the table for a 16-0 record in 2022.

“We’ve got our work cut for us,” Pavlansky said.

OFFENSE

Six players with varsity experience return this season for Poland.

The strength, Pavlansky says, lies in the middle. Poland returns a core group of lineman, brings quarterback Dom Pagano back after the signal-caller missed the last half of 2022 with an injury and also returns star tailback Cole Fulton.

Fulton led Poland in carries, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns a season ago, piling up seven scores and 501 yards on 110 carries. Behind him, Danny Nittoli added 99 carries for 322 yards and three touchdowns.

Before he was sidelined with his injury, Pagano racked up 135 yards and two touchdowns on 36 carries, and added 205 yards and a touchdown through the air. He completed 15 of 38 passes.

“The ball was in their hands a ton, and we expect that to happen again this year,” Pavlansky said of Nittoli, Fulton and Pagano.

“We expect them to help lead our offense, and we expect them to play their best football this year.”

In the trenches, seniors David Olson and Adoni Efthimiou return at center and guard after starting in every game in 2022, while Vince Zuccaro, also a senior, returns after a season-ending injury last season kept him sidelined after Week 2.

Zuccaro lettered as a sophomore.

“He was on his way to having a really good year last year until unfortunately the season-ending injury,” Pavlansky said.

With him out, several Bulldogs were able to gain critical experience. Among them, junior Tyler Canfield returns at tackle, Dom Yurich also returns at tackle and Alex Stefek saw time along the line as well.

Logan Hackstedde, Tyler Sanders, Kolt Arnold and Vince Tufaro will add needed depth, Pavlansky noted.

“We’re excited to see what they can do with the pads on, but up front we have five guys who have experience, and we’ll build from there,” Pavlansky said.

At receiver, Andrew Todd, JD Memo and Josh Macejko all will factor into the rotation, while Oliver McCully, who stands at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, will play tight end after seeing time there as a sophomore last season.

Given the composition, Poland will seek to run the ball first to set up the pass game off of that.

“We have to be able to run the ball,” Pavlansky said. “And it’s safe to say, yeah, the ball is going to be in Danny and Cole’s hands more so than not.”

Staff photo / Greg Macafee
Poland head coach Tom Pavlansky coaches up a wide receiver during a 7-on-7 passing scrimmage against Conneaut (Pa.).

DEFENSE

For the most part, Poland’s defense will feature plenty of depth.

Up front, Stefek will feature at nose tackle, and the Bulldogs have plenty of others who will factor into a rotation that Pavlansky says could go 6-8 deep.

Efthimiou, Hackstedde, Canfield, Olson, Yurich, Sanders and Medina also will see time on the field, allowing Poland to keep its charges fresh as games and the season wear on.

Austin Bushaw also will see time at defensive end.

Stefek had 11 tackles and one TFL last season, while Medina had 15 tackles and a TFL, though both were hampered by injuries at various points.

“All of those bodies there, we think they’re capable. They just have to all work to keep getting better,” Pavlansky said.

Meanwhile, the coach says the linebacking corps will need to be the strength of the defense, and it has plenty of returning experience to do so.

Nittoli, Fulton and Matt Boccieri will lead the unit. Nittoli racked up a team-high 45 tackles to go with two TFLs, while Boccieri had 35 tackles and one TFL. Fulton amassed a team-high eight TFLs along with 30 tackles.

McCully also will factor into the unit, and Pavlansky says Jeffery Kollar, Ricky Madeline and Joey Varone and Pano Xipolitas will push them.

“We feel good about our linebackers to be a strength of our defense,” Pavlansky said.

In the secondary, Todd returns at safety after starting in each of Poland’s contests in 2022.

“He’s a little bigger, a little stronger, a little faster, and he’s going to continue to improve,” Pavlansky said.

Paul Greco returns at safety, as well, while Nico Genova is back at corner after suffering an injury midway through the 2022 campaign. In his stead, Memo saw significant time and will be in the mix again this season after intercepting two passes in 2022. Macejko also returns after starting each game at corner last season.

“At corner, we feel really good about those three guys,” Pavlansky said.

“We need to provide some depth there.”

Vito Komara will aid in that effort, as will Pagano and Jas Stefancin.

SPECIAL TEAMS

McCully and Canfield will see time at long snapper, while Stefancin will serve as placekicker.

He went 15-for-17 on PATs last season and 2-for-3 on field goals, including a 40-yarder. The Bulldogs are searching for a holder.

On returns, Fulton, Greco, Genova, Komara and Nittoli all have experience and should provide Poland with plenty of options. Greco returned punts for Poland last season, while Memo and Fulton handled the bulk of kick returns.

“Special teams need to be a strength of our program and our team,” Pavlansky said. “We need to understand that each special teams play is a one-play season, and we need to make sure we win that play.”

2023 Schedule

Aug. 18 at Salem 7 p.m.

Aug. 25 at Howland 7 p.m.

Sept. 1 Oberlin Firelands 7 p.m.

Sept. 8 Canfield 7 p.m.

Sept. 15 at Hubbard* 7 p.m.

Sept. 22 South Range* 7 p.m.

Sept. 29 at Niles* 7 p.m.

Oct. 6 at Girard* 7 p.m.

Oct. 13 Lakeview* 7 p.m.

Oct. 20 Struthers* 7 p.m.

*Northeast-8 Conference

2022 Results (5-6)

Chaney (10-2) L 34-2

at Louisville (3-7) W 21-10

at Canfield (14-1) L 31-7

*Hubbard (6-5) W 28-21

*at South Range (16-0) L 48-0

*Niles (2-8) W 31-7

*Girard (8-4) W 21-19

*at Lakeview (3-7) W 9-0

*Jefferson (11-4) L 27-13

*at Struthers (7-5) L 35-7

#at Jefferson (11-4) L 14-13

*Northeast-8 Conference

#-Division IV Playoffs

Coaching staff

Head coach: Tom Pavlansky, 3rd season, 13-10 record

Staff: John Bacak, Zac Capan, Rick DiNunzio, Anthony Fuller, Mike Lopuchovsky, Luke Skinner, Ryan Williams, Jeff Sabrin, Dean Gessler, Brian Palmer, Dom Sabrin, Dave Gessler, Todd Kollar, John Medina, Kirstie Bournias

Team facts

Division IV, Region 13

Northeast-8 Conference

Players on roster: 41

Returning letterwinners (20): Nico Genova, Cole Fulton, JD Memo, Andrew Todd, Dom Pagano, Josh Macejko, Oliver McCully, Danny Nittoli, Ryan Snyder, Matt Boccieri, Paul Greco, Adoni Efthimiou, Vince Zuccaro, Logan Hackstedde, Tyler Canfield, David Olson, Alex Stefek, Dom Yurich, Jas Stefancin, Antonio Medina.

2022 season: After starting the season 2-3, Poland picked up three straight wins to advance to 5-3 before injuries caught up to the Bulldogs, who went on to lose their final three games, including a narrow 14-13 loss to Jefferson in the opening round of the Division IV postseason. Poland finished 5-6.