Correspondent photo / Michael G. Taylor Canfield’s Joey Pannunzio (13) cut backs for a first down during the second quarter of a game on Friday against Poland at Dave Pavlansky Field in Poland.

POLAND — Canfield continued its recent dominance in the always-intense Battle of 224 series on Friday night, winning for the fourth time in the last five years.

Despite Poland controlling the ball and the clock for most of the evening in the two programs’ 80th meeting, the Cardinals leaned on the arm and legs of quarterback Enzo Cocca to knock the Bulldogs from the ranks of the unbeaten 35-13 and keep their own undefeated streak going to start the season.

“It’s just a tough ball game. Canfield’s a really good football team,” Poland head coach Tom Pavlansky said. “Yards were hard to come by. I’m going to give credit — Canfield played a tremendous game, and we fell short. But obviously, in big games like this, you’ve gotta be able to run the ball and stop the run. And it’s obvious who did that tonight.”

Cocca completed all eight of his passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns for the Cardinals. He also ran for 82 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

“He’s one of our senior leaders. What a tremendous kid and effort by him,” Canfield head coach Joe Ignazio said of Cocca’s performance. “He’s a team captain. I’m certain, when people look at his stature, they knock him and maybe even sometimes his ability to throw the ball. But my man had some big-time throws tonight and kept their defense on their heels. So I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Poland set the tone early right on the game’s opening drive. The Bulldogs marched 80 yards in 13 plays, eating up over seven minutes of clock in the process, before punching the ball into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run by Pano Xipolitas.

After recovering a Canfield fumble as the Cardinals drove into the red zone, Poland had a chance to add to its lead. But the Bulldogs instead were forced to punt after going three-and-out after a holding penalty.

The Cardinals were scoreless in the first quarter, but they finally got on the board early in the second quarter. On fourth-and-1, Cocca rolled right and slipped through a crease on the outside and sprinted 33 yards for the touchdown.

From there, Poland’s offense went on another of its long, methodical, clock-eating drives to end the first half.

The Bulldogs drove all the way to the Canfield 10-yard line, but instead were held to a 27-yard Salvi Carramusa field goal with 10 seconds left till halftime. At the break, Carramusa’s kick was the difference, as Poland led 10-7.

Poland dominated possession of the ball in the first half, as the Bulldogs ran 30 plays compared to Canfield’s 13.

“Their skill is tremendous, and their front plays really physical,” Ignazio said. “Our problem in the first half was we had too many missed tackles and a couple penalties there that let them continue drives.”

But after halftime, the Cardinals took over. Canfield outscored Poland 28-3 in the second half thanks to Cocca’s arm and the defense’s adjustment.

“We got on them a little bit at halftime, and they settled in during the second half and were able to put it away,” Ignazio said. “We went in at halftime and told our kids, we’re only down three points. We get the ball to start the second half, so go down and punch it in, and you’re winning the football game, and they did that.”

Canfield took to the air to start the second half. Cocca went 4-for-4 on the Cardinals’ first drive of the second half, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to Landon Shina that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night, 14-10.

“You could see us get more confidence after that first series,” Ignazio said. “They didn’t look back after that.”

On the ensuing drive, the Bulldogs drove into the red zone, but again stalled out after a holding penalty negated a first down. Poland then tightened things up on a 43-yard field goal from Carramusa.

“That’s a big thing,” Pavlansky said. “You get inside the red zone, inside that 20-yard line, you gotta be able to finish off those drives.”

However, Canfield quickly struck again. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Cocca found Matthew Campbell in the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown pass, which put the Cardinals up by eight.

After forcing Poland to punt, the Cardinals needed just one play to extend their lead, as Cocca completed his third touchdown pass, finding Donnie Ferko on a screen and he sprinted 58 yards untouched to paydirt to put Canfield up 28-13 with 7:36 to go.

Gabe Miller then put the win on ice for the Cardinals with an 8-yard touchdown run with just under two minutes left.

Canfield is now 4-0 and has already matched its win total from last season, as the Cardinals are set to host Chaney next week.

“We told our guys early on, don’t listen to any noise outside this locker room,” Ignazio said. “We talked about a quote in Proverbs 27:17 — iron sharpens iron, as one man sharpens another. And our guys have certainly done that. They’ve made each other better, and they’re a special group.”

Now with its first loss of the season, Poland will get back to the drawing board, as it looks to bounce back next week to start Northeast 8 Conference play at Hubbard.

“Anytime you face adversity, it’s an opportunity to learn about yourselves,” Pavlansky said. “So we’re going to learn a lot about ourselves and how we bounce back. Obviously this one hurts because it’s a rivalry game that meant a lot to our kids. So we get a chance to learn about ourselves, watch the film, but also a chance to see how we handle adversity. Are we going to come together or are we going to fall apart? We’ll see what happens.”