GIRARD — Poland and Girard, the final two teams without a loss in Northeast 8 Conference play, met Friday evening at Arrowhead Stadium in Girard.

At print deadline, the Bulldogs led the Indians 28-21 with 3:10 remaining in the fourth quarter after a Vito Komara go-ahead rushing touchdown to take control of the back-and-forth game. A full story with the final score and quotes from the respective head coaches is available at vindy.com.

One of the several Girard players honored before the game as part of senior night festivities, Jeramiah Hunter made an impact immediately by returning the opening kickoff nearly 40 yards to the Poland 48-yard line.

The Indians’ first drive was derailed, though, as a penalty on a would-be first-down pass negated the completion and put them behind the chains. Two plays later, Girard punted.

Poland made no such mistakes during its first offensive possession.

The Bulldogs began their attack with a David Xipolitas pass but found comfort on the ground, where Xipolitas, Vito Komara, Chase Jones and Angelo Angelilli consistently marched ahead. On the 10th play of the 80-yard, nearly five-minute drive, Komara took a handoff around the left edge and beat a defender to the near pylon for the first touchdown of the game.

During its second drive, Girard again suffered from its own mistakes, some of which came as the offense attempted to use tempo as a follow-up to a big play, such as AJ Pearson’s 38-yard completion to Braxton Sloan.

Nonetheless, the Indians preserved, and after picking up a first down on third-and-short, Mario Lipinski punched it in from 2 yards out. Maxwell Erickson’s extra point tied the game with 2:14 remaining in the first quarter.

After a pair of punts and several Girard penalties, Poland found itself inside the Indians’ 10-yard line. However, an ill-advised throw to the end zone was nearly intercepted by Lipinski, and a false start before a field goal resulted in a longer attempt, which sailed to the left of the uprights.

Girard quickly took advantage of the miscue, successfully using tempo to connect Pearson with Sloan on a big pass play that flipped the field.

Another Poland mistake — a facemask penalty on what would have been a third-down stop — gave the Indians another chance. A few plays later, Pearson pushed his way across the goal line, giving Girard its first lead.

Poland slowly but surely responded, methodically moving down the field until a third-down play-action pass to Pete Zoumis, which put the Bulldogs at the Girard 11. Soon after, Jones took a toss to the left and powered his way into the end zone.

With a little more than two minutes before halftime, the Indians initially took a conservative approach, opting for a short pass and runs as the clock ticked under a minute.

Then, a long pass to Lipinski, compounded by a roughing the passer, put Girard in the Bulldogs’ red zone. After a first-down run to get to the 4-yard line, a touchdown pass was ruled incomplete after a referee conference.

On the final play of the half, Pearson was stopped by JJ Faunda at the 1-yard line as time expired, leaving the teams tied going into the locker room.

Girard struck first in the third quarter, moving the ball toward the end zone on its volition while also being aided by a dead-ball personal foul on Poland, which gave Indians first-and-goal at the 5-yard line.

On the next play, Pearson carried the ball into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown almost halfway through the third.

As Poland drove in an attempt to tie the game, Xipolitas was removed from the game due to injury and replaced by Komara. The dynamic running back subsequently kept the ball and carried it left, and while seemingly stopped by the Girard defense, the rest of the Bulldogs began pushing and helped Poland pick up another 10 yards and, possibly more importantly, ignited its sideline and crowd, both of which had been frustrated by the penalties that were called and went uncalled.

The Bulldogs soon thereafter knotted the game at 21 with a 3-yard Angelilli rushing touchdown and point-after with 58 seconds left in the third quarter.

Less than three minutes into the fourth, Girard fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Poland. Komara then finished off the ensuing drive with a short-yardage rushing touchdown to give the Bulldogs a one-score lead with 3:10 left in regulation.

A win for either team granted the victor sole possession of first place in the NE8 heading into the penultimate week of the regular season.

Girard will be at Hubbard next week, while Poland hosts Lakeview.