GIRARD — Five weeks after their first meeting, a back-and-forth battle for control of the Northeast 8 Athletic Conference, Girard and Poland clashed again Friday at Arrowhead Stadium in a Division V regional semifinal.

At print deadline, the Indians and Bulldogs were tied at 21 with 9:38 left in a game filled with bad blood and a notable amount of personal-foul penalties. A full story with the final score and quotes from the teams is available at vindy.com.

Girard, which orchestrated a two-minute, game-winning drive in its 29-28 win vs. Poland last month, picked up where it left off Friday.

The Indians efficiently moved the ball down the field to begin the game, picking up first downs on each of their first three plays, including a 33-yard AJ Pearson pass to Braxton Sloan. After being stopped just shy of the goal line on a 12-yard run, Pearson finished the job with a 1-yard touchdown carry, giving Girard a lead 93 seconds after kickoff.

Poland’s first drive did not go as smoothly.

Although first-down runs by Chase Jones and Vito Komara momentarily put the Bulldogs at the Indians’ 31-yard line, Komara then fumbled and recovered the ball in the Bulldogs’ backfield. The 8-yard loss preceded an Allen Hess-Cardona sack of quarterback David Xipolitas, pushing Poland back even further and necessitating a punt.

Following a three-and-out, Girard’s Mario Lipinski punted to Komara, who showed his speed and agility with a return to the 3-yard line. While the play was partially negated due to a penalty, bringing Poland back to the 32, Komara simply would not be denied.

Facing third-and-8, Komara initially carried the ball right, but with no space to operate, he reversed course, running back left with plenty of room to run. He picked up 22 yards on the carry, and with a Girard personal foul, the Bulldogs earned a first-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Pano Xipolitas took the subsequent handoff for a touchdown, and with a successful extra point, Poland tied the game at 7 with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter.

Each of the teams’ next drives ended in interceptions; Kelley Memo picked off Pearson in Bulldogs territory before Sloan repaid the favor on a fourth-down pass.

Taking over at its own 23, Girard slowly advanced down the field until Pearson found Sloan for a 42-yard pass, which put the Indians at the Poland 18. After a 15-yard rush by Sam Scott, Pearson ran for his second score of the game to give the Indians a 14-7 lead with 8:50 to go in the half.

With less than 90 seconds left in the quarter, Poland knotted the game up at 14 with a five-play, 69-yard drive. After a Sloan interception was waved off due to a defensive holding penalty, David Xipolitas found JJ Faunda for a 15-yard gain, and then Jones rumbled for the 26-yard touchdown to send the game to half with a 14-14 scoreline.

Poland’s first drive of the second half showed promise, but numerous penalties, including successive personal fouls after a first-down run by Jones, upended it and led to a punt.

Although the Bulldogs got a second chance with Faunda intercepting a Pearson pass, the following drive ended much like the previous, as a dead-ball personal foul after the first play put Poland behind the sticks.

Girard was aided on offense by a pair of dead-ball Poland penalties, which came after Scott nearly lost a fumble in the Indians backfield. The fouls not only negated the first negative play of the drive, but they put Girard on the opposite side of the 50.

The Indians took advantage with numerous runs by Scott and Pearson, the latter of whom capped off the 87-yard drive with his third rushing touchdown of the game to give Girard a 21-14 lead with 53 seconds left in the third quarter.

A few minutes later, Poland tied the game back up with a 1-yard touchdown by Jones.

The winner of Friday’s game plays first-seed Cardinal Mooney, which soundly defeated fourth-seed Garrettsville Garfield on Friday, in next week’s Region 17 championship game.