The Trenton Bulldogs had just enough in the way of offensive punch to defeat a hard-charging group from Polo High School on Friday night, 32-28, with THS (2-6, 2-4) grabbing its second victory of the season, while keeping Reid Stephen’s group at Polo (0-8, 0-6) winless heading into the regular season finales this week.
In a game played in wet and sloppy field conditions on a Bob Shearer Stadium field dampened by persistent rainfall throughout the week, the teams battled to a scoreless tie for most of the first quarter, until a flurry of illegal motion penalties backed the Panthers inside their own five yard line. On a fourth down punt attempt, the snap went airborne and through the end zone, with the opening score of the game, with 1:40 left in the opening quarter, giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
Trenton extended the advantage to 9-0 early in the second quarter, with Jadan Whitney rumbling through the heart of the Polo defense to score on a 29 yard surge, with the extra point hit by Crawford. However, by the midway point of the quarter, the Bulldogs strong play hit severe turbulence. Polo’s best stretch of the game started on a fake punt from midfield, with Keller hitting Myers on a 45 yard pass up the west sideline to cut the lead to 9-6 as the two-point conversion failed. Seven minutes later, a 50 yard interception return by Keller, and a two-point conversion run by Myers, had given the Panthers a 14-9 lead.
Trenton took the lead away from Polo late in the half, with Mark Trump scoring on a two-yard run with 41.8 seconds to go until halftime, with the Carson Radcliff two-point run extending the Bulldogs lead to 17-14. A three-and-out forced by Trenton, combined with good clock management from the sidelines, forced a Polo punt, with Trenton getting the ball at midfield. The Bulldogs, in the final seconds of the half, drove the ball to the Polo 8 yard line, with Crawford nudging a 25 yard field goal attempt just over the crossbar, giving THS a 20-14 halftime edge.
The Bulldogs continued to surge in the third quarter, as Whitney, on a tight-end catch going perpendicular to the end zone, scored on a 7 yard toss from Sam Schilling, giving Trenton, after a failed two-point try, a 26-14 edge. However, Polo’s Myers raced 64 yards for a touchdown just 56 seconds later, as the Panthers continued to put pressure on Trenton’s lead.
Up 26-20 heading into the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs got a three-yard touchdown run from Whitney, his third score of the night, with 6:18 to play, increasing the lead to 32-20. Polo faced a 4th-down and long in the final seconds of regulation, but scored a a 20 yard pass to Myers with 16 seconds left, with the Keller two-point run cutting the score to 32-28. An onside kick attempt by Polo was recovered by Trenton at midfield, with Schilling kneeling on the football to run out the clock.
Friday night’s game was broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7. The Bulldogs, for Senior Night, will host the Maysville Wolverines on Friday night at 7 o’clock at C.F. Russell Stadium, with both teams coming into the game with identical 2-4 conference records, tied for fifth place in the GRC. Polo will look to spoil Milan’s chance in clinching the outright GRC title on Friday night, with the Panthers traveling to Milan to play the Wildcats in a 7 o’clock kickoff. Other GRC matchups for Week #9 will be Princeton at South Harrison and Gallatin against Putnam County.
