Photo by Rick Charles

Junior quarterback Oliver Hildebrandt (seen here against Walsh) tried to rally St. V-M at Poland Seminary on Friday night, but the host Bulldogs won the Division III regional quarterfinal 38-14.

YOUNGSTOWN -- Senior running back Luke Wollet rushed for three touchdowns and caught a fourth score on Friday night, leading Poland Seminary to a 38-14 regional quarterfinal win over St. Vincent-St. Mary.

Wollet carried 25 times for 111 yards and caught four passes for 119 more. He also had an interception in the OHSAA Division III state tournament matchup.

"He's a tremendous competitor. He's a play maker," Poland coach Mark Brungard said about Wollet. "To his credit, he had his best week of practice in three years and I told him that on Thursday."

Brungard played quarterback for Jim Tressel at Youngstown State and led the Penguins to back-to-back national championships in 1993 and 1994.

St. V-M lost four turnovers, two coming in the first half on kickoffs, and the Irish (6-5) finished the year with a whopping 34 total giveaways.

Brungard and his staff were determined to keep the Irish guessing the entire contest. The Bulldogs executed an onsides kick on the opening kickoff and the gadget plays kept coming. The game proved to be a nightmare for St. V-M's kick return unit.

"Give them credit. They obviously saw something," St. V-M coach Dan Boarman said. "The first one, we left early. But then the second one we had and we fumbled. The third one bounces right off his chest."

Midway through the second quarter, on fourth-and-two at the St. V-M 5, the Bulldogs bluffed a timeout call when sophomore quarterback Colin Reardon moved from behind center and the ball was snapped directly to Wollet who scored.

Trailing 24-7 at halftime, the Irish moved junior Doran Grant into the 'Wildcat' formation and trimmed their deficit to 24-14 on a 29-yard scoring run by junior Mark Murphy at 9:46 of the third quarter.

However, Poland (9-2) recaptured the momentum with an interception by senior linebacker Ed Kossec, and later sealed the game on the second play of the fourth quarter when Reardon connected with Wollet on a 54-yard TD pass with 11:45 to play to make the score 31-14.

Irish defender Mike Kagafus had inside position on Wollet, but the ball glanced off his hands and then his helmet, popping into the arms of Wollet, who coasted into the end zone.

"(John) Cistone said, 'If you stay in this game long enough, you'll see everything," Boarman quipped. "Well, I saw a lot tonight."

Murphy finished with 81 ground yards on 11 carries. Junior quarterback Oliver Hildebrandt completed 7-fo-20 passes for 137 yards, one TD, and two INTs. Hildebrandt did connect with Dominique Mitchell on a first-quarter 74-yard scoring strike.

The Irish were without the services of their outstanding senior linebacker Brian Foster (knee), injured late in the season.

Poland dominated time of possession 31:07 to 16:53. Archbishop Hoban is next for the Brungard's Bulldogs.