Polks Kasey Jackson gets past Madison defenders during one of his six carries for 29 yards Friday (photo by Fulton Hampton) An open week prior to the first conference matchup of the season didn&squo;t hurt the Wolverines at all. In fact, it may have helped.

Polk County exploded for 35 points in the first half on Friday at home and then coasted to a 35-14 win over Madison.&bsp; It was the Wolverines&squo; highest offensive output and biggest margin of victory so far this season.

The Wolverines took control of the game late in the first quarter, striking three times in less than six minutes. Quarterback Dakota Turner started the scoring by connecting from three yards out for the first of three touchdown passes to Justin Blackburn.&bsp;

After Turner found the endzone on a six-yard run a few minutes later, Polk quickly regained possession and Turner found Blackburn again, this time for a 25-yard TD pass.

Midway through the second quarter, the Blackburn-Turner connection came through again for a 46-yard touchdown pass. Senior Landon Schlabach capped Polk&squo;s first-half scoring, finding the endzone from one yard out to make it 35-0.

Although Madison battled for two scores in the third quarter, the Wolverine defense held its ground the rest of the way to give coach Bruce Ollis his 150th career win.

Polk, 4-1 overall and 1-0 now in the Western Highlands Conference, finished with 299 total yards on offense. QB Turner was very efficient, completing 12-of-15 passes for three touchdowns and 138 yards.

Schlabach led the Wolverines ground attack with 74 yards on 14 carries. Keenan Littlejohn was also very productive with 49 yards on just nine carries and Kasey Jackson added 29 yards on six carries.

In contrast, Madison (2-3, 0-1) managed just 29 yards on the ground against a formidable Wolverine defense that has allowed less than 12 points per game in its last four contests.

Polk hits the road this week for another conference matchup, facing Mountain Heritage, which lost Friday at Hendersonville 30-21. Mountain Heritage is&bsp; 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

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