Polk celebrates Homecoming with 62-0 rout
Published 3:21 pm Wednesday, October 28, 2009
When your local Cub Scouts open with The Pledge of Allegiance, the school chorus sings the National Anthem, the Homing Coming Queen is crowned, your rival looses and you win 62-0, it&squo;s been a good night (ok except for the rain).
Coach Bruce Ollis said it best after the game &dquo;All is good in Polk County&dquo;&bsp; &bsp;
Justin Blackburn kept the festivities going early with a 34-yard interception return for touchdown with 10:47 left to go in the first quarter. &bsp;
The Wolverines continued to score eight straight touchdowns in a 62-0 Western Highlands Conference pounding of Thomas Jefferson. Before the final horn sounded seven players scored touchdowns with Landon Schlabach leading the way with three, two rushing and one 25-yard catch from Dakota Turner.
Schlabach ended the night with five carries for 50 yards, Andre Overholt had 70 yards on just four carries, including a 28-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and Tyler Ridings had 63 yards on 10 carries in the second half. Polk County had 28 points in the first and second quarters and was up 56-0 at the half. Jacob Christenson was 8-8 on Extra Points for the night. &bsp;
Thomas Jefferson attempted 52 passes with Polk recording 6 interceptions. Ryan Thomas had two interceptions, his third in two games along with a host of others.&bsp; &bsp;
Polk played the second half primarily with the JV team which maintained the shutout and added one score. The JV had not played in two weeks due to scheduling and a cancellation by Avery due to illness.&bsp; Coach Ollis was excited about their play. &dquo;I was awfully proud of our JV football team. They basically played the second half and won 6-0. They had not played in two weeks. It was great to get them back and playing again.&dquo;
Polk utilized a wide array of runners and receivers as 11 players ran the ball for Polk County and 9 players caught passes. Polk also had four different quarterbacks under center during the game and blocked two punts.
With the game never in jeopardy, the buzz in the crowd shifted to the Hendersonville ‐ Owen game with scores announced periodically.
Owen eventually beat the front running Hendersonville Bearcats making the next two games for Polk even more important.
The Wolverines (7-2, 4-1), travel to Owen next Friday night then close out the regular season at home against Hendersonville on Nov. 6.
When asked about the Owen upset Coach Ollis commented: &dquo;I&squo;m not surprised I&squo;ve already looked at Owen on film some&ellip; a very hard nosed physical team that always plays us hard. I expect their best effort next Friday night.
&dquo;Now Owen is right back in the thick of it again &ellip;now a four team race. With us, Mountain Heritage, Hendersonville, and now Owen. I like the fact that they won… It makes the (upcoming) game a better game.&dquo;&bsp; &bsp;
Scoring by quarter vs. Thomas Jefferson
1st Quarter
10:47 Blackburn 34 yard interception return
8:20 Overholt 28 yard run
4:31 Schlabach 9 yard run
2:17 Brody 9 yard pass from Overholt
2nd Quarter
10:04 Dakota Turner 1 yard run
8:51 Schlabach 25 yard pass from Dakota Turner
6:27 Schlabach 20 run
1:27 Jackson 3 yard run
4th Quarter
3:44 Alec Philpott 6 yard pass from Dylan Turner