The Polk County High School and Mountain Heritage football teams shared the Western Highlands Conference 2A title a year ago.

In that case, sharing wasnt all it was cracked up to be. Mountain Heritage rode the wave of that conference championship and a 21-7 regular-season victory over PCHS all the way to the state finals.

Last season, they lost to Hendersonville, then beat us and did not lose again until they lost in the state championship, said PCHS head coach Bruce Ollis. I expect a great game with the two teams that shared the WHC title in 2009.

The Cougars (4-1 overall, 1-0, WHC) have already dispatched Hendersonville this season with a 28-22 victory this past week in which quarterback Tyson Tomberlin threw for three touchdown passes. Mountain Heritage scored two touchdowns in the final 5:31 a scoring strike from Tomberlin and an interception returned for a touchdown to secure the win.

Meanwhile, it was business as usual for PCHS (5-0, 1-0), ranked No. 7 in the Class 2A Associated Press poll.

The Wolverines were occasionally dominating in a 43-14 conference road win over Madison, but struggled with a proliferation of penalties, two of which nullified touchdowns, and three Andre Overholt interceptions.

PCHS head coach Bruce Ollis was happy to see his team remain composed throughout last weeks game.

Our players and coaches over the years have remained pretty business like when it comes to preparation and playing, Ollis said. I believe this prevents us from ebbing and flowing too much much emotionally, which can develop into a problem if you aren’t careful. Certainly having a good number of seniors makes it easier for us to communicate our mission to the players.

But the turnovers are a concern that was addressed during practice this week.

We must eliminate turnovers if we are to have the type of season we are capable of having, Ollis said. We don’t normally have a problem here and need to nip it in the bud before it prevents us from winning a close game. We have addressed it at practice and I believe you will see a difference in that area.