In a virtual repeat of last year’s heartbreaking road trip to Bakersville, the Polk County Wolverines were once again dealt their first conference defeat of the season by the Mitchell Mountaineers, this time at the Little Big House on the campus of Polk County High School Friday night, Sept. 30.
As with last season’s contest, the difference in the game turned out to be a blocked extra point, as a fired-up Mitchell squad downed the Wolverines by the narrowest of margins.
The game, expected by most to be a close contest between top-notch mountain powerhouses, was all Polk for the first 18 minutes of the ballgame. The Wolverines jumped out to a 21 point lead on first quarter touchdown runs by Cary Littlejohn and Alec Philpott, with Philpott adding another rushing TD midway through the second quarter.
However, with just 90 seconds left in the first half, Mitchell QB Justin Hughes, the leading rusher in the mountains, broke off a 25-yard touchdown run to erase the goose egg from the Mountaineer side of the scoreboard and cut the Wolverine lead at the intermission to 14 points.
The Mountaineers continued to chip away at the Wolverine lead in the second half. With just under six minutes left in the third quarter, Mitchell’s Troy Self powered into the end zone from 7 yards out to cut the Polk lead to a single touchdown.
Then, less than a minute later, a Polk County fumble at their own 35 handed the ball back to the surging Mountaineers deep in Wolverine territory. With Mitchell threatening to even the score, Polk’s defense came up large, stopping the Mountaineers on a big 4th and 5 to turn the ball back over to the Wolverine offense on downs.
Polk added to its lead with 7:54 left in the fourth, as Littlejohn raced 10 yards for his second TD of the evening to put the Wolverines up by 13.
However, in an almost surreal repeat of last season, Polk’s bid to tack on the extra point failed as Mitchell’s Self broke through the line to block Philpott’s attempt.
Following the huge play, the shift in momentum was palpable, and the Mountaineers were able to find the end zone twice in the final five minutes of the game and eke out the one-point victory.
“I’ll say this for them – they didn’t panic,” said Polk head coach Bruce Ollis of Mitchell’s efforts. “They got down and kept doing what they do, and did it well. We had some opportunities to make some plays and we didn’t.”
Littlejohn wound up with 28 carries for 216 yards on the night, while Philpott passed for 99 yards and carried for another 41.
With the loss, Polk County falls to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the WHC, putting the Wolverines in a three-way tie for second place with Mitchell and Owen.
The Wolverines hit the road this week, heading up to Newland to take on the Avery Vikings (4-3, 1-2), who lost to undefeated Hendersonville by 20 points Friday night.