In the biggest victory of the 2011 season thus far, the Polk County Wolverines football team held on in the final minute of play Oct. 21, upending the Owen Warhorses, 20-17.
The hard-fought battle, waged on the turf at Shuford Field, proved just the sort of nip-and-tuck affair that has become the standard anytime the two conference rivals clash.
“Every game with Owen over the course of the past seven years has pretty much gone down to the wire,” said Polk head coach Bruce Ollis.
The Wolverines marked first with just 3:07 left, as QB Alec Philpott connected with Joel Booker for a 20-yard TD strike to give Polk the go-ahead score.
Just when it appeared that the Wolverines would take a 7-point lead into the intermission, Owen kicker Gerald Cruz drilled a 51-yard field goal with 3 seconds left to shave the Wolverine lead to four.
Following a scoreless third period, Owen’s Jordan Littlejohn scampered into the Polk end zone from 18 yards out to give the home team the 10-7 advantage.
Two minutes later, the Wolverines took back the lead on Tyler Ridings’ 2-yard TD plunge, making it 14-10. Less than four minutes later, with 5:30 remaining, Owen’s Littlejohn again found the end zone to put the Warhorses back on top 17-14.
The play of the evening came as the Wolverines, facing a fourth and one at their own 29 with less than four minutes to go, called Cary Littlejohn’s number.
Following a key block by Markece Cunningham, Polk’s resident speed demon raced 55 yards down the sideline, giving the Wolverines the ball at the Owen 8 after a 15-yard horse collar penalty.
Two plays later, Littlejohn found the end zone, giving Polk the 20-17 advantage after the extra point try missed wide.
A final Owen drive managed to push the ball all the way down to the Polk 28, before a swarming Wolverine pass rush sacked QB Carl Patton for a 7-yard loss. Out of downs and with just 28 ticks left on the clock, the Warhorses lined up for a 52-yard field goal try to tie the game. The kick by Cruz had the length but sailed wide right, sealing Polk’s victory.
“I’ll say this – when the game was on the line, we made plays to win the game,” said Ollis. “That was the first time this season where we took a lead into the fourth quarter, lost it and then came back to win the game. I think our team may benefit more from winning a game in that manner than winning by three or four scores.”
Polk improves to 8-2 overall and 5-1 in conference competition, and remains tied for first in the WHC with Hendersonville and Mitchell.
The Wolverines host the Bearcats this week in the regular season finale to determine the Western Highlands Conference championship.