by Fulton Hampton

After losing the last two games with Mitchell 28-27, any score other than that might have been welcomed. Coach Bruce Ollis said, “That 28-27 score has been imprinted on my brain for the last two years.”
Winning on the Mountaineer’s home field 36-20 on Friday, Sept. 28 was particularly satisfying, Ollis said.
“Coming into Ledger and winning is a big deal!” said Ollis.
Known as a hard place to play, Mitchell’s stadium is a long drive from Polk followed by a long uphill walk to a field that is not in good shape, and the visiting bleachers are the old hard concrete type far from the field.
Quarterback Alec Philpott said, “It’s nice beating Mitchell finally up here; I don’t exactly like this place.”
Mitchell received the opening kickoff but was unable to move the ball and punted. Polk put together a drive on the running of Tyler Jackson and Matt Darden. Philpott took the ball over from short yardage for the first score of the night. The extra point by Gage Stone was wide left, making the score Polk 6-0.
Mitchell took the kickoff moving steadily down field and scored with 11:54 left in the second quarter. Mitchell converted its two-point attempt and led 8-6. The Wolverines then scored again, with Darden taking it in with 9:50 left in the second quarter. The two-point conversion pass to JC Suddeth made it 14-8 Polk.
On the next series, Mitchell was unable to move the ball and had a bad snap go through the punter’s hands, giving Polk the ball on the 11 yard line. Philpott scored on the next play to make the score 22-8 with 6:56 left in the half. The Wolverines had what seemed to be a comfortable lead. However, Polk was unable to stop the Mountaineers, who finally scored on a 15-yard pass play. The two-point conversion attempt was stopped, leaving the score 22-14 Polk at halftime.
On their first drive of the second half, the Wolverines fumbled, giving Mitchell excellent field position. The Mountaineers took full advantage and scored, making it 22-20. Mitchell went for two points for the tie. However, Lucas Williams (18 tackles for the game) made an outstanding play, fighting off two blockers to make the final hit to stop the runner. The score remained 22-20 at the end of the third quarter.
Polk responded with a long drive, a key play being a fourth-down 7-yard completion to Reese Schlabach that kept the drive alive. Later, on a fourth and goal, Philpott scored to take a 29-20 lead with 4:27 left in the game.
As the Mountaineers were driving, Philpott intercepted a pass to end Mitchell’s threat. Intending simply to run out the clock, Polk ran a quarterback sweep that resulted in a 78-yard TD run by Philpott. The extra point made it a misleading 36-20 final score. Mitchell then fumbled on its first play from scrimmage and Polk ran out the clock.
Polk, now 5-2 overall and 2-1 in conference, takes on conference foe Avery for its homecoming game this Friday, Oct. 5.