Better late than never might describe Polk County’s 50-7 varsity football win over Madison on Monday, Sept. 28, after the game and Homecoming ceremonies, originally set for Sept. 25, were moved back by drenching rains.

Faithful fans saw three new school records set.

Wet field conditions Monday discouraged much passing by both teams, giving the Wolverines’ running quarterback Jamal Wheeler the opportunity to score early and often. In all, Wheeler scored six TDs, including one on an 82-yard kickoff return, setting a Polk County High School varsity mark.

Polk evened its overall mark to 3-3. More importantly, the Wolverines are 1-0 in Western Highlands Conference competition, as they face only WHC opponents through the rest of the regular season. Madison is now 0-6, and 0-1 in WHC competition.

“The kids did a good job of adapting to conditions,” Coach Thompson observed of his team, “better than Madison did.”

The Patriots hardly went down easily, displaying the running talents of quarterback Colby Edwards and several teammates, including Dakota Surrett, who scored Madison’s lone touchdown.

Though some rain remained in the region, players, Homecoming court members and Queen candidates, escorts and organizers along with faithful fans, enjoyed a break in precipitation.

On the field, they saw Jamal Wheeler set three school records. Wheeler’s six TDs surpassed the previous Polk record of five, set by Jim Ollis in 2003. Further, with his two-point conversion run, Wheeler was on his way to scoring 38 points on the night, eclipsing Ollis’s record of 36. Michael Gossenriter’s previous single-game record of 23 yards per average carry also has taken a back seat, as Wheeler averaged 23.6 yards on his ten carries against Madison.

Polk won the opening coin toss, electing to kick off.

Davis Derkach’s kick into the end zone forced Madison to begin play at its own 20. Polk’s defense, which was just short of perfect all evening, quickly forced the Patriots to punt, the ball going out of bounds at the visitors’ 36. Wheeler ran the ball to Madison’s 16. Shakur Wingo, an emerging Wolverine running star, who ran for 80 yards, including Polk’s seventh touchdown of the night, carried to the 12, from where Jamal Wheeler seemed to dance his way onto the end zone.

The PAT kick was good, and Polk led, 7-0.

On a night when the rain held off, the main objects filling the air were officials’ penalty flags, with the majority of calls going against Madison. Three times, the men in stripes called unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against both teams at the same time, but one has to wonder what part the frustrated visitors might have had. An apparent late hit on Wheeler, as he scored one of his TDs, went uncalled. Still, a number of Madison players, having tackled Polk ball carriers, helped those runners to their feet.

Madison’s next possession featured a long run to Polk’s 13 by Colby Edwards, but Polk eventually took over on downs, as the Wolverines’ pass defense thwarted Madison.

Carries by Khiree Green (another emerging ball-carrying threat), Shakur Wingo, and Wheeler (including Wheeler’s 29-yard run), took the ball to Madison’s 10 and one-half, before Wheeler dashed into the end zone for his, and Polk’s second TD, with 2:12 left in the first quarter. That apparent late hit left Wheeler on the ground momentarily, but he seemed fine after that.

After the good PAT kick, Polk’s kickoff to Madison left the Patriots starting on their nine, following a holding call against Madison. Once again, Polk’s defense forced Madison to punt, with the Wolverines taking possession on their 28.

Shakur Wingo carried the ball to Polk’s 41. Moments later, in the opening seconds of quarter number two, he dashed 18 yards to Madison’s 41.

Polk’s march toward the Patriot end zone was halted, when the Patriots’ Austin Payne picked off a Jamal Wheeler pass, and ran it back to Madison’s 42. An apparent touchdown run by Madison’s Colby Edwards was called back on a penalty. Again, Polk forced their guests to punt, the ball going out of bounds at Polk’s 28. From there, Jamal Wheeler scored his third touchdown of the evening, on a 72-yard keeper.

Instead of kicking for the extra point, Polk faked, with Wheeler running the ball in for two points. Polk naturally declined a penalty against Madison. With 7:55 remaining in the half, Polk led 22-0.

Madison’s next possession, initially aided by good runs by Edwards and Travis Hollifield, ended when Polk’s Malik Miller picked off an Edwards pass.

Though the clock ran out for the first half, before Polk could score again, more than one Wolverine player virtually ignoring the actions of a minority of their opponents, observed, “The scoreboard is going up.”

That’s what counted most; at halftime, Polk led, 22-0, and would run away with the game soon after.

Wheeler electrified the scene when he took the second-half opening kickoff at his 18, and outmaneuvered and outran the Patriots’ special team players, for an 82-yard TD run. The play took just 11 seconds, longer than it would take most folks to run 82 yards in a straight line, in track shorts and shoes.

The scoreboard was indeed growing, in Polk’s favor. Derkach hammered another PAT kick through the uprights.

On Madison’s next possession, Edwards unleashed a long pass down the left sideline, where his receiver Dawson Coates made a fine catch, and ran to the Polk ten.

That play set up the four-yard TD run by the Patriots’ Dakota Surrett. After Madison made the PAT kick, Polk was still well in control, at 29-7.

Just over a minute later, with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter, Wheeler ran for his fifth, and record tying, TD of the night, this a 32-yard burst. Another true kick made it 36-7.

Polk’s defensive domination included Josh Chupp sacking Edwards for a 12-yard loss.

Wheeler’s record setting TD came in the closing seconds of the third quarter when he ran down the right side, half the length of the field. Polk now led, 43-7.

The last score of the game came with about 11 minutes left in the game, when Shakur Wingo tore 23 yards into the Patriot end zone. A kick later, it was 50-7, a score that stood for the evening.

“One of our goals, is to win a conference championship,” Thompson stated after the game.

Noting the wet field conditions, and Madison’s modest passing game, he remarked, “I didn’t want to throw the ball much, either. We had a decent crowd for a Monday night,” Thompson also observed. No doubt that when the subject comes to Jamal Wheeler’s multiple record-setting performance, the “size” of the crowd will continue to grow.

Another observation by Thompson is that, in Monday night play, the Wolverines are 3-0.

On Friday, Oct. 2, the Wolverines travel to Mountain Heritage, where opening kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.