Polk County’s varsity football team survived a barrage of strange penalties, a very good opposing quarterback, an early-fall chill, and an opposing team that played much better than its record, to edge Avery County, 43-41, in Newland on Friday, Oct. 16.

On the way, the Wolverines’ Jamal Wheeler rushed for 307 yards on 20 carries (Polk’s single-game rushing record is 343 yards, set in 1993) on a night when Polk (now 4-5 overall and 2-2 in Western Highlands Conference play) earned every yard that Wheeler and his teammates gained, as well as every yard they kept the Vikings from gaining.

The proceedings also included the ejection of an Avery coach and an Avery player, in separate incidents. Avery fell to 1-7 overall, still seeking its first WHC win.

“Guys, we can make this a turning point,” Wolverine head coach Jamie Thompson told his players after the game, when Thompson no longer needed to hold back the smile he had doubtless hoped to show sooner. “But,” he continued, “we came together . . . Let’s stay together.”

The game, which began under skies some 10 to 15 degrees colder than in Columbus, ended when Polk, having turned back a two-point conversion attempt by Avery, let the clock run out with four seconds left.

Avery won the opining coin flip, electing to kick off. Polk moved the ball well, to the Avery 35, until one of Jamal Wheeler’s passes tipped off a receiver’s upward-stretched hands, and was grabbed by the Vikings’ Ryan Sheppard.

That Viking possession featured a 42-yard run by Avery’s fine quarterback Luke Crowe, who took the ball to the Polk 12. A tackle by Polk’s Fred Salerno for a small loss, plus an incomplete pass, put Avery in a third and thirteen, but Crowe found a receiver in the end zone, and hit him for a touchdown with 4:58 left in the first quarter.

Avery’s kick was good, and Polk was down, 7-0.

However, 20 seconds of play later, Jamal Wheeler blew downfield for 63 yards and a Wolverine score. Davis Derkach split the uprights to make it 7-7.

The Vikings, nearly continuing where they’d left off, had the ball inside the Polk 20, when the Wolverines recovered a loose ball. Carries by Jaymes Wingo, Storm Wheeler and Khiree Green took the ball to the Polk 43. After a long, incomplete pass, Jamal Wheeler fired short to Storm Wheeler, who took it and ran clear to Avery’s 30 as the quarter ended.

A combination of carries, a pass completion and an Avery penalty gave the Wolverines a first and goal at the four. Shakur Wingo took a handoff, and found the end zone. Another good PAT kick completed the 82-yard drive, and put Polk ahead, 14-7.

Next, Polk forced Avery to punt. Avery received its first (but not last) unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of the night on that Polk drive. That gave Polk a first down at its 35. Big play on this drive was a completion from Jamal Wheeler to Josh Chupp, a 29-yard gain that put the ball on the Avery 16.

Jamal Wheeler’s keeper took it to the eight. From there, Jaymes Wingo found the end zone with 4:18 left in the half. This kick was not true, and Polk had to settle for a 20-7 advantage.

Avery’s James Eury took Polk’s kickoff, and raced to the Wolverine 20. Missed tackles helped a Luke Crowe to Brett Smith completion for the Viking’s second TD. Avery’s kick cut the Wolverine lead to 20-14.

With 2:18 left in the half, Jamal Wheeler burned MacDonald Stadium’s turf for 87 yards and a touchdown. Polk, who’d not done well on two-point tries in recent contests, earned one here, when Shakur Wingo wrapped up a Jamal Wheeler pass, to make it 28-14.

Avery’s Christian Hicks took Polk’s kickoff, and ran unscathed for 93 yards and a TD, followed by a good kick that cut Polk’s lead to 28-21.

Jaymes Wingo made a clean pick of a line kickoff, but was able to gain just three yards, to Polk’s 43. Before the Wolverines had much chance to move the ball, Avery’s Chandler Stansberry picked off a pass, and Avery had the ball at the Polk 39.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Polk, plus gains by Avery, took the ball to the Wolverine one, from where Crowe broke through on a keeper. The kick tied the score at 28.

Storm Wheeler made a good kickoff return, but he and his teammates simply ran out of time in the first half, which ended at 28-28.

An apparent TD run by the Vikings’ Cameron Smith, very early in the second half, was called back on a holding penalty. However, after Smith penetrated deep into Polk territory, Crowe fired to Brett Smith, and another Avery touchdown. Avery made another kick, and led, 35-28. Facing a third and one at his 33, Jamal Wheeler kept the ball, ran into a wall of red jerseys, but made the first down. After passing to Chupp for a first down at Polk’s 45, Jamal Wheeler burst to the Avery 14, for what appeared to be a 41-yard gain, but, instead, after a late flag on the play, officials marched off 15 yards, back to Avery’s 29.

The Wolverines closed in when Storm Wheeler took a Jamal Wheeler pass to the Avery 14. Jamal Wheeler’s keeper put the ball on the nine. Khiree Green then bounced off a would-be tackler and was finally stopped on the one. From there, Jaymes Wingo weaved into the end zone on the right side, for his second TD of the game, with 1:09 left in the third quarter. Derkach made the kick, which tied the score at 35, where it stood at the start of the fourth quarter.

A Polk pass completion, followed by a dropped ball and disputed possession gave an Avery player time to allegedly throw a punch at a Polk player, the former being ejected from the game.

Officials ruled that Polk had the ball. Carries by Shakur Wingo and Jamal Wheeler put the ball seven-plus yards from the Avery end zone, which Jamal Wheeler entered on the next play. With 4:13 left in the game, could Polk go for one or two points? The play was for two, as Jamal Wheeler dashed, unmolested, diagonally into the end zone.

Polk, having turned the game around once more, led 43-35.

The Wolverines had Avery in a fourth and eleven, with about two minutes left in the game, but Crowe kept his poise, his pass caught by Brett Smith at Polk’s 22. With 1:21 left in the game, Avery’s Cameron Smith rushed to Polk’s one.

Officials ruled that Avery recovered its fumble, and Cameron Smith scored from a yard out, to make the score 43-41 Polk. Of course, Avery went for two points, and of course, Polk stopped the Vikings.

Jaymes Wingo smothered Avery’s short bouncing kickoff, and Polk smothered the clock, which showed just four seconds.

The Wolverines had thrown off the shackles of two previous one-point losses, to regain a bit of swagger.

“It was good to be on this side (of a very close game),” a relieved Jamie Thompson remarked.

He noted that the Wolverines never punted or turned the ball over on downs during the contest, scoring on every possession except those interrupted by interceptions.

“The kids rose up and came together . . . we fought back.”

This is a bye week, the Wolverines next traveling to Owen on Oct. 30.