Polk County’s celebration of the final goal of Tuesday’s 9-0 win over Avery was much larger than might have been expected.
The entire bench, racing onto the pitch, for the ninth goal of the evening?
It wasn’t the goal that excited the Wolverines, though, but the scorer – senior defender Will Garrison, brought forward from the back, found the net for the first time this season, triggering the rush of teammates.
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“There are three or four players who haven’t scored. Obviously, they wanted Will to score,” said Polk County head coach George Alley. “We were pulling for Luke (Garrison) to Will, but that’s a great way to finish.”
The Wolverines (13-0-3, 9-0) dominated the evening against a rebuilding Avery squad (2-19, 0-10). Sebastian Azar scored the first of his three goals in the second minute, Cooper Meyer struck twice and Thomas Varnadore and Erik Pena each added goals as Polk built a 5-0 halftime advantage.
Azar also struck early in the second half, then completed his hat trick in the 55th minute off a Tanner Osborn corner kick. Meyer fed Wyatt Highsmith for a goal just prior to that, and then Garrison closed the evening in the 72nd minute, winning a scramble for a loose ball in front of the goal and tapping it home.
“It’s hard to play a game like that, stay focused and get kids to share the ball,” Alley said. “But you see the camaraderie of these kids. That’s awesome.”
Nate Harms played the entire evening in goal, recording the shutout on a fairly quiet evening in the back.
One more regular-season challenge remains for the Wolverines, who are slated to host Hendersonville on Wednesday. Rain may force that match to be pushed back at least a day, but whenever it is played, much will be on the line for Polk County:
- A chance at the first undefeated regular season in school history
- A chance to secure the outright Western Highlands Conference title. Polk clinched at least a share with Tuesday’s win.
- A chance to secure the top seed in the 3A West bracket for the upcoming state playoffs.
“Hope we can get it in (Wednesday), but if not, Thursday,” Alley said. “It would be really nice to beat Hendersonville, take the conference and get some momentum going into the playoffs.”
