The goals seemed to come in bunches Wednesday evening in Rutherfordton. Fortunately for Polk County, the Wolverines had the larger batches.
Polk twice rallied from first-half deficits, then pulled away in the closing minutes for a 6-3 win over R-S Central in a Mountain Foothills 7 Conference matchup.
The Wolverines (7-2-2, 2-1) got three goals from Cooper Meyer, two from Blake Anderson and one from Thomas Varnadore in their best offensive effort since the early-season 9-0 win over Tri-County Early College. All were needed.
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R-S Central (4-5-2, 0-3) struck first in the seventh minute, but Polk answered in the 11th minute as Meyer raced forward for a long pass from James Purtill and pushed a shot into the net to even the match.
The Hilltoppers answered 26 seconds later on a Riley Coldren goal, but the Wolverines came right back less than two minutes later. Will Garrison drilled a free kick some 50-plus yards upfield, with Manny Albarran heading the ball forward to Meyer, who again pushed deep into the penalty area before striking for the second time, evening the score at 2-2 in the 23rd minute.
Meyer completed his hat trick in the 25th minute, with Garrison lofting a free kick just in front of the R-S goal, where Meyer leaped and flicked it into the net.
A combined five goals in eight minutes for those keeping track.
The Hilltoppers evened the score early in the second half as Dean Bates headed in a long throw-in, but as per the pattern of the night, Polk answered moments later. Nate Martinez drove a corner kick into the box that a charging Varnadore headed in, putting the Wolverines up 4-3 in the 50th minute.
The Polk defense than preserved that one-goal advantage for the next 24 minutes until Anderson scored twice in a 90-second span, both times following up Meyer shots and beating the R-S defense.
The Wolverines will have a week to savor the win before returning to the road, traveling next Wednesday to Chase for a 6 p.m. conference match.
