George Alley dipped into Polk County’s past this week to help prepare the Wolverines for the future.
As Polk County gears up for Thursday’s 3A second-round playoff clash with West Wilkes, set for 6:30 p.m. in G.M. Tennant Stadium, Alley decided to turn Tuesday’s practice into a full-squad scrimmage. He also invited a couple of special guests to participate – former head coaches Josh Trejo and Lennox Charles.
Trejo and Charles both played in the intrasquad scrimmage and also spoke to the team about their postseason pasts, offering words of wisdom to a team that enters the 3A West bracket as the top seed.
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“I asked them to say a few words from their playoff experiences to the guys, and the things they said were good,” Alley said. “They told them to take care of the details, things like that. I thought it was very helpful.”
Polk County (14-0-3) hopes that it can take care of things large and small while making a deep playoff run. The Wolverines will have home-field advantage throughout the West bracket, though a challenging road awaits with a field of threats that includes seeds 2-5 – Piedmont Community Charter, Pine Lake Prep, Union Academy and Patton – not to mention a handful of potential Cinderellas such as Owen, Lincolnton, Mount Airy and West Caldwell.
To face those teams, though, Polk County will have to travel a bracket road that begins with West Wilkes (11-11). The Blackhawks earned a 3-2 opening-round victory Tuesday over West Lincoln, with senior Mitchell Rangel scoring three goals, two of those off assists from standout freshman Colton Harris. Sophomore Luke Dillard had six saves.
Polk is likely to line up Thursday without seniors Erik Pena and Mason Hudson, both of whom are battling injuries that have occurred since last week’s season-ending win over Hendersonville.
“I’m down two guys for this game, but our mindset’s still good,” Alley said.
That confidence is rooted in the season’s undefeated record, of course, but also an offense that seems to be finding its rhythm. The return of senior Sebastian Azar has added to the one-two punch of seniors Cooper Meyer (21 goals) and Thomas Varnadore (16 goals).
“They’re clicking right now,” Alley said. “Sebastian is really finding his form.
“I think we’re ready. Our confidence is high, but we want to make sure we find that balance between not being overconfident, but knowing you’ve got that ability that if something happens, there’s a mistake, you can build back and get through it.”
