For the team sport that is football, Polk County Middle’s Hollis Williams and Brevard Middle’s Simon Robinson certainly stole the show Thursday with their individual efforts.
Williams and Robinson matched breathtaking runs and touchdowns, with Brevard finally getting a late stop and one extra score to hand the Wolverines a 40-30 setback in their home opener at Utz Field.
Williams, starting as Polk Middle’s quarterback, finished the day with 232 yards rushing and four touchdowns. He had scoring runs of 43, 75, 36 and 44 yards, the last of those coming with 23 seconds remaining.
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On that run, Williams ran to his left, disappeared in a pile of Brevard jerseys, somehow emerged, ran back to his right and outraced the Blue Devil defense to the end zone.
Brevard stopped Polk Middle’s 2-point conversion try, though, and recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt to squelch the Wolverines’ comeback hopes.
“Hollis, at any time I tell him he’s the best player on the field,” said Polk Middle head coach Ethan Edwards. “There are a lot of times where I’m mad at him, like you’re going the wrong way, you’re going the wrong way, great run.
“He’s one of those kids who has a special talent. He has vision, he’s fast, he makes people miss. He’s 100 miles an hour every play. Even when it’s not his responsibility, he’s trying to make the play.”
Williams, obviously, had help, and the improved play of the Wolverine lineup from its season-opening loss to Canton Middle was what most pleased Edwards.
“I felt like we made better decisions this week,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot of inexperience, and there are times in a big situation, we don’t know the situation, so we’re making mistakes because we’re young.
“But I like what I see. I like the fight we have. I felt like we bounced back today from where we would go down a touchdown, and we’d kind of drop our chins. I felt like we made an improvement in that area, especialy when we tied it up before halftime. We went in the locker room and the kids were excited.”
Williams’ first score, the 43-yard run on a fourth-and-5, made it an 8-8 game late in the first period. Robinson found the end zone and Brevard added the 2-point conversion to make it 16-8, but with 1:10 remaining in the half, Williams raced around right end and found green grass down the sideline, scampering 75 yards. He added the 2-point conversion to make it 16-16.
Polk kicker Matthew Sokil recovered his own onside kick with 45 seconds left, but the Wolverines were unable to score before the half.
Williams’ 36-yard touchdown run and Riley Morgan’s 2-point conversion put Polk up 24-16 to open the third period. But Robinson answered again just before the end of the quarter, tying the game again at 24-24. The Blue Devils then stopped Polk on its next possession, and Robinson scored on a 39-yard run with 4:18 remaining in the game to help give Brevard a 32-24 lead.
Polk had the ball near midfield, but with Williams sidelined by cramps, could not convert a fourth-and-6. Robinson broke free for a long scoring run to lead to a 40-24 advantage before Williams’ late score accounted for the final margin.
Polk Middle starts a three-game road trip next Thursday, traveling to Apple Valley Middle.
