Five things to know as Madison visits Polk County on Friday for a Western Highlands Conference matchup.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at G.M. Tennant Stadium. The game will be Polk County’s final regular-season home contest, with the Wolverines also celebrating Senior Night.
Last week: Madison dropped a 42-7 decision to Hendersonville. Polk County suffered a 47-24 loss to Mountain Heritage.
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One last night at Tennant: Seven Polk County seniors will take part in their final scheduled game at G.M. Tennant Stadium on Friday.
Styler Blackwell, Sawyer Huff, Zach McCraw, Kaleb Barnette, Simon Moore, Brody Wolfe and Tourin Jackson make up this year’s senior class.
It’s been a difficult season for the Wolverines, who enter Friday at 1-6 overall and 0-3 in Western Highlands Conference play, but the final home appearance offers the seniors one more opportunity to play in front of the Polk County crowd.
Friday also begins the final three-game stretch of the regular season, with Polk finishing the year on the road after the Madison matchup.
Spread out, but watch the quarterback: Madison operates from a spread formation, but sophomore quarterback Easton Greene is just as much a factor with his legs as with his arm.
Through the Patriots’ first six games, Greene had rushed 54 times for 416 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Asa Fox had added 164 yards and a score on 38 carries. Stats for last week’s game were not available.
As a team, Madison had rushed 166 times for 981 yards and nine touchdowns.
Greene had completed 43-of-93 passes for 390 yards and three touchdowns with nine interceptions. Sophomore Ransom Lopez was his leading receiver with 16 catches for 127 yards.
So while the formation may spread Polk County across the field, the Wolverines will still need to be especially aware of Greene as a runner.
Closing in on 1,000: Brody Wilkins enters Friday on the verge of reaching four figures in passing yards.
The Polk County quarterback has completed 65-of-131 passes for 957 yards and nine touchdowns, leaving him 43 yards shy of 1,000 for the season.
He’s reached that point despite playing the past two games without starting receivers RJ Simpson and Jesse Moore, both sidelined by injuries suffered at Owen.
Their absence has forced Polk to adjust its passing attack while continuing to lean heavily on its running game.
Wilkins threw for 1,174 yards last season, so another productive night Friday would move him past 1,000 yards for the second straight year.
First down has been a problem: One reason Polk County has struggled to slow opposing offenses can be found on first down.
Through seven games, Wolverine opponents are averaging 9.4 yards per first-down play, gaining 1,478 yards on 157 snaps.
That has too often left Polk defending favorable down-and-distance situations for the offense.
Before Mountain Heritage was stopped on fourth down late Friday, Polk had gone 18 consecutive opponent possessions without forcing a punt or turnover on downs, though the Wolverines did recover a Mitchell fumble to stop a drive during that stretch.
A lot of history, a lot of wins: Few opponents have appeared on Polk County’s schedule as often as Madison.
Friday’s game will be the 31st meeting between the programs, dating to 1989. Only Hendersonville and Landrum have faced Polk County more often.
The Wolverines hold a 26-4 advantage in the series, and those 26 victories are the most Polk County has recorded against any opponent in school history. Polk has 23 wins against Landrum and 18 against Avery, the next two teams on that list.
Madison did have the upper hand last season, taking a 27-22 victory in Marshall.
So while the overall history has overwhelmingly favored Polk County, the Wolverines will be looking Friday to begin another run of success against the Patriots.
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