Five things to know as Mountain Heritage visits Polk County on Friday for a Western Highlands Conference matchup.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at G.M. Tennant Stadium.
Last week: Mountain Heritage rolled to a 43-10 victory over Madison. Polk County fell to Mitchell 48-13.
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Rested or rusty?: Mountain Heritage will arrive in Columbus having played very little football over the past month.
Friday will be just the Cougars’ second game actually played since a Sept. 4 victory over Robbinsville.
Mountain Heritage picked up a forfeit victory over Swain County during that span, then returned to the field Sept. 25 and rolled past Madison 43-10.
So the Cougars are 3-2 overall and 1-0 in Western Highlands Conference play, but their statistical totals come from fewer snaps than most teams have played at this point in the season.
Whether all that time away from competition leaves Mountain Heritage especially fresh or affects its rhythm is one of the more unusual storylines entering Friday.
Run, run and run some more: Mountain Heritage has never been shy about its offensive identity, and that hasn’t changed.
The Cougars’ Wing-T attack has produced 1,294 yards and 13 touchdowns on 166 rushing attempts.
Senior Ervine Rodriguez leads the way with 450 yards and six touchdowns on 74 carries, but quarterback Brayden Deyton is almost as productive, rushing 44 times for 438 yards and three scores. Junior Jackson Banks has added 296 yards and three touchdowns on just 28 attempts.
That’s 1,184 yards from the trio.
Deyton can throw when needed, completing 10-of-18 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns. Banks is the leading receiver with four catches for 106 yards and two scores.
The formula, though, is no secret. Mountain Heritage wants to run the football, keep moving the chains and make opponents stop an offense that has been successful doing exactly that for years.
Blackwell keeps finding the end zone: Styler Blackwell has become one of the most productive offensive players in the Western Highlands Conference.
The Polk County senior enters Friday with three consecutive 100-yard rushing games and 11 touchdowns this season.
Blackwell ranks second in the conference in rushing behind Avery’s Zane Cheuvront, is tied with Hendersonville’s Jordan Buford for the conference lead in touchdowns and leads the WHC in scoring with 70 points.
His production has given Polk a clear offensive foundation as the season has progressed.
Blackwell is also among the conference’s top defenders with 52 tackles, trailing teammate Andy Serrano, whose 62 stops lead the WHC.
Against a Mountain Heritage offense designed to repeatedly test a defense on the ground, both should have plenty of opportunities to add to those totals Friday.
Big plays have told a lot of the story: One way to chart Polk County’s season is to look at explosive plays.
Using the common definition of a run of at least 10 yards or a pass play of at least 20, Polk County has produced 52 explosive plays through six games while allowing 60.
The difference is almost entirely through the air.
Polk and its opponents are dead even with 40 explosive runs apiece, but opponents have produced 20 explosive pass plays compared to 12 for the Wolverines.
The weekly numbers have varied wildly. Chase held a 16-8 advantage in explosive plays and Newton-Conover a 13-5 edge, while Polk flipped that script in a big way against Patton, 16-3. The Wolverines also held a 10-8 edge at Owen before Mitchell produced 10 explosive plays to Polk’s five last week.
That makes the big-play battle another number worth watching Friday.
Polk has shown it can create chunk gains on the ground. Keeping the opponent from answering with the same, especially through the passing game, has often been the challenge.
Six straight: Polk County still holds the slightest advantage in its all-time series with Mountain Heritage.
It hasn’t felt that way lately.
Friday will mark the 20th meeting between the programs, with Polk County holding a 10-9 advantage. Mountain Heritage, though, has won six consecutive meetings since the Wolverines’ last victory, a 2014 win.
The Cougars also haven’t visited Tennant Stadium since 2018.
Last year’s meeting belonged decisively to Mountain Heritage, which rolled to a 51-8 victory. Two of the players who helped produce that result will be back Friday – Deyton rushed for a touchdown and threw for another, while Rodriguez ran for 70 yards and a score.
So Polk County will be trying to preserve its all-time series advantage while ending a Mountain Heritage streak that now stretches more than a decade.
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