Five things to know as Newton-Conover visits G.M. Tennant Stadium on Friday for a non-conference matchup kicking off at 7:30 p.m.
It will be Youth Night at Polk County, with Polk County Youth Football and Polk County Middle School fall sports teams and band recognized before the game. Those recognitions will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Last week: Newton-Conover overcame an early 14-0 deficit to top Alexander Central 42-21; Polk County held off Chase 34-32.
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RED RUN: Forty runs, seven passes. That’s the definition of a ground-centric offense.
That’s what Newton-Conover did in last week’s 42-21 win over Alexander Central. The Red Devils averaged eight yards per attempt, piled up 320 yards and had two 100-yard rushers in Jeremiah Pope and Camden Ezzard.
The Red Devil attack will force Polk County’s defense to play assignment football, making sure someone at all times has responsibility for the quarterback and the running back available for a pitch. It will be a definite test for a young Wolverine defense that largely held Chase’s ground game in check last week.
THE LOOK: Newton-Conover will operate out of a spread formation, with Ezzard lined up deep. He’ll typically have one back beside him, though the Red Devils will occasionally line up two backs.
Some of Ezzard’s most effective runs last week involved faking to the back and steaming into the middle of the line, finding a hole and quickly getting into the secondary. He’s also an effective scrambler.
When the Red Devils did throw last week, they often looked to deep routes, which will again test the Polk County secondary.
IN THE PAST: This will not be the first meeting between the schools as the two teams met in 2021-22. Those games came when former Polk County standout Stephen Pack was the Red Devils’ head coach.
The Wolverines won both of those encounters, including a wild 42-48 season-opening win in the 2022 season. That matchup was memorable not only for Antonio Simpson’s eight catches for 133 yards and Angus Weaver’s five touchdowns, but a power outage with 3:28 remaining in the game.
ANDERSON’S DEBUT: Polk County senior kicker Blake Anderson had a memorable debut in his first game as a Wolverine.
Anderson proved especially effective kicking off, with his average kick reaching the eight-yard line. His numbers included a touchback, and the depth helped Polk County limit Chase to an average of 23.2 yards per return, meaning the Trojans started many drives between the 25 and 30.
Anderson hit a pair of extra points, though a bobbled hold spoiled his one field-goal attempt. He also stopped a potential return for a score, shoving the return out of bounds as the last option to do so.
LO. SAN.: Polk County senior Loreynzo Sanchez earned statewide recognition from HighSchoolOT.com for his 390 all-purpose yards in the win over Chase. Sanchez was named to the site’s Starting 22 for the opening week.
Sanchez had a number of key contributions, perhaps none more important than his 82-yard kickoff return for a score. That came about after Chase had taken a lead with 43 seconds remaining, prompting Sanchez to go to head coach Dustin Fry and ask to be inserted into the kickoff return squad.
Sanchez promised he would return the kickoff for a score if given the chance. Fry agreed to give him a shot, Chase kicked the ball to Sanchez and the result was indeed a touchdown that gave Polk County a lead it would never lose.
It may be tough for any Polk returners on Friday as Newton-Conover didn’t kick deep in its opening win.
