Five things to know as Polk County travels to Owen on Friday for the Western Highlands Conference opener for both teams.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Black Mountain. Polk County enters at 1-3, while Owen is 2-2.
Last week: Polk County broke into the win column with a 45-0 victory over Patton. Owen dropped a 36-14 decision to West Henderson.
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Plenty of ways to run it: Figuring out who will carry the football for Owen isn’t particularly difficult.
The answer is almost everybody.
Eleven different players have rushing attempts through four games, though three have done most of the damage. Quarterback Emmett Minks has rushed 48 times for 336 yards and three touchdowns, Stephen Anderson has 257 yards and six scores on 38 carries and Alijah Raines has piled up 215 yards and a touchdown on just 17 attempts.
Those three have combined for 808 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging almost eight yards per carry.
Minks has also completed 19-of-43 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. Lasalle Jones has been his top target with nine receptions for 138 yards and a score.
Two will do: Don’t automatically expect the kicking unit to trot onto the field after an Owen touchdown.
The Warhorses have attempted just two extra-point kicks this season, making one. They’ve instead successfully converted 12 2-point attempts.
That’s clearly philosophy rather than coincidence.
With Anderson already scoring six rushing touchdowns and Minks adding three, Owen has repeatedly shown confidence in keeping its offense on the field and gaining the extra yardage needed for two points.
Has Polk found its running game? It certainly looks that way.
Styler Blackwell and Zach McCraw have combined for 526 rushing yards in Polk County’s past two games, averaging almost nine yards per carry in the process.
That production has changed the look of the Wolverine offense. Polk has been able to lean much more heavily on the run, allowing Brody Wilkins and the passing game to work more selectively rather than having to carry the offense.
The question now is whether that formula travels into Western Highlands Conference play.
Owen should provide a much better test of whether the Blackwell-McCraw combination has become a true offensive identity or simply feasted on favorable matchups the past two weeks.
Fewer big plays, better field position: One defensive trend has been hard to miss.
Polk County allowed nine plays of 20 yards or more in the opener at Chase. That number dropped to seven against Newton-Conover, four against Landrum and none against Patton.
The competition has varied, so it’s too early to declare the issue solved. But the direction is encouraging.
Early in the season, one explosive play often undid several good defensive snaps. If Polk can continue forcing opponents to string together long drives instead of surrendering chunk gains, that could make a major difference as conference play begins.
There’s another number worth watching as well.
Polk’s opponents have started their 39 possessions this season, on average, at their own 43-yard line. Chase and Newton-Conover each averaged a start at their own 45, while Landrum’s average possession began at its 46.4.
That changed dramatically against Patton, whose seven possessions began on average at its own 32.7.
Owen will test that improvement. The Warhorses are averaging 32.2 yards per kickoff return and have had three different players record returns of at least 70 yards.
For Polk County, eliminating explosive plays Friday will involve both its defense and its special teams.
Possession is nine-tenths of the problem: Polk County doesn’t need to look far for a reminder of what Owen’s ground-based style can do.
The Warhorses earned a 17-14 victory at G.M. Tennant Stadium last season despite being outgained 305-200.
How? They largely kept the football away from Polk County.
Owen controlled possession for more than 17 of the 24 minutes in the second half, limiting the Wolverines to just 18 offensive plays after halftime. The Warhorses then consumed almost seven minutes on a fourth-quarter drive that ended with Hayden Burpeau’s game-winning 40-yard field goal with 1:39 remaining.
Polk still had a chance to tie in the final minute, but a high snap prevented a potential game-tying field-goal attempt.
Friday will be the 19th meeting between the schools. Polk County leads the series 13-5, but Owen has won three of the past four meetings dating to 2018.
With both teams now featuring productive rushing attacks, possessions could again become especially valuable in the conference opener.
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