Polk County has reached the part of the season that head coach Dustin Fry has been antcipating, though perhaps not eagerly.
When the Wolverines make the trip to Ledger on Friday to face Mitchell in a Western Highlands Conference tussle, kicking off at 7:30 p.m., it will mark the start of three straight long road trips.
Throw in a bye week, and it will be more than a month before Polk County again sets foot in G.M. Tennant Stadium. The three-game away swing caps a spell of five away games in six, meaning that last week’s loss to Owen will be the Wolverines’ lone home date in a span that stretches from Labor Day to almost Halloween.
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“I’ve had a plan for a while for this,” Fry said. “Last year, we went up that way two weeks in a row (to Madison and Tuscola) and we probably left a little late. I don’t like to get to games super early, but that hour and a half to Madison ended up taking two hours and 15 minutes. It was, hey, boys, we’re getting dressed and warming up.
“So we’re going to leave a little bit earlier on Friday, get a lot of our stuff done here, leave just after school gets out.”
Beyond the logistics, Fry isn’t that worried about the lengthy away spell, which will continue with trips to Mountain Heritage and Madison. For this week, it marks the first time Polk County has traveled to Mitchell since a playoff loss to end the 2019 season. The Wolverines have not won in Ledger since 2014.
“I think sometimes it’s good to not have the distractions of home, even though it makes for a longer Friday,” Fry said. “I like it because we’re not sitting here waiting. For this Friday, we’re leaving at 3:15, at 3:30 we’re traveling. And now things are moving rather than just sitting.
“For me, it helps a little bit to get you going and starting the game day.”
One thing Fry hoped to take to Mitchell on Friday was a better midseason record. The Wolverines sit at 2-3, as do the Mountaineers, but the sense around the Polk locker room is that two more wins could easily have been part of the first half.
But as former Polk head coach Bruce Ollis often said, if its and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas. So Fry isn’t dwelling on the could-have-beens, but looking to instead build on the what-we’ve-dones.
“I feel really strongly that we’re probably eight plays away from being 4-1,” he said. “But there are a lot of things I’m happy with this team about. Our response after losses has been a lot better. I’m happy with the culture of the team, how they speak to each other and how they are being around each other. Our practice consistency is something I’m proud of.
“It’s not perfect all the time. We still loaf. But the effort and the lock-in, we’re not having a ton of (missed assignments) and bad plays. So we’ll keep doing it our way, and eventually, we’ll find success.”
Fry hopes some of that comes this week, though he knows going to Mitchell and engineering a win will be a challenge. The Mountaineers have built their record in large part on a ground game averaging 249 yards per outing, that attack led by seniors Kaj Pitman and Hayden Webb. Quarterback Owen Riddle is also a threat both as a runner and passer.
“They’ll try to throw it a little bit more than Owen,” Fry said. “We’re very similar. I think it’s going to be a good matchup. It’s going to be another quick game, especially with no TV timeouts (as in last week’s loss).”
