And now it’s time for Polk County’s football season to really begin.
The Wolverines concluded the preseason portion of their 2025 season on Friday, trekking to West Henderson to face R-S Central in a controlled scrimmage.
The recent rash of rain and soggy state of Tennant Stadium motivated Polk County officials to move the scrimmage to Mills River. Naturally, the bad weather followed – the two-hour scrimmage included a 30-minute break for lightning and occasional raindrops throughout the rest of the evening.
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That didn’t deter the former conference rivals, who battled in a series of scenarios in 90 minutes of on-field action. The Wolverines’ effort, especially defensively, in the affair proved pleasing to head coach Dustin Fry.
“I felt we started a little flat, which was disappointing,” Fry said. “We had a good meeting coming here, getting them here, I thought we’d start a little bit faster. Warmups were a little bit flat, so we were kind of on them to bring their own juice, especially in this environment.
“I thought the defense picked it up. They got better. (R-S Central) is vastly improved. Big kids, a lot of kids. It was a lot of good things, but there’s stuff to clean up.”
Each team had possessions starting at their 25, midfield and the opponent’s 30, running a series of plays from each spot. A couple of long runs by Loreynzo Sanchez and nice catch-and-runs by Styler Blackwell and Nolan Simpson highlighted Polk’s offensive effort.
Also of note – the teams capped some drives with field goal attempts. Wolverine kicker Blake Anderson, who scored a goal Thursday for Polk’s soccer squad in its win at West, returned to the field and easily hit a 40-yard kick on one of his attempts.
Both teams found the end zone during their possessions, but Fry overall felt pleased with how the Polk defense performed as the preseason concluded.
“Overall, coming out of camp, kind of happy with how our defense is playing, especially the back end and linebackers, who are doing a great job,” he said. “A little bit more beef up front would be nice.
“I think the offense will keep coming along. There were some answers we could have had tonight that would have helped us a little bit. Going into next week, we need to have a really good week of practice.”
Polk County will now shift into regular-season mode and begin preparations for Friday’s home opener against Chase. While the teams have seen each other every season of late while both members of the Mountain Foothills 7 Conference, the Trojans will undoubtedly have a much different look and feel under new head coach Jim Sosebee.
It will make for a busy game week for Fry and staff, but he is looking forward to getting started.
“I enjoy this team so much where I do feel good, and I’m a little but cautiously optimistic,” Fry said. “When we show up and have good effort, we play really well.
“I’m excited to finally get to week one and study some game film and not have to work on six defenses. But, overall, you know what? We’re much better out of camp than we were last year.”
