Wolverines, Wildcats likely to run, run, run in Week 2 matchup

Say this about Polk County’s first football trip to North Gaston – it might be a quick one.

Two teams with run-oriented offenses will meet for the initial time Friday as the Wolverines travel to Dallas to face the Wildcats in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

It will be a night for the triple option as both teams will operate primarily from the flexbone. Each won their season opener last week and, in the process, completed a combined total of one pass.

“The clock may never stop except on first downs,” said Polk County head coach Bruce Ollis.

North Gaston claimed a 21-14 win over East Gaston in its season opener. The Wildcats were paced by 5-6 junior fullback Waylin Webb, who rushed for 180 yards on 21 carries, with sophomore back Antwoan Ottey adding 51 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.

“(Webb) is almost like a tailback playing fullback,” Ollis said. “We’ll have to play assignment football like we talk about other teams playing is. It’s going to look like carbon copies out there since we both base out of the flexbone.

“They really come off the ball well. They’ve got more team speed than Cherokee (whom Polk defeated 43-6 last week), but we’ve got to stop their rushing attack.”

Polk County’s rushing attack will present an equal challenge for North Gaston. The Wolverines racked up 345 yards on the ground in the win over Cherokee and opened the game with a touchdown drive that lasted almost eight minutes.

Four different players had rushing touchdowns, with quarterback Bryce Jergenson running for two and Gage McSwain adding a punt return to his scoring run.

“We rushed the ball well,” Ollis said. “We have to eliminate turnovers. We had four fumbles, and we can’t do that and expect to win. We’ve got to clean that up.”

North Gaston will become the 60th different opponent in school history, and Ollis is looking forward to the Wolverines’ first road trip of the season.

“It will be good for us to get out on the road and find out what that’s like,” he said. “They have some football tradition there, and Mike Patton is a good coach.”