The busiest and winningest football team in Polk County spent Saturday doing what it has done most Saturdays this season – playing a lot of football, scoring a lot of points and earning a lot of victories.
The Polk County Youth Football PeeWees closed their Mid-Atlantic Carolinas American Youth Football & Cheer Conference regular season during the afternoon with a 48-6 thumping of Bessemer City at The Little Big House. That win gave Polk County a share of the MACAYF regular season title, though Rutherfordton will be the top seed in the league playoffs that begin next week thanks to its win over Polk earlier this season.
Not content with one victory, Polk earned another Saturday night against Landrum, taking a 54-0 win under the lights at The Little Big House. It marked the fourth doubleheader of the season for the PeeWees, with the Wolverines sweeping all four. All told, the PeeWees now stand an impressive 12-1.
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Gallery: PCYF PeeWees roll past Bessemer City
Polk earned a bye in the opening round of the MACAYF playoffs, meaning a Saturday off next week. Unless, you know, they can find a game somewhere to go play.
“What it allows us to do is get more kids more playing time,” said Polk County head coach Steve Blatt. “It’s an opportunity to see more kids in more situations and an opportunity to develop, which is a good thing for the kids.
“It’s not been too much for the kids. They like it, especially when we played up at T.C. (Roberson). We played on the turf field and we played under the lights. They loved that.”
Of course, there have been a lot of those doubleheader Saturdays when the starters on Polk’s 28-player roster have gotten to take an early break. Such was the case Saturday against Bessemer City as Polk rolled to a 34-6 halftime lead, then added scores in both the third and fourth quarters. Avery Edwards and Bryson Seay each scored two touchdowns, and Noah Twitty added a long kickoff return for another score. Twitty, though, suffered an ankle injury late in the game that Blatt worried might sideline him for the postseason.
After allowing Bessemer City to score on a long pass play early in the game, the Wolverine defense swarmed the Yellow Jacket offense the rest of the day, not letting Bessemer City get anywhere near the end zone.
“Overall, we didn’t make a whole lot of mistakes,” Blatt said. “We really dominated both sides of the ball. The offensive line did a real, real, real good job, and the defensive line pretty much contained their offense.”
A number of the players on Blatt’s roster have been in the Polk County Youth Football program for five years and have four league championships to their credit. Getting a fifth before they move on to middle school football and beyond is foremost on their minds, and Blatt feels like the team has a good shot at “one for the thumb” because of its approach to the game.
“There are no superstars on this team,” he said. “They all do what they’re supposed to do without anyone taking any attitude. They play for each other. This team probably has the best camaraderie I’ve had in the 14 years I’ve been coaching.
“My coaches do a really great job of getting the kids ready. I have a really good group of coaches that get them ready to play every week.”
Polk will face the winner of the Upstate Titans-Cherryville game in the league semifinals, slated for Nov. 2 in Cherryville. A win there could mean another shot at Rutherfordton in the league’s championship game on Nov. 9.
But, naturally, the season won’t end once the MACAYF playoffs do, as Polk County will travel Nov. 22-24 to Knoxville to take part in the 8th annual Battle in Rocky Top tournament. There, Polk will play at least two games, possibly the same day.
Nothing new there for these Wolverines.
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