By: David Grindstaff
Two down, four to go. The Mountain Heritage junior varsity football team improved to 2-0 in Western Highlands Conference play following a convincing 36-6 win over the Polk County Wolverines at E.L. Briggs Stadium on Thursday night.
The Cougars (4-1. 2-0) can claim their second straight unbeaten season in the Western Highlands Conference if they can run the table in their final four games beginning this week when they entertain the Owen Warhorses.
The team got off to a fast start in the thirty point win over Polk County after throwing an interception on their opening drive deep in Wolverine territory.
After stuffing Polk’s initial offensive effort and taking over on downs at the Cougar 42, Heritage wasted no time showing off their arsenal of offensive weapons. On first down Joey Brown carried the football to the PC 36 and on the next play Dalton Cannon ripped a run to the Wolverine 31. On first down from the 31 Cougar QB Avery Austin rolled right and lofted a perfect pass to wide receiver EJ Ochoa who had gotten behind the Polk County secondary. His TD catch gave the Cougars a 6-0 lead late in the opening quarter.
After forcing a Wolverine punt to start the second stanza, the Cougars struck again. Moving from the Heritage 36, the Cougars again stuck to the ground to set up a touchdown via the air. Joey Brown and Dalton Cannon combined to advance the ball to the PC 37 where on second down Austin hooked up with Zeke Seaton on a pass play that covered 31 yards. Together with the twp point conversion run by Jake Robinson the Cougars increased their lead to 14-0.
Heritage grabbed an even larger lead just before the half when Avery Austin connected with EJ Ochoa for the second time on a scoring throw and catch that covered 35 yards. The TD grab and two point run by Ethan Ray allowed Heritage to enjoy a 22-0 advantage at the intermission.
The Cougar offense continued to hum in the second half and the lead grew to 30-0 late in the third quarter when a 35 yard touchdown run by Jake Robinson climaxed a nine play, 67 yard drive.  Bryson Cooper gathered in the two point pass from Avery and the rout continued.
Polk final drew blood with six minutes left to play when a Wolverine receiver caught a tipped pass in the end zone for a score to cut the Cougar lead to 30-6.
But Heritage wasn’t finished as the offensive reserves tacked on a score of their own. Jake Robinson finished off a 65 yard scoring march with a four yard TD run to give the Cougars their final margin of victory.