Opportunity was one thing. Drastic measure was another. The two met head-on Friday night and Jared Allen melded them into both personal accomplishment and victory.
The Polk County senior quarterback entered the game at Chattanooga Christian on Friday without Chase Mull, his starting tailback. Then Tyler Lee, the Wildcats' starting wingback, went down after a 13-yard carry, his first of the game, with a toe injury.
"You can do this or that but we were handicapped. At least 40 percent of our offense involves Tyler," Polk County coach Derrick Davis said of his senior runner/receiver who also returns kicks and punts.
So the Polk coaching staff threw the brunt of scoring responsibility on Allen, a fourth-year starting quarterback whose performance in the 48-27 victory earned him Times Free Press Player of the Week honors.
"It seemed like the longest game ever played," he said after the game.
He could feel so because he was so much a part of it, throwing for two touchdowns - to Logan Swafford and Michael Hargrove - and running for five more scores.
He rushed for 190 yards and passed for 69 more. On defense he added an interception.
"If a guy is scoring like that we'd normally take him out, but they were trying to match us score for score and we had to keep playing with our starters, at least the ones that were healthy," Davis said. "Jared said it was hectic and it was. It was a struggle for us offensively had defensively. We had three defensive backs in that we hadn't even expected to play. We had some guys that stepped in and got some experience but he was our go-to guy, no doubt."
The performance was a first for Polk, at least in Davis' 11 years.
"Kevin Hamby (2004-05) might have scored five and Josh Couch (2001-02) had some big nights rushing, but I don't remember a guy accounting for seven [touchdowns]," the coach said.
Two of Allen's TD runs were for 70 plus yards.
"A couple of Jared's runs were jaw-droppers. He just kept cutting back and making people miss," David said. "We would have been in trouble without him. We were so limited because of the guys that were out. We had guys blocking, but once Jared got around the corner it was the blocks and a whole lot of individual effort."
Meanwhile, Lee could be out for an extended period of time. He is scheduled to go to the doctor this afternoon to determine if he has turf toe, a slightly sprained toe or a broken toe. Al Akins, the backup quarterback and a starting tight end and defensive back, will join him after suffering a concussion on the second offensive series.
Those two are question marks for this week's game against Sweetwater as are Mull, who was injured in a 10-minute live goal-line series in practice on Wednesday, and linebacker Cody Farmer, who has been sidelined since suffering a jarring concussion against McMinn Central.
"Can you image being without four of your better players, especially when you starting talking special teams? My head hasn't quit hurting," Davis said.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or call him at (423) 757-6288.