Polk County quarterback Jared Allen more than made up for the absence of four offensive starters in a 48-27 high school football win Friday night at Chattanooga Christian.
Allen accounted for six touchdowns, four on the ground, and his only two completions were scoring passes. He also had an interception while playing safety.
“I really don’t know how many times I scored because they blurred,” Allen said. “What I do know is that it seemed like the longest game ever played.”
Allen had 190 rushing yards on 11 carries including touchdowns of 73 and 71 yards. Derrick Saxe had 100 yards on 20 carries, and only five offensive players touched the ball for Polk County (2-1).
“We had two starters out and lost two more early,” Polk coach Derrick Davis said. “There’s a lot we couldn’t run without those guys. So we had to ride Jared.”
CCS (2-2) had to ride the arm of reserve quarterback Levi Corbett after starter Jared Swafford suffered a second-quarter injury. Corbett attempted 41 passes and completed 25 for 230 yards. But he threw four interceptions, which stifled the Chargers’ comeback attempt.
Allen started his scoring by capping the opening drive with a 12-yard run. The Chargers took less than two minutes to respond with Jared Swafford connecting with Josh King for the first of three King touchdowns.
Two more touchdowns from Allen – a 45-yard pass to Logan Swafford and a 73-yard run – gave the Wildcats a 30-6 lead.
A 62-yard interception return by CCS junior Kyle Hixson pulled the Chargers within 30-13 at halftime.
Allen had two touchdown runs early in the third quarter for a 42-13 lead. Then CCS mounted a comeback with two Corbett touchdown passes to Josh King.
He just couldn’t match Allen.
“This game was a lot tougher than I wanted it to be,” Allen said. “They’re a much improved team, and I don’t know if we were ready for that.”