Ben Young (22) and Mitchell are home for Thursday’s live TV game against Polk County.
Every undefeated football team in Western North Carolina – and it’s not a big number at this stage (three) – has played a TV game this season.
Every team except one.
Mitchell (6-0, 1-0) will try to keep its grip on perfection Thursday when the Mountaineers play host to Polk County (3-4, 1-1).
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Ledger.
Things have come full circle for the two Western Highlands Conference schools. Their 2015 game was the first-ever to get live TV coverage on WMYA-TV (40). The local station has since greatly expanded its “Thursday Night Lights” schedule to 10 games this season.
Pisgah (6-0) and Tuscola (6-0) got their turn in the spotlight with games broadcast last month.
Last year’s Mitchell-Polk game was a dandy (won by the Mountaineers, 28-27, in Columbus). The defending 1-AA Western Regional champions have been victorious in 19 of their last 20 regular season games.
With junior Ben Young (986 passing yards, 298 rushing yards and 15 combined touchdowns) running the show again, they are averaging 20.2 first downs a game.
He has completed 10 or more passes to three different Mountaineers — Brody Smith (23 receptions for 484 yards and six touchdowns), Alex McKinney (14 receptions for 212 yards and four touchdowns) and Jesse Pitman (10 receptions for 145 yarrds and one touchdown).
Ben Robinson (462 yards, four touchdowns) has been a nice surprise with his rushing, while Noah Pitman (252 yards, three touchdowns) and Landon Miller (205 yards, seven touchdowns) have both gained more than 200 yards as well.
Robinson plays both ways for Mitchell and leads the team in tackles (7.3 per game) along with Jacob Yelton (6.3), Trevor Self (5.5), Jesse Pitman (5.2), Landon Miller (4.8) and Alex McKinney (4.5).
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