By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Oops, he did it again.
Just two weeks after Watauga running back Everett Gryder electrified the packed grandstands at Jack Groce Stadium with a 66-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage against Maiden, he ripped off a 62-yard romp on Sept. 20 in front of an even bigger Homecoming crowd against North Davidson. Everett was forced out of bounds at the Black Knights’ 8-yard line but finished the job one play later, slicing through the middle of the line to paydirt.
BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article by Jared Everett and Garner Dewey for High Country Sports (click on any image for Slide Show Mode)
Although Watauga’s PAT kick attempt went uncharacteristically awry on this occasion, Gryder’s opening performance set the tone for what became a convincing, 47-21 non-conference win. With yet another early season victory, Watauga’s non-conference record improved to 5-0.
By all accounts, North Davidson is much improved over a season ago when the Pioneers lanced the Black Knights in Lexington, 56-14. Fast forward to the Sept. 20 rematch in Boone and North Davidson responded to Watauga’s quick, opening score with an extended offensive possession of their own, an 11-play, 54-yard drive that kept the Pioneer offense off the field for almost five minutes of the first quarter.
And they effectively mixed passes and runs. On 3rd-and-15, quarterback Dalton Pickle completed a 23-yard pass to Damani Chhorn, getting the ball into Watauga territory for the first time, at the 36. From there, a pair of Black Knights runners, Zaylan Hayes and Amir Dalton, alternated in picking up chunks of yardage until Hayes completed the mission with a 9-yard plunge into the end zone. The Black Knights PAT kick by Connor Dunn was good, giving NDA a tenuous, 7-6 lead.
It would be the Black Knights’ only and last lead of the night. After the game, Pioneer head coach Ryan Habich spoke about how his players responded to NDA’s opening drive.
“Defensively, we missed a lot of tackles on that first (Black Knights) drive,” Habich said. “I don’t think we played great defense on that first drive. But once they scored, our defense settled down in the first half and we played the way we are supposed to be playing.
“… That first drive, when North Davidson scored, you have to respond,” Habich observed. “I think our offense did a good job in scoring. If you give a team like North Davidson (an opportunity) to stay alive in the game, it could end up being a lot closer. In the first half, our offensive line did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage.”
In fact, Watauga steadily put the game away with stifling defense and exceptional offensive production for the rest of the first half, leading 40-7 at intermission. And the offensive production was by a broader assortment of playmakers than we have seen from the Pioneers in previous games this season.
Of course, most of the usual suspects played a role. Gryder was a factor, finishing the night with 88 yards rushing on seven carries and a TD.
And, of course, quarterback Maddox Greene was a factor, carrying the ball seven times for 87 yards and two TDs to go with completing 6-of-8 passes for 103 yards and a TD.
But the Pioneers have evolved into a balanced juggernaut, even if with a run-first mentality. Junior running back and outside linebacker Matthew Leon is now splitting B-back duties with Gryder and rolled up 91 yards rushing on 15 carries, with one TD. Once into the second level, the speedster is likely to take it all the way to the end zone.
Another junior, Nyle Peays, has been used primarily as a defensive back in the early part of the season, but against the Black Knights was deployed on a wide receiver reverse, going 59 yards for a TD.
“For that play,” Habich told reporters later, “we needed a guy who could run under 4.7 in the 40-yard dash.”
Peays fit the bill, and then some. He also returned three kickoffs for a combined 64 yards to help put the Pioneers in good field position to start their offensive possessions.
Greene’s passing ability came into play, too, wowing the Homecoming crowd with two aerials to wide receiver Landon Smith, one of them for 53 yards. Smith also earned a TD reception on the night.
Versatile wide receiver/wingback Evan Burroughs had a quiet night running the ball against the Black Knights, but caught three passes for 32 yards. His first caught pass from Greene was for 12 yards on 2nd-and-6 in the first quarter, helping fuel Watauga’s 11-play, 80-yard, TD-scoring response to North Davidson’s first drive. Early in the second quarter, on 2nd-and-2, Burroughs flashed for a 20-yard pass reception from Greene in the middle of a 7-play, 86-yard scoring drive.
Late in the game with the outcome all but decided, backup QB Cade Keller took the reins of the offense in the 4th quarter and commanded a touchdown drive of his own. After North Davidson scored a second TD with just over a minute to go in the third quarter, Peays returned the kickoff 35 yards to to the Watauga 37. Three straight carries by Leon, each for three yards, put the Pioneers in a 4th and 1 situation at their own 46. Habich called three consecutive timeouts before the next play “to go for it,” with Leon rushing 6 yards for the first down. Keller & Co. made short work of the remaining 47 yards, featuring a cameo appearance by Thomas Dieters running the ball for an 8-yard gain and 13- and 27-yard keepers by the QB, the last one for a TD.
It was a night of creating roster depth for the Pioneers. In the last drive of the night, junior Crue Stoddard (wearing an offensive lineman’s jersey No. 61), lined up as B-back and gained 11 yards on two carries before Keller took a knee to run out the clock and end the game.
“I am really happy the way we played the first half,” said Habich after the game. “However, there were a ton of growth opportunities for the Pioneers. We were unfocused and had some key players not play well with dropped passes and lining up wrong, (including) false starts. That just isn’t Pioneer football. We could have really made a statement in the second half and probably played a lot more kids if the guys on the field were giving perfect effort in the second half. I’m a little disappointed but glad we got a touchdown in the second half. We did have a chance to play some guys late, both offensively and defensively.
“When guys don’t play well,” Habich added, “they get exposed. We are trying to develop some depth (at certain positions) as we get into conference play. Some guys did OK, some didn’t.”
Many of the top Pioneer athletes have been utilized on both sides of the ball, offense and defense. Normally, they include quarterback Maddox Greene but against North Davidson he only played on offense. Even then, he was not asked to carry the ball on keepers as much as he has in previous games — and the reduced workload was intentional.
“To be honest,” said Habich, “going into a bye week and the game getting out of hand, we were not going to be running our quarterback so much, saving him for conference play. He didn’t get a lot of touches in the second half. We put Crue Stoddard in at B-back in the second half because we don’t have any backups after Everett Gryder and Matthew Leon. So we wanted to play some backup guys and see what they can do on the field.”
Habich said the decision for players to play on both sides of the ball, offense and defense, is dictated by the opposition each week.
“In games like this, you want to get guys on the field to see what they can do,” Habich said.
After a week of rest and a bye on Sept. 27, the Pioneers throw themselves headlong into 3A/4A Northwestern Conference play on Oct. 4, going on the road to play 4A rival South Caldwell. They go back on the road Oct. 11, at Alexander Central, in Taylorsville.
Other scores of interest:
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- Avery County 50, Rosman 0
- Oak Grove 34, Hibriten 3
- T C Roberson 60, McDowell 26
- Hickory 42, East Lincoln 21
- Johnson County 49, Ashe County 32
- Freedom 63, Chase 13
- Cuthbertson 56, South Caldwell 6
- Sun Valley 42, Alexander Central 10
All game stats courtesy of Jonathan Watson
SELECTED TEAM STATS
- Total Yards: NDA 231, WAT 505
- First Downs: NDA 14, WAT 19
- Rushing: NDA 40-183, WAT 42-402
- Passing: NDA 3-of-10 for 58 yards, WAT 6-of-8 for 103 yards
- 3rd Down Conversions: NDA 3-of-10 (30%), WAT 3-of-6 (50%)
- 4th Down Conversions: NDA 1-of-1 (100%), WAT 1-of-1 (100%)
- Penalties: NDA 6-40, WAT 3-20
- Time of Possession: NDA 23:34, WAT 22:11
SELECTED INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing
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- WAT – Maddox Greene: 6-8-103, 1 TD
- NDA – Ethan Pickle: 2-9-33
- NDA – CJ Morgan: 1-1-25
Rushing
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- WAT – Matthew Leon: 15 carries, 91 yards, 1 TD
- WAT – Everett Gryder: 7 carries, 88 yards, 1 TD
- WAT – Maddox Greene: 7 carries, 87 yards, 2 TDs
- NDA – Zaylan Hayes: 12 carries, 64 yards, 1 TD
- WAT – Nyle Peays: 1 carry, 59 yards, 1 TD
- WAT – Cade Keller: 7 carries, 58 yards, 1 TD
- NDA – Amir Dalton: 14 carries, 57 yards, 1 TD
- NDA – Ethan Pickle: 6 carries, 29 yards
- NDA – CJ Morgan: 4 carries, 24 yards, 1 TD
- WAT – Crue Stoddard: 2 carries, 11 yards
- WAT – Thomas Dieters: 1 carry, 8 yards
Receiving
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- WAT – Landon Smith: 2 catches, 63 yards, 1 TD
- WAT – Evan Burroughs: 3 catches, 32 yards
- NDA – Maurice Moseley: 1 catch, 25 yards
- NDA – Damani Chhorn: 1 catch, 23 yards
BONUS PHOTOS BY GARNER DEWEY
BONUS PHOTOS BY JARED EVERETT
