By David Rogers. TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. — By no stretch of the imagination was the Oct. 7 football contest between Watauga and Alexander Central high schools the “prettiest” game of the 2022 season. At times it was downright ugly, but the Pioneers eventually found a way to spoil the Cougars’ Homecoming Night with a nervous, 34-20 victory.
A 59-yard return by Watauga’s Josh Bollinger on the opening kickoff had the High Country visitors thinking their trip down the mountain would be worth it, but a fumble by sophomore QB Maddox Greene as he crossed the goal line on a keeper behind right tackle saw Alexander Central recover the ball in their own end zone for a touchback. It was a combination of positive and negative plays that would be repeated over and over again on the night, leaving both sidelines as well as the many fans in the grandstands exasperated, to be sure.
On Alexander Central’s very first play from scrimmage, QB Tanner Moore lofted a long pass down the right sideline, sailing over the outstretched arms of a Pioneer defender trying for an interception — and into the waiting arms of Cougar wide receiver Luke Hammer. The speedster turned after the catch, angled across the field toward the opposite side of the field, and got to the Watauga 5-yard line before the Pioneers’ Jackson Pryor was able to run him down.
Deadpanned a photographer on the Watauga sideline, “Well, that was an inauspicious beginning for the Pioneers.”
And yet, the Pioneers’ defense was up to the challenge. The Cougar efforts to get the ball into the end zone were turned back, highlighted by an Isaiah Shirley QB sack that resulted in a three yard loss on 2nd and 4, pushing the Cougars back to the 7-yard line. ACHS running back Mason Chapman-Mays was able to gain five yards on 3rd down, but Moore’s pass on 4th and 2 sailed beyond the outstretched arms of his receiver in the right flat of the end zone, turning the ball over to Watauga on downs.
So with 7:14 left in the first quarter, the Cougar Homecoming crowd had seen long marches up the field by both teams, but no points on the scoreboard. And Watauga faced a daunting, 98-yard offensive challenge.
Led by Greene at QB, the Pioneers wiggled their way out of danger. A 5-yard run up the middle by Will Curtis, a 9-yard pass from Greene to Carlton Horine, and a 10-yard amble up the right sideline by Cole Horine gave Watauga room to operate. A 5-yard defensive encroachment penalty and another run up the middle by Curtis got the ball out to the 35 and the offensive possession began to look promising. But Greene was stripped of the ball by a Cougar defender after a 7-yard run and ACHS recovered at the Pioneer 42 yard line, giving Alexander Central a short field for putting points on the board.
The Cougars’ Chapman-Mays brothers were dynamic on the night and on this particular offensive possession, Sawyer Chapman-Mays ripped off large gains of 16 and 12 yards before the Pioneer defense again stiffened at their own 14. Faced with 3rd-and-6, Moore aimed a pass that had a little too much air under it toward the right flat, near the goal line. Watauga defensive back Carlton Horine stepped in front of the receiver to pluck it from the air for an INT, then raced down the sideline in front of jubilant Pioneer teammates with fellow wide receiver Pryor running interference in front of him. Horine seemed to run out of gas on the long sprint and a desperate Cougar defender pushed him out of bounds at the Alexander 2, but Watauga had again escaped trouble after a second, opening quarter turnover.
Three plays later, Curtis managed to poke the ball across the goal line and the visitors from Boone scored the game’s first points as the first quarter clock was ticking toward zero.
A short kickoff by Watauga gave the Cougars good field position at their own 40-yard line as the quarter ended, but on the first play of the drive Mason Chapman-Mays fumbled on a 4-yard rushing loss and the ball was recovered by the Pioneers’ Brody Martin. Four Watauga plays later, Greene waltzed into the end zone for a TD and after another Grant Kight PAT, Watauga had a 14-0 lead.
But in terms of numbers, this first half of high school football had more offensive frustrations on both sides than the several Homecoming princesses who were disappointed in not being crowned “Queen.”
Highlighted by a 40-yard pass-and-run from Moore to Hammer for another long Cougar aerial gain, Alexander Central put together an 8-play, 62-yard drive that stalled at the Pioneer 4, ending in a turnover on downs when Isaiah Shirley stacked up Sawyer Chapman-Mays at the line of scrimmage for no gain on 4th and 1.
Although Curtis shot through a gap and bulled his way to a 39-yard gain on Watauga’s next play, the drive immediately stalled and Greene’s quick kick on 4th down was blocked and recovered by ACHS at the Pioneer 33. This time, the Cougars were able to get the ball into the end zone for a touchdown, even shrugging off an offensive shift penalty to get on the scoreboard for the first time of the evening. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the Cougars at a 14-6 disadvantage to the Pioneers.
Watauga could get little going in the ensuing possession, eventually seeing Greene slide to the ground just across midfield to run out the clock before intermission.
Except for the Pioneers being called for an offsides penalty on their patented fake kickoff to open the second half, the long Homecoming ceremony at halftime may have been just what these longtime high school rivals needed. After receiving the kickoff, Alexander Central orchestrated a 13-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a TD. Another 2-point conversion attempt failed, but the Cougar deficit had been shrunk to just 2 points, 14-12, and the Watauga offense had been kept off the field for more than seven minutes of the third quarter.
Any hopes that the Cougar faithful harbored for a Homecoming rebound, though, were quickly dashed when the Pioneers’ Curtis returned the kickoff 22 yards to midfield and Greene & Co. went to work. Aided by a defensive face mask penalty, it took only 6 plays for the Pioneers to find the end zone with a 9-yard pass from Greene to Cole Horine.
Another brilliant defensive stand by Watauga forced an Alexander Central punt and just four plays later Curtis crossed the goal line to finish a 15-yard TD run. With a 27-12 lead and just over 10 and a half minutes remaining in the game, Alexander Central’s hopes for a Homecoming win were dimming.
The Cougars did not go away quietly, however. A six-play offensive possession took ACHS 60 yards, ending with yet another Moore to Hammer TD aerial for the final 15 yards. Another 2-point conversion attempt failed, leaving Alexander Central a full touchdown short of the lead, 27-20, but with still 8:45 left on the game clock.
And it got just that much more exciting for the Cougar fans jamming the home grandstands when Nate Erkman recovered the host’s onside kick at the 50-yard line. Alexander Central had only to march the short field and potentially tie the game or even win it with a TD and a successful 2-point conversion.
But it was not to be. Cole Horine picked off the family’s second interception of the night, flipping the field’s ownership back again to the visiting Pioneers. Another 6-play drive orchestrated by Greene, and Watauga put an exclamation point on their Taylorsville invasion by putting the game out of reach, 34-20, with little time remaining.
Afterwards, Watauga head coach Ryan Habich was thankful for the win, but not happy with his team’s less than perfect execution and performance. He said the Pioneers cannot expect to face Hibriten, Freedom and Ashe County and win if they play the same way, and he emphasized that the team’s first goal for the season is to win the Northwestern Conference championship and qualify for the state playoffs as the No. 1 seed from the conference.
“Beating the two other 4A teams in the conference, South Caldwell and Alexander Central, accomplishes very little if we don’t win out. The top 4A seed in the playoffs goes to the 4A seed with the best conference record.” he said.
“Coach Habich always picks a word to define our season before it begins and this year it is ‘Resilience,'” said Isaiah Shirley after the game. “That is who we are. We find a way. It wasn’t our best effort tonight, by any means, and we must get better. But we found a way to win tonight against a very good opponent.”
After playing seven games to open the season, five of them on the road, the Pioneers (6-1 overall, 2-0 in Northwestern Conference) return home to Jack Groce Stadium for the next two tests against Hibriten (Oct. 14) and Freedom (Oct. 21), before closing out the regular season at Ashe County on Oct. 28.
SCORING
- 1st Qtr. 00:05 WATAUGA – Will Curtis 1 yd run (Grant Kight kick), 3-2 1:18 7 – 0
- 2nd Qtr. 11:01 WATAUGA – Maddox Greene 10 yd run (Grant Kight kick), 3-36 0:54 14 – 0
- 2nd Qtr. 02:41 ACHS – Sawyer Chapman-Mays 1 yd run (Mason Chapman-Mays pass failed), 6-33 2:09 14 – 6
- 3rd Qtr. 04:46 ACHS – Tanner Moore 6 yd run (Tanner Moore pass failed), 13-60 7:14 14 – 12
- 3rd Qtr. 01:53 WATAUGA – Cole Horine 9 yd pass from Maddox Greene (Grant Kight kick), 6-49 2:47 21 – 12
- 4th Qtr. 10:39 WATAUGA – Will Curtis 15 yd run (Grant Kight kick failed), 4-44 1:10 27 – 12
- 4th Qtr. 08:45 ACHS – Nate Erkman 15 yd pass from Tanner Moore (Chad Lasher pass from Tanner Moore), 5-70 1:48 27 – 20
- 4th Qtr. 04:47 WATAUGA – Maddox Greene 2 yd run (Grant Kight kick), 6-57 3:08 34 – 20
SELECTED TEAM STATS
- Total Offense, Yards — WAT 304, ALE 331
- Passing Yards — WAT 55, ALE 130
- Rushing Yards — WAT 249, ALE 201
- Fumbles-Lost — WAT 2-2, ALE 1-1
- Interceptions By-Return Yards — WAT 2-104, ALE 0-0
- Penalties — WAT 4-45, ALE6-54
- 3rd Down Conversions — WAT 3/6 (50%), ALE 5/10 (50%)
- 4th Down Conversions — WAT 0/1, ALE 0/2
- Time of Possession — WAT 22:21, ALE 25:39
SELECTED INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing
- ALE Tanner Moore 3-8, 130 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs
- WAT Maddox Greene 3-4, 55 yards, 1 TD
Rushing
- WAT Maddox Greene 16-115, 2 TDs
- ALE Sawyer Chapman-Mays 23-95, 1 TD
- WAT Will Curtis 14-82, 2 TDs
- ALE Nate Erkman 5-54
- WAT Carlton Horine 6-43, 1 TD
- ALE Mason Chapman-Mays 9-39
- ALE Tanner Moore 7-13, 1 TD
- WAT Trey Thompson 3-12
Receiving
- ALE Luke Hammer 2-115
- WAT Jackson Pryor 2-46
- ALE Nate Erkman 1-15, 1 TD
- WAT Cole Horine 1-9, 1 TD
WATAUGA DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS
- Isaiah Shirley 12 tackles (4 solo), 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss
- Brody Martin 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss
- Carlton Horine 8 tackles (5 solo), 1 INT with 96 yard return
- Cole Horine 8 tackles (4 solo), 1 INT with 8-yard return
