By Zach Smith. LENOIR, N.C. – It was a battle of triple option offenses as Watauga took the short road trip to Lenoir. The Pioneers faced off against Hibriten in a Northwestern Conference battle on Oct. 13.
The Pioneers seemed to have met their match early on, but the 7-7 score at the end of the first quarter proved misleading as Watauga walked away victorious over the Panthers, 41-21.
Watauga entered Friday’s contest on a hot streak. The Pioneers were riding a seven-game win streak powered by their conference best offense and dominant defense. Hibriten, however, had sputtered into their homecoming game, the Panthers’ only win over the previous four weeks being a two-point overtime victory at Freedom.
Hibriten won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, but that proved costly as the Pioneers took just four plays to reach the endzone. Hibriten responded on their next possession, though, and the game looked to be shaping into a thriller.
Watauga then took control in the second quarter, scoring three unanswered touchdowns before the halftime break. The most notable of those touchdowns was a 48-yard strike to senior tight end Jackson Pryor, courtesy of sophomore QB Cade Keller after a backwards pass from Maddox Greene. The long touchdown was the first of Keller’s career. The Pioneers never lost the lead again.
Head coach Ryan Habich spoke on Watauga’s gameplan against a team that, much like the Pioneers, utilizes a triple option offense.
“When you play an option team, a lot of times they fake and throw a play action pass,” Habich said. “We didn’t give that up.”
Habich also spoke on dealing with injuries and depth in the late stages of Watauga’s 2023 campaign.
“You give our kids a lot of credit. A lot of our guys are going both ways. We don’t have a lot of quality depth,” Habich said. “And we have some guys out, too. This time of year you have some guys out so we had some guys step up and make plays. Next man up. That’s what you gotta do when you get this late in the season, trying to finish up the season strong.”
With the victory, Habich reached an important career milestone. It was his 100th win as Watauga head coach. When asked post-game if any of those victories stood out, Habich mentioned the Pioneers’ 2018 victory over Freedom to clinch a conference championship for the first time since 2007.
Much like Watauga’s 2018 season, the Pioneers remain unbeaten through eight weeks and can clinch at least a share of the NWC title next week as they travel to Morganton for a matchup against Freedom. Kickoff is set for 7:30p.m. and can be streamed on the NFHS Network website.
