By David Rogers. CONNELLY SPRINGS, N.C. — Growling Wolverines owned the day on Aug. 28, when the visiting Watauga District Middle School football team defeated East Burke, 24-6. There was good play in all three phases: offense, defense and special teams.
All photographic images by Jared Everett for High Country Sports
BOONE, N.C. – App State director of track & field/cross country Damion McLean has been chosen as the Sun Belt Conference Representative for the USTFCCCA Coaches Committee and will serve through December 2025.
McLean is entering his seventh season at the helm of the program and earned a contract extension that will run through the 2027-28 season. McLean oversaw the hiring of men’s distance coach Brad Herbster and women’s distance coach Annie Richards last fall. Herbster later guided the men’s team to its first Sun Belt title since 2019 and was named 2023 Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
Over the cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track season, the Mountaineers broke eight program records, collected 24 All-SBC honors, and four Mountaineers totaled eight SBC Athlete of the Week accolades, including two three-time selections. McLean also coached the 2024 Sun Belt Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Newcomer of the Year, Ashlee Osaji. App State sent seven Mountaineers to the NCAA East Preliminary Round, which is the most individual qualifiers the program has sent to the first round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in program history.
The Mountaineers will open the 2024 cross country season on Friday with the Covered Bridge Open at the Don Kennedy Trails at State Farm. The Women’s 5K is slated for a 10 a.m. start with the men’s 6K to follow at 10:40 a.m.
By Matt Present. BOONE, N.C. — App State Soccer extended its home unbeaten streak to 12 consecutive games, and remains unbeaten on the season following a 1-1 draw against Charlotte, Sunday evening at The Valley.
The Mountaineers (1-0-2) opened the scoring in the 33rd minute. Ellie Garrison played the ball out wide to the right wing, and after one dribble, Stephanie Barbosa fired a pass to the center of the box, where Shannon Studer was waiting, and put it away with a right-footed finish. Studer has now scored in back-to-back games, also scoring the first App State goal in a 5-0 win over Wofford on Thursday.
Charlotte (0-3-1) evened the score in the 57th minute. Payton Patrick drilled a shot on goal that was saved by Sarah Wommack but the rebound bounced right to Macey Bader who was there for the finish. Wommack finished with a career-high six saves in the contest.
It was a high-tempo game from start-to-finish and even more so in the second half. Both teams finished with double-digit shots and combined to place 11 shots on target in a game that featured just two goals. The teams also combined for 18 fouls and four yellow cards.
Studer, Mumu Guisasola and Skyler Walk played all 90 minutes, while freshman Lauren Smith made her Mountaineer debut.
Prior to the match the Mountaineers hosted a Senior Day ceremony, where the team honored fourth year players Barbosa, Gracie Giacoletto, Walk and Sarah Widderich, as well as fifth-year players Guisasola and Izzi Wood.
App State will be back in action on Thursday when the team welcomes Longwood to Boone for a 6 p.m. matchup. The Lancers are 0-2-1, following a 2-2 draw with Western Carolina on Aug. 25. It will mark the first meeting between App State and Longwood since 2012. The match slated to be broadcast on ESPN+.
By David Rogers. BUFFALO, N.C. — Touchdown passes to three different receivers helped visiting Carolina roll up 414 yards of total offense on Aug. 24, propelling the Panthers to a 31-26 win over the Buffalo Bills in the 2024 season’s third and final preseason game.
In his first game action of the preseason, second year quarterback Bryce Young directed a 12 play, 85-yard TD-scoring drive that took almost seven minutes off the game clock in the opening drive of the contest. Carolina’s first team starters didn’t play much in this game but made the best of it. Young completed 6 of 8 passes for 70 yards and was sacked once in what turned out to be the Panthers’ only offensive possession of the first quarter. Young hit Jordan Matthews for an 8-yard scoring pass open the game, before backup QB Jack Plummer took over for the rest of the way. Plummer completed 21 of 29 passes for 278 yards and two TDs. He was sacked once for an 8-yard loss.
Being on the receiving end of a 36-yard TD pass from Plummer in the fourth quarter allowed Jalen Coker to finish among the pass reception leaders among the 16 Panthers receivers catching at least one pass. Wide receiver Terrace Marshall, Jr. caught a 15 yard TD pass from Plummer midway through the third quarter, finishing with 3 catches for 39 yards. Tight end Jesper Horstad was the big play workhorse on this day, hauling in a pair of passes for a game-high 63 yards.
In evaluating Young after the game, Panthers head coach Dave Canales was understandably excited about what he saw.
“It was great, right?,” The Panthers’ first year head coach asked, rhetorically. “Couldn’t have dreamt it better. A nice long drive, 12 plays to get the guys some good work, get them tired in the drive. A fourth down conversion in there, but saw [Bryce Young] extend plays with his legs, keeping his eyes down the field, finding guys. You can see the carry-over from practice to the game of people creating space, the play after the play. Those are the things that are so critical for us. He handled the run game with great expertise and got us to the right runs in those situations. So, I felt great about it.”
The decision to play Plummer the rest of the way after Young’s opening series also meant that the primary reserve, veteran Andy Dalton, also had to sit.
“He (Dalton) felt ready. It was really me. I just saw putting Andy [Dalton] in a competitive situation after we’ve gotten him completely healthy (as counterproductive). He had a great week of practice, and I thought, ‘If I put him in a competitive situation, he’s going to go win.’ He’s going to take off. I just really thought this is a great opportunity to give Jack Plummer another chance to be evaluated. He took full advantage of that, which was awesome,” said Canales.
Of local interest, former Appalachian State star running back Darrynton Evans recorded the Bills’ first TD of the day, coming out of the backfield to catch a pass QB Ben DiNucci on the left side, near the line of scrimmage. He shook off a would-be tackler along the sidelines, then sprinted into the end zone to complete the 18 yard TD-scoring play. Evans is competing with several other running backs to potentially make the 53-man active roster. All 32 NFL teams will be active during the next three days to make the necessary cuts, to get their respective rosters down to 53 by 4 p.m, Eastern time, on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
The Panthers open the regular season on Sept. 8 in New Orleans (1 p.m. kickoff), then face the Los Angeles Chargers in Bank of America Stadium for the Week 2 matchup on Sept. 15 (also 1 p.m. kickoff).
By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. and ASHEBORO, N.C. — A young Watauga volleyball team that started out losing 3 of its first four non-conference matches in the 2024 season evened their season record at 3-3 with consecutive wins against tough opponents.
The Pioneers have long had a challenging, friendly rivalry relationship with St. Stephens through the years, dating back to when both teams competed in the 3A/4A Northwestern Conference.
An undefeated, 3-0 Indians team came into Lentz Eggers Gym to face a 1-3 Pioneer team on Aug. 21, but a solid offensive performance combined with gutsy defense allowed Watauga to sweep the Indians, 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-21).
Key Players
A year ago, Southwestern Randolph finished the season as the No. 3 ranked 2A team in the state, with an overall record of 25-5 and 12-0 in the 1A/2A Piedmont Athletic Conference, but lost five seniors to graduation coming into the current campaign. Under head coach Darby Kennedy, though, the SW Randolph program has thrived and become one of the 2A levels most dominant programs since she took the helm in 2013, without a losing record either in conference play or overall for any season.
In hosting Watauga on Aug. 22, it was two young teams going against each other, both wanting to prove something. And the scores reflected the combativeness, with Watauga surviving as a tenacious, five-set winner, 3-2 (25-16, 14-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-11).
Although SW Randolph had a size advantage with two players over six feet in height (junior middle blockers Bailey Blackmon, 6-0, and Kinlin Hulin, 6-2), and others approaching that height in sophomore outside hitter Carolina Cagle (5-10) and senior middle blocker Jade Matias (5-10), Watauga’s overall athleticism, quickness and skill won the day in the back-and-forth, 5-set thriller.
Key Players
By David Rogers. ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Two Watauga touchdowns and successful PATs in the first half accounted for all of the scoring on Aug. 23 in TCR-Ensley Stadium as the Pioneers defeated T C Roberson, 14-0, in a gritty season opener for both teams.
It may well have been a non-conference game but with picture perfect, early fall weather framing the contest and thousands of football-hungry fans in attendance, there was an electric atmosphere on the field for the longtime friendly rivalry game, the grandstands nearly filled on both sides of the field.
For offensive minded spectators, the night was a disappointment, especially among the Rams’ faithful in seeing their favorite sons shutout. After some mid-game and halftime defensive adjustments, Roberson held the Pioneers’ grinding, ball control-oriented option offense mostly in check — just as Watauga’s defense did throughout the game.
To learn that Watauga was limited to 223 yards of total offense, those not in attendance might have reckoned a Pioneer loss. Look deeper into the team statistics, though, and you learn that the High Country visitors limited their hosts to just 117 yards of total offense while forcing four turnovers, two fumbles and two pass interceptions.
As he has done for the previous three seasons, Watauga quarterback Maddox Greene rolled up a game-high 126 yards rushing on 20 carries, his longest a 44-yard scamper through the Ram defense, that one play accounting for slightly more than a third of the senior’s rushing total.
The game was not without offensive highlights, such as running back Matthew Leon’s 24-yard TD sprint to open the game’s scoring in the first quarter. Head coach Ryan Habich explained later that the play’s success in getting the speedy Leon into space hinged on quarterback Maddox Greene’s “read” of the defensive movements and adjusting accordingly. Also a sprinter in track, Leon was able to capitalize in attacking space.
“Matthew Leon and Everett Gryder share that running back position,” said head coach Ryan Habich after the game. “Both also play defense. We’ll rotate that running back position and as the year goes on they are both options to play running back and they are both good players. There will be games where we will go with the hot hand, say if one of them is hitting the holes really good…
“… On that particular play, it was a read (by QB Maddox Greene). Our quarterback reads (the defensive coverage) 90 percent of the time,” said Habich. “It was a shotgun play where we were pulling people and Maddox was reading (the defender) and he came up the field. So Maddox made a nice read with good blocking in to the weak side of that play. It was a big play for us… It was a unique play that we showed them. They hadn’t seen it. We ran it from a ‘trips’ (formation). We did a good job of popping it through. We tried it again in the second half but they did a very good job of defending it.”
Habich was candid in talking with reporters after the game about his team’s performance.
“Even where we win sloppy, we will take the win,” he said. “I told our guys before the game that we have an opportunity to play a very good football team. (TC Roberson) returns everyone except two starting players on defense, so that was a big win. Offensively, we didn’t play (well). Defensively, I thought we played really good. We played assignment football.
“That’s the big thing about our program. We want to play complimentary football,” Habich added. “We controlled the field position and did a good job with punts, our quick kicks. Maddox Greene did a good job of pinning them back. It is harder for a team to call offensive plays when you pin them back (against their own goal line). I don’t (normally) like to punt the ball, but we (punted well). We made a lot of mistakes and there are a lot of things we have to change if we want to be a top tier team. We have high expectations here at Watauga High School. The last decade has shown that… We have great kids. They are close but now we have to figure out how to be great teammates.”
Watauga travels to Newland, N.C. next Friday for a High Country rivalry game against Avery County. The Vikings fell to Cherryville in its hard fought season opener, 20-18. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
T C Roberson is also on the road Aug. 30, with a tilt hosted by East Rutherford in another non-conference matchup.
Rushing
Receiving
Passing
Defensive (Watauga only)
By Matt Present. BOONE, N.C. — BOONE, N.C. – As the sound of vuvuzelas rang out through the High Country, the App State Soccer team fed off the energy and delivered a 5-0 victory over Wofford in its home opener at The Valley.
The Mountaineers (1-0-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes of play, with the duo of Shannon Studer and Kaytan Kroboth working in tandem for a pair of tallies.
First it was Studer, who received the feed from Kroboth, used the outside of her right foot to slide the ball into space, before slotting it inside the near post in the ninth minute of play. Less than four minutes later, Studer repaid her helper – slicing through the defense before laying the ball off to Kroboth, who delivered a left-footed strike into the top left corner of the cage.
The goal was the first of Kroboth’s career, two games into her sophomore campaign. “It was great,” Kroboth said. “I’ve really been wanting one and really been waiting for it, I’ve been practicing it and I’m so glad I got to do it tonight at home with these girls.”
The Mountaineers kept the pressure on. In the 28th minute, sophomore Olivia Simon jumped a passing lane deep in the Terriers’ (1-2-0) end, and in one fell swoop booted a shot into the side netting to give the Mountaineers a 3-0 edge going into halftime.
App State forced another miscue less than eight minutes into the second half. Freshman Ellie Garrison fed a cross through the middle of the box, and while her pass was a stride behind Izzi Wood, a backtracking Wofford defender deflected it into the net for an own goal and a 4-0 lead.
Wood would find the net anyway, just 90 seconds later in heading home a Kyli Switalsi corner kick for her first tally of the season. The goal also marked the 16th of Wood’s career, moving her into sole possession of ninth place on the Mountaineers’ career scoring list.
The game was called with just under three minutes to play in regulation due to a severe head injury when two Wofford players collided.
Goalkeeper Sarah Wommack posted four saves and a shutout for the second consecutive match. App State has now recorded 17 clean sheets in head coach Aimee Haywood’s tenure. The victory also extended the Mountaineers’ home unbeaten streak to 11 consecutive matches dating back to Oct. 14, 2022. The five goals were the most scored by the Mountaineers in a shutout since defeating UNC Asheville 6-0 Sept. 1, 2019.
The Mountaineers will celebrate senior day at home on Sunday as they play host to Charlotte. The senior day ceremony will begin at 4:15 p.m., ahead of a 5 p.m. tilt with the 49ers. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
—
By David Rogers. CLEMMONS, N.C. — Against one of the highest ranked men’s high school soccer teams in the nation, the No. 9 team in all of North Carolina and the No. 1 ranked team in the North Carolina 4A West division, visiting Watauga battled West Forsyth to a 3-3 draw on Aug. 19.
“It was a very impressive and gutsy performance by my boys against West Forsyth,” said the Pioneers head coach Josh Honeycutt after the game. I think they made a statement to the state, but must continue to work hard and stay focused.”
Watauga got goals from Noah Van Werkhoven, Lucas Hamilton and Evan Mawhinney, while Curtis Sevensky and Gavin Lipinski were credited with assists.
Continuing a strong non-conference schedule while preparing for a challenging Northwestern Conference slate that starts Sept. 25 at South Caldwell, Watauga next faces West Iredell on the road Aug. 21 before a next home match on Monday, Aug. 26 vs. East Lincoln.
By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It was billed as among the only cross country events where senior high school girls run against other senior high school girls, junior boys run against other junior boys, freshman girls run against other freshman girls, and so on. The Pioneer Clash of the Classes was a sort of peer review — but thanks to some creative mathematics on what amounted to a side sheet type of scorecard, we have a picture of who “won” and how the teams ranked for both the boys and girls divisions.
Watauga head coach Randy McDonough did the tallying, assigning numerical scores for first through tenth places in each of the eight high school races.
In the Girls division, he calculated that Daniel Boone HS (Gray, Tenn.) and Watauga tied with 23 points apiece, the Pioneers getting first place points from Cali Townsend in the freshman girls race, first place points from Annabelle Stewart in the senior girls event, and sixth place points from Janie Beach-Verhay in the junior girls race.
In the Boys division, Daniel Boone HS was clear winner, with 38 points, convincingly ahead of No. 2 Watauga (20). Watauga scoring was accounted for by Will Bradbury’s No. 1 finish in the Senior Boys race, Grady Gates No. 3 finish in the Sophomore Boys, and Calvin Zwetsloot’s No. 6 finish in the Junior Boys.
By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Peering from behind hot pink sunglasses, Watauga’s Annabelle Stewart was all smiles following her No. 1 finish in the Senior Girls division of the Clash of the Classes cross country festival. Meanwhile, the Pioneers’ Will Bradbury had little trouble in the Senior Boys race, crushing the field by more than 30 seconds.
Stewart crossed the finish line of the 2-mile course at the State Farm Intramural Fields in 12:22.77, a little less than six seconds ahead of No. 2 Kaely Patterson of Hough High School. They were followed by top student athletes from West Forsyth, Ardrey Kell, North Buncombe, Providence Day and West Henderson
The Senior Boys race was the last of the day, finishing at roughly 1:30 p.m. Afterwards, Bradbury spoke with High Country Sports.
“I felt pretty good today,” said the Watauga senior and veteran distance runner. “I was out there by myself pretty much the whole race but I was able to stay pretty much mentally engaged. It was my first real race this season so there is a lot to be worked on, but overall I am pretty happy to get the season started with this race.”
Muddy conditions proved a bit of a challenge.
“I’d say that for about a tenth of a mile on this starting and finishing loop it was (muddy) like you are jogging and there is nothing you could really do about it,” recalled Bradbury. “Even though it is not that long of a section, it definitely takes a lot of momentum out of your running.”
Bradbury finished No. 5 at the North Carolina state meet a year ago, as a junior, and said of his goals for the year, “Just to get back to compete at the state level again,” he said. “I did pretty well at the state championship last year and I would certainly like to replicate that performance this year, if not do even better. This was a big confidence boost, heading into the season.”
1 555 Stewart, Annabelle 12 Watauga 12:22.77
2 205 Patterson, Kaely 12 Hough, William A 12:28.36
3 635 Serang, Lulu 12 West Forsyth 12:35.24
4 81 Hohenberger, Reese 12 Ardrey Kell 13:12.43
5 361 Banks, Sophia 12 North Buncombe 13:29.45
6 377 Adams, Ashlyn 12 Providence Day School 13:31.96
7 665 Houlihan, Noelle 12 West Henderson 13:36.57
8 662 Clonch, Lauren 12 West Henderson 13:43.19
9 330 Gschnell, Annika 12 Mooresville 13:43.69
10 256 Panichella, Eisabella 12 Lake Norman 13:46.89
11 154 Lewis, Kerigan 12 Daniel Boone High School 13:56.39
12 211 Wiechers, Abigail 12 Hough, William A 14:08.04
13 636 Siebert, Chloe 12 West Forsyth 14:11.82
14 92 Thornton, Evie 12 Ardrey Kell 14:52.10
15 668 Madera, Alysia 12 West Henderson 14:59.10
16 248 Gamble, Isabel 12 Lake Norman 15:14.83
17 336 Rockness, Karli 12 Mooresville 15:23.70
18 367 Wilson, Brayden 12 North Buncombe 15:27.57
19 12 Plocica, Anna 12 A.C. Reynolds 15:31.06
20 537 Llibre, Mia Grace 12 Watauga 15:34.52
21 159 Riddle, Rain 12 Daniel Boone High School 15:35.50
22 34 Fongemy, Megan 12 A.L. Brown 15:40.43
23 91 Steh, Kyra 12 Ardrey Kell 15:56.18
24 86 McAnally, Lillian 12 Ardrey Kell 16:09.14
25 383 Li, Stephanie 12 Providence Day School 16:25.34
26 672 Ruzich, Sophie 12 West Henderson 16:41.03
27 326 Anderson, Linnea 12 Mooresville 16:50.03
28 207 Ramaraju, Sonya 12 Hough, William A 16:51.33
29 590 Benoit, Mona 12 West Cabarrus 16:55.55
30 84 Labandeira, Christina 12 Ardrey Kell 17:15.96
31 89 Saricali, Almina 12 Ardrey Kell 17:17.09
32 47 Kuddie, Kahlen 12 A.L. Brown 17:34.01
33 499 Ortiz, Lemy 12 University School of John 17:44.02
34 192 Baldwin, Valerie 12 Hough, William A 18:04.24
35 93 Tobon, Samantha 12 Ardrey Kell 18:08.97
36 149 Akers, Bailey 12 Daniel Boone High School 18:09.91
37 544 Mortensen, Laurel 12 Watauga 18:13.18
38 526 Carpenter, Hadley 12 Watauga 18:17.75
39 493 Lavoie, Addie 12 University School of John 18:21.46
40 31 Acosta, Yanelli 12 A.L. Brown 19:27.75
41 197 Flores, Alejandra 12 Hough, William A 19:44.19
42 691 Castellano, Riley 12 West Stokes 19:47.02
43 203 Ogburn, Abbie 12 Hough, William A 19:49.41
44 40 Morton, Molly 12 A.L. Brown 20:34.92
45 42 Peneloza, Liha 12 A.L. Brown 20:35.83
46 204 Ogburn, Caty 12 Hough, William A 20:44.99
47 464 Gullion, Alie 12 Surry Home Educators 20:52.49
48 33 Estrada, Ally 12 A.L. Brown 21:29.24
49 600 Munene, Erin 12 West Cabarrus 29:02.00
1 564 Bradbury, Will 12 Watauga 10:13.23
2 688 Saft, Keagan 12 West Henderson 10:33.35
3 707 Mathis, Zeb 12 West Stokes 10:49.33
4 404 Hoody, Max 12 Providence Day School 10:52.96
5 279 Rabon, Triston 12 Lake Norman 10:56.99
6 420 Smith, Nicholas 12 Providence Day School 10:58.06
7 624 Williams, Paul (Heath) 12 West Cabarrus 11:00.57
8 370 Gilliland, Derek 12 North Buncombe 11:02.80
9 284 Schmidt, Ben 12 Lake Norman 11:07.18
10 371 Knauer, Bennett 12 North Buncombe 11:11.77
11 684 Hamlin, Holden 12 West Henderson 11:14.76
12 368 Ferguson, Gabe 12 North Buncombe 11:21.31
13 415 Roemer, Chase 12 Providence Day School 11:24.81
14 702 Goodman, Chad 12 West Stokes 11:25.82
15 649 Harrison, Jack 12 West Forsyth 11:26.73
16 683 Greene, Roscoe 12 West Henderson 11:39.31
17 577 Norris, Jonah 12 Watauga 11:42.87
18 579 Rex, Samuel 12 Watauga 11:43.53
19 375 Popchock Moreno, Miguel 12 North Buncombe 11:49.48
20 569 Heistand, Haines 12 Watauga 11:52.65
21 221 Glennon, Sebastian 12 Hough, William A 11:59.59
22 347 Canas-peralta, Moises 12 Mooresville 12:00.40
23 644 Cornett, Shane 12 West Forsyth 12:01.41
24 609 Carder, Mateo 12 West Cabarrus 12:08.63
25 612 Endee, Brandon 12 West Cabarrus 12:09.98
26 423 Vedantham, Anish 12 Providence Day School 12:24.31
27 460 Orozco-Flores, Sony 12 Surry Central 12:27.26
28 288 Troutman, William 12 Lake Norman 12:29.34
29 374 Oliver, William 12 North Buncombe 12:37.21
30 275 Leighton, Nate 12 Lake Norman 12:39.95
31 616 Mah, Jameson 12 West Cabarrus 12:42.38
32 52 Delgado, Johnny 12 A.L. Brown 12:42.85
33 53 Fongemy, Ian 12 A.L. Brown 12:44.64
34 341 Albaeck, Ben 12 Mooresville 12:56.56
35 451 Harris, Samuel 12 South Caldwell 13:02.54
36 213 Baker, Bennett 12 Hough, William A 13:04.58
37 642 Cheney, Jackson 12 West Forsyth 13:09.52
38 349 Dillon, William 12 Mooresville 13:30.97
39 63 Palacios, Anthony 12 A.L. Brown 13:32.83
40 583 Tincher, Owen 12 Watauga 13:38.80
41 685 Holden, Kian 12 West Henderson 13:39.27
42 148 Ward, Owen 12 Avery County 13:47.76
43 68 Sinclair, Noah 12 A.L. Brown 13:55.34
44 626 wright, Alex 12 West Cabarrus 14:02.68
45 578 Nystrom, Sam 12 Watauga 14:03.10
46 483 Overcash, Caleb 12 Surry Home Educators 14:04.17
47 572 Langley, Charles 12 Watauga 14:11.29
48 701 Cox, Devin 12 West Stokes 14:17.27
49 73 Zapata, Daniel 10 A.L. Brown 14:19.66
50 713 Westmoreland, Ryan 12 West Stokes 14:22.04
51 459 Hervert, Marco 12 Surry Central 14:22.89
52 457 Eller, Isaac 12 Surry Central 14:36.67