By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A spirited, three-way high school football scrimmage graced Jack Groce Stadium on Aug. 11, involving host Watauga, Ashe County and North Surry each representing three different NCHSAA levels.
BONUS PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF ARTICLE
Each of the teams had their moments, but in the early part of the sessions perhaps the most impressive was 2A representative North Surry, which effectively moved the ball on offense against the two larger schools Watauga (4A) and Ashe County (3A), both members of the 3A/4A Northwestern Conference. North Surry also intercepted a long Watauga pass in the end zone to avoid giving up a TD.
“After graduating 22 seniors from last year’s team, six of them going on to play at the next level, there is no question we are young with a lot of questions,” Watauga head coach Ryan Habich said to High Country Sports in a weekend telephone interview. “We have probably the toughest non-conference schedule this season, at least since I have been here, so our challenge as coaches and players is to stay healthy physically, mentally and emotionally as we prepare for the conference schedule. Our No. 1 goal is always a conference championship because that is what earns you high seedings and home field advantage in the state playoffs.”
Habich indicated that several positions, including running back and tight end, are proving to be tough competitions among players with little or no experience at those positions, including veteran student-athletes like Morgan Henry, who has already started to receive college offers.
“We graduated our six top running backs last year,” said Habich, “so we are moving guys around. “Morgan Henry is a good example. He is transitioning from a pure receiver role to a hybrid receiver role where he will also line up as a running back.”
With all of its great resources, especially as a 4A level school because of the size of its enrollment near 1,500, Watauga High School has a significant challenge vs. other 4A schools in the larger metropolitan areas.
“Some of those 4A schools in Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro… have as many as 2,600 enrolled students, so they already have a distinct advantage in terms of numbers compared to a 4A school like Watauga with 1,500 students.” said Habich. “But beyond that, in a metropolitan area most of the students live pretty close to their high school campuses whereas Watauga’s students live all around the county. Transportation becomes pretty important. In Charlotte, a kid might be able to catch a ride with a buddy or have a short walk to and from practice. Here, your buddy living in Deep Gap may not have the time or resources to give you a lift home to Bethel.”
With the transportation challenges, the more rural county schools like Watauga may not have the number of players coming out so suffer from a lack of roster depth.
“We will play against teams this year that have completely distinct offense, defense, and special teams units,” Habich pointed out. “They have so much depth that no one has to play both ways or even three ways for the team to be competitive. Here, as we do every year, we will once again have our top players competing on both offense and defense, like Maddox Greene at quarterback and defensive back or Jackson Pryor at wide receiver and outside linebacker.
“We have so many wonderful resources here at Watauga, from the stadium with its lights and turf to what the students have in their classrooms,” said Habich. “In some respects, you might think of us as an ‘Ivy League’ school but we have to have a military school mentality when it comes to football if we are to compete at a high level. We have to do things differently.”
Watauga looks to polish its execution in all three phases of the game before the regular season opener on Aug. 18, at home against longtime rival, T C Roberson (Asheville).
RANDOM CAPTURED MOMENTS FROM THE SCRIMMAGE
All photographic images by David Rogers
