By Zach Smith for High Country Sports. BOONE, Nc. – A mountain rivalry was renewed Friday night as Watauga powered past Avery County in the first ‘Camo Night’ since 2018. Junior quarterback Maddox Greene and sophomore running back Everett Gryder “showed out” in what proved to be a mismatch for the undefeated Pioneers, earning a 55-6 victory.
Watauga was dominant from the start, leading by 21 at the end of the first quarter thanks to three scores by Gryder. The Pioneers never lost the lead and continued to keep their foot on the gas pedal. They led by 41 at the half before finishing the game with a massive 49-point victory.
Gryder gave credit to his teammates for his early scores.
“I just wanna credit the linemen, especially… my linemen, quarterback, just everybody on the field,” Gryder said. “If one person messes up, we don’t score those three touchdowns. So, it felt good.”
Gryder also talked about the preparation he made in the offseason to transition to a full time varsity player.
“Honestly, my speed was there last year,” Gryder said. “I just tried to gain a lot of weight in the offseason.”
Greene also played well in the Pioneers’ victory. The three-sport athlete threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns while tacking on 53 yards rushing. The offensive line kept him clean by not allowing an Avery County sack, flipping the script from Watauga’s week one victory in which Greene was seemingly under constant pressure.
Greene spoke on the offense’s adjustments through the week leading up to Friday’s win.
“We cleaned up some plays this week,” Greene said. “We were young last week, we’re a young team, but we’re getting there.”
Greene talked about incorporating the passing game more than past iterations of the Watauga offense.
“We have some weapons this year, like Jackson [Pryor]. He’s going to Furman, a great receiver,” Greene said. “And we’ve got Everett [Gryder] out in the wing and Morgan [Henry]. They’re both really fast, so we just have more speed this year.”
The Pioneers are happy with the win over Avery County but remain focused on its upcoming tough road trip. The Pioneers travel to Maiden, A.C. Reynolds and North Davidson over the next three weeks in games that they believe will be much closer.
Head coach Ryan Habich spoke on the team’s focus ahead of the upcoming trips.
“I’m pleased with the way we took care of business, but we were the heavy favorite,” Habich said. “The next three weeks, we are underdogs.”
Habich was quick to point out how important the week’s preparation was in the win on Friday.
“We had a great week of practices this week, and it showed on the field,” Habich said. “We were the better football team tonight.”
Watauga travels to Maiden for its first road trip of the season this week. The game will be at 7:30p.m. and can be streamed on NFHS Network.
