By David Rogers. WEST JEFFERSON, N.C. — A 5th straight Northwestern Conference championship is in the record books after Watauga galloped past Ashe County, 56-28, in Husky Stadium on Oct. 28. The Pioneers now wait on the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4A seeding process to take place on Oct. 29, which will determine the first round matchups of the state championship tournament.
At one point during the past week, the Pioneer coaches and players had little or no idea what athletes the team would be fielding against the Huskies. It has been a year of adversity for the 2022 Pioneers, so when the flu ran through a majority of the players last weekend and early in the week, it was just another challenge to overcome. According to one school official, player temperatures were running as high as 105 degrees on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, with many not breaking until Tuesday and Wednesday. Some got only a Thursday practice in for the week, making preparations particularly difficult for the Huskies’ “Air Raid” offensive attack.
“Early in the week, we had only 17 players at practice out of 43 on the roster,” said Habich, obviously relieved that he had most, if not all of his non-injured players back in uniform by 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
But play they did, and to great effect.
In the game’s early minutes, it appeared that neither team wanted to play defense. In Ashe County’s opening possession, the Huskies moved the ball in chunks down to the Watauga 13 before Pioneer senior Isaiah Shirley tackled the Huskies’ star running back, Matthew Peterson, in the backfield for a 3-yard loss on 2nd and 10. After moving the ball effectively to that point, Ashe County was in two-down territory with a first down available to them at the 3-yard line, but two incomplete passes later — one of them broken up on a big defensive play by Cole Horine — and the Pioneers were taking possession of the ball deep in their own territory.
No worries for the Pioneers, however, as sophomore QB Maddox Greene found a gap behind perfect offensive line execution to break into the second level and sprint 67 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Three plays later, the talented QB workhorse finished off the remaining 10 yards for the game’s first TD and a Grant Kight PAT kick made the score, 7-0.
But that was just the beginning of the early offensive fireworks. After a promising, 20-yard kickoff return by Ashe County’s Luke Peterson, on the first play from scrimmage a shifty, hard-nosed Matthew Peterson found daylight off right tackle and rambled 71 yards up the right sideline for the Husky response and a TD. Much to the delight of Ashe County’s Senior Night crowd, a 2-point conversion attempt was good when Ian Graybeal passed across the middle to normal QB, Blake Peters, giving the Huskies a slim, 8-7 lead with still 7:23 left in the first quarter.
And yet, Watauga had its own big plays in mind as an answer. Running back Will Curtis set the stage with a 48-yard kickoff return, then Greene wove through and outsprinted Husky defenders on the first play of the possession for a 40-yard TD run. Another Kight PAT kick put the Pioneers ahead, 14-8, with sideline pundits calculating that at the rate the two teams were tallying touchdowns, 88 points would be on the scoreboard by halftime.
But Watauga began to show that it could make big plays on defense, too. On the Huskies first play of their next possession, Greene (playing defensive back) leaped high to pluck a Peters pass from the grasp of Husky receiver Tanner Poe, giving the ball right back to the Pioneers with good field position.
On the ensuing, clock-eating drive that has become a trademark of head coach Ryan Habich’ 10 years at the helm of the Pioneers, Greene, Curtis, and wingback Trey Thompson combined to move the ball to the Husky 9-yardline before tight end Isaiah Shirley jumped high to catch a Green pass over the outstretched hands of an Ashe County defender then, once he landed in the end zone, kept possession long enough for the nearest referee to thrust his arms in the air, indicating a TD. A second or two later, the ball came out of Shirley’s hands, prompting howls of protest from the Husky sideline and grandstands that the pass should have been ruled incomplete.
The Greene-to-Shirley connection completed the first quarter scoring with the Pioneers sporting a 21-8 lead, but when Ashe County capitalized on a 4th and 1 run by Matthew Peterson for a TD to open the second quarter, it was still only a one-score game. However, a 4-yard TD run up the middle on a wingback counter play by Trey Thompson, then a 27-yard pass from Greene to junior wide receiver Jackson Pryor with just 10 seconds remaining before intermission were enough to all but put away the game for the visiting Pioneers, 35-14 at halftime.
“This was a special night,” said head coach Habich after the game. “It was a long week. I don’t know how many people know that the flu bug went through Watauga High School over last weekend and early this week. Between varsity and JVs, we had 46 players miss practice… There were key players that were out, sick. It was one of those weeks where you want to win a conference championship but your preparations are compromised. A lot of credit goes to our players for stepping up and finding a way to win tonight.”
Habich was quick to admit that his charges didn’t play great defense and the Huskies’ senior running back, Matthew Peterson, had a lot to do with that.
“That No. 28 is a special player and we knew that going in,” said Habich, “but our offense did a good job of scoring every time they touched the ball until the very end (after the Pioneers had gone up 56-14 early in the 4th quarter and Watauga was giving valuable playing time to its younger reserves).”
Habich commended his offense for controlling possession and scoring, especially in the “middle eight.”
“Scoring just before halftime like that, to go up 35-14… We call it the ‘middle eight,’ the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half,” said Habich. “Scoring just before half then getting the ball after halftime and going up 42-14, we began to feel pretty good about the outcome. We had a pretty tough time with that running back, Peterson, but our offense stepped up.”
Habich offered a forewarning for the upcoming playoffs.
“Our defense is going to have to step up in the playoffs. We are going to play some really good teams and we are not going to be able to score as easily as we did tonight against better competition. Ashe County was much improved tonight, especially with that running back, than in the earlier non-conference game we played in Boone. And we didn’t tackle very well. We have to improve that,” said Habich.
Habich concluded his post-game remarks with a clear note of appreciation for his Pioneer players.
“I am really proud of these guys. This is my tenth year here and for the team to win five straight conference championships and go undefeated in conference play this year, that is something that this senior class has left a legacy and is pretty special here in Watauga County,” Habich said.
Given the undefeated record in Northwestern Conference play and only one loss against Burns in non-conference competition, Watauga is sure to get a high seed in the 4A West bracket.
“The 4A West is brutal,” said Habich, “especially with all of those Charlotte and Winston-Salem teams. Whoever we get, the good news is that at least for the first round we are likely to be playing at home, in Jack Groce Stadium. So we probably will not be going on the road and, up here, this time of year the weather can be our friend, too.”
SELECTED TEAM STATS
- Total Offense – WAT 478, ASHE 381
- Passing Yards – WAT 69, ASHE 232
- Rushing Yards – WAT 409, ASHE 149
- Penalties – WAT 4/50, ASHE 2/30
- Turnovers – WAT 0, ASHE 1
- Time of Possession – WAT 22:26, ASHE 24:54
- 3rd Down Conversions – WAT 3/7 (43%), ASHE 3/8 (38%)
- 4th Down Conversions – WAT 2/3 (67%), ASHE 1/4 (25%)
SELECTED INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing
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- ASHE Blake Peters 26/36, 232 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
- WAT Maddox Greene 4/6, 69 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT
Rushing
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- WAT Maddox Greene 20 carries, 217 yards, 3 TDs
- ASHE Matthew Peterson 17 carries, 154 yards, 2 TDs
- WAT Will Curtis 10 carries, 80 yards, 2 TDs
- WAT Trey Thompson 8 carries, 62 yards, 1 TD
Receiving
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- ASHE Matthew Peterson 5/70, 2 TDs
- ASHE Colin Estes 10/60
- WAT Jackson Pryor 2/54, 1 TD
- ASHE Tanner Poe 5/50
- ASHE Ian Graybeal 4/40
- WAT Isaiah Shirley 2/15, 1 TD
