By David Rogers. LENOIR, N.C. — It was a perfect night for football and a perfect night for Hibriten’s “Homecoming” — except the Panthers may have invited the wrong opponent. No patsy, visiting Watauga ran and passed roughshod over their hosts, 41-21, at Jeff Storie Memorial Stadium.
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For Watauga, the Oct. 13 performance was the perfect response to a week earlier when the Pioneers’ gridiron misadventures against Alexander Central in Jack Groce Stadium nearly led to a comeback rally by the Cougars. Watauga escaped with their unblemished 2023 record intact but it was not without some anxious moments.
Fast forward to meeting the red-and-black-clad Panthers, and the longtime Northwestern Conference adversaries traded touchdowns in the first quarter, in different ways. Watauga’s came after a failed onside kick by Hibriten on the opening kickoff gave the Pioneers good field position at midfield.
On the second play from scrimmage, QB Maddox Greene punched off tackle on the right side, catapulted himself into the secondary, then outraced all but one Panther defender across to the other side of the field before being shoved out of bounds at the 4-yard line. Just two plays later, he weaved his way through the middle for a 4-yard TD run.
Hibriten countered with a grinding, ball possession rushing attack, seeming to exploit a vulnerable Pioneers’ defense on the left side of the Panthers offensive attack. The 12-play, 68 yard drive was complete when the Panthers’ big running back Gabe Sudderth punched the ball across on a one-yard TD rush. With Ammon Blanton’s PAT kick, the score was tied 7-7.
Not to be outdone in the “grinding” department, a combination of rushes by Greene and running back Everett Gryder, intermixed with short passes to wide receiver Jackson Pryor, moved the ball from the Pioneer 36 to the Hibriten 24 by the end of the first quarter. Switching ends of the field, Gryder finished off the 13-play, 64 yard drive with a 1-yard dive into the end zone, followed by yet another Jack Wilson PAT kick. A highlight of the drive was a 19-yard pass to Pryor.
Apparently, the Pioneers’ defensive braintrust used their offensive counterparts’ lengthy possession to make some needed adjustments because Hibriten’s offense never again proved to be a potent factor in this contest.
After the game, Pioneer head coach Ryan Habich was asked about any defensive adjustments following the Panthers’ first TD.
“We did. We made some adjustments on our defensive line,” Habich acknowledged. “They came out on both sides of the ball and were cutting us. On defense, they used a double tight edge and were running right at us. Our guys were getting shot down and we weren’t tackling very well and tackling high some of the time. They kept getting two, three yards and keeping the ball. It was a long drive. They didn’t score quickly and we didn’t give up the big play. That was one of the things we worked on all week. When you play an option team sometimes they fake and throw a play-action pass. We didn’t give up that, but we had a hard time getting them off the field.”
In addition to making adjustments on the defensive line, Habich said there were a number of guys who stepped up.
“You have to give our guys a lot of credit. We don’t have a lot of quality depth, so we have a lot of guys playing both ways. Plus, we had some guys out,” said Habich. “And that happens this late in the season. Carson Gunnell-Beck was missing, who plays both defensive tackle and also guard on offense. So we had guys step up and make plays. That’s what you have to do when you get this late in the season. When you are competing for a conference championship and a chance to get in the state playoffs, you have to have guys step up when players go down. I thought our guys responded well from the way we played last week.”
As an example of guys stepping up, Habich called out Cameron Hall, a junior offensive and defensive lineman.
“Cam is a role player, but he had a bigger role this week with (Gunnell-Beck out). Hibriten has a defensive player of the year in No. 44 and we knew he liked to blitz a lot,” said Habich. “So we worked all week in picking up that blitz and Cam did a really good job.”
With defensive adjustments made, Watauga all but ran off the Panthers’ offense. While Watauga’s offense was scoring almost at will in all manner of ways — rushing, passing and even trick plays — Hibriten punted, punted and, desperate to catch up, turned the ball over on downs for the rest of the first half.
Watauga’s offensive efforts included Gryder’s 1-yard plunge to finish off the long drive, a 63-yard Maddox Greene pass to Evan Burroughs, and a clever Greene lateral back to reserve QB Cade Keller, who lofted a pass downfield to a wide open Jackson Pryor for a 48-yard catch-and-run TD.
SECOND HALF FINISHERS
The start of the second half was more of the same. Hibriten turnED the ball over on downs and Watauga took possession at the Panthers’ 44. They scored quickly, Greene completing a 22-yard pass to Pryor, then Burroughs rambled 23 yards for a diving touchdown to the pylon on the right side of the end zone (see our cover image, top). With another Wilson PAT kick, the score was 34-7.
Some Pioneer reserves began to filter into the defensive mix and Hibriten made some creative adjustments on offense. That led to a 13-play, 64 yard drive by the Panthers, taking time off the clock and keeping Watauga’s potent offense off the field. Aided by a face mask penalty against the Pioneers, Hibriten got into the red zone and the Panthers’ hulking, 6-1, 235 lb. senior fullback Sudderth pushed across the goal line from one-yard out for another home side TD.
The score and PAT kick tightened the deficit to 20 points, 34-14, as the clock was winding down to just nine seconds left in the third quarter.
Greene & Co. quickly made sure last week’s second half collapse wouldn’t be repeated. After Hibriten attempted an onside kick that was recovered by Watauga at their own 46 yard line, it took just one play for Greene to scamper through, around and past all Hibriten defenders and deliver a 54-yard TD run. Jack Wilson’s PAT was the Pioneers’ final point of the night but it proved more than enough.
With even more Pioneer reserves getting an opportunity to see game action, Hibriten manufactured one more long drive, moving the ball 53 yards in 11 plays, finishing with an 8-yard run by senior Gerard Felder.
A 20-point lead and time fast slipping away, Watauga’s coaches all but emptied their bench. Junior QB Matthew Habich took the reins in guiding the offense while sophomore running back and speedster Matthew Leon became the featured rusher. A highlight of the Pioneers’ final drive: a 17-yard power run-and-scoot by Leon.
After a group of starting players emptied a bucket of icy Gatorade on top of Habich while he was being interviewed by reporters to celebrate his win No. 100 just during his 11 years as head coach of Watauga, in typical fashion Habich deferred any accolades.
“I never thought about 100 wins until someone mentioned it to me yesterday. It is not something I think about. The players play. The players win,” said Habich.
SELECTED INDIVIDUAL WATAUGA STATS by Zach Smith for High Country Sports
- :Maddox Greene:
- Passing: 5-for-8, 119 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Rushing: 8 carries, 136 yards, 2 TDs
- Jackson Pryor: 5 receptions, 104 yards, 1 TD
- Evan Burroughs:
- Receiving: 1 reception, 63 yards, 1 TD
- Rushing: 3 carries, 42 yards, 1 TD
- Cade Keller: 1 pass, 63 yards, 1 TD
SELECTED TEAM STATS by Jonathan Watson
- Total Plays: WAT 42, HIB 63
- Total Yards of Offense: WAT 383, HIB 250
- Total Passing Yards: WAT 157, HIB 10
- Total Rushing Yards: WAT 226, HIB 240
- 3rd Down Conversions: WAT 5/7 (71%), HIB 4/11 (36%)
- 4th Down Conversions: WAT 1/2 (50%), HIB 1/4 (25%)
- Fumbles lost: WAT 0, HIB 1
- Interceptions Thrown: WAT 1, HIB 0
- Penalties: WAT 2/11 yards, HIB 4/40 yards
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