By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A barrage of second half shots on goal by Watauga were rewarded by the most unlikely of outcomes: an “own goal” scored when the South Caldwell goalkeeper whiffed on a clearing kick. It was the only score in the Pioneers’ 1-0 overtime win over the visiting South Caldwell Spartans.
Midfielder Nathan Bishop pushes the ball up the field in the Pioneers’ Northwestern Conference opener against visiting South Caldwell. Photo by David Rogers
It was arguably the Pioneers’ best night of the season, offensively, even if unable to put the ball in the back of the net. Flooding the attacking third of the field with numbers and aggressive shots on goal in the second half, the Pioneer barrage prompted the Spartan goalkeeper at one point to encourage his defenders to better organize, saying, “We can’t expect to get lucky forever.”
From backline to frontline, the Pioneers displayed championship form with slick, one- and two-touch passing and beating their Spartan counterparts to the ball, time after time.
Curtis Sevensky (10) maneuvers the ball along the right sideline in Watauga’s 1-0 overtime win over visiting South Caldwell on Sept. 26, at Jack Groce Stadium. Photo by David Rogers
“Our attack was better tonight,” said head coach Josh Honeycutt later, “but we are still having trouble getting the ball in the net.”
After a rigorous non-conference schedule, Watauga (3-7-1 overall, 1-0 Northwestern Conference), survived South Caldwell in the league opener, even if it took OT and an own goal by the Spartans. Their next NWC test will be at Alexander Central on Sept. 28, before returning home on Oct. 3 for a test against Hibriten.
By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Watauga’s Pioneers won all but one singles match and swept the doubles competition on Sept. 26 over visiting Alexander Central, led by Sienna Davidson’s 6-0, 6-4 defeat of ACHS’ Emmy Rogers.
The Pioneers’ Amira Younce similarly dominated the Cougars’s Taylor Sharpe in the No. 2 singles match, while Larisa Muse dispatched Hannah Kilby, 6-0, 6-1. Alaina Muse had just a little more trouble in defeating Adisyn Eckard, 6-4, 6-2 in the No. 4 singles match.
The No. 5 singles match saw Larson Berry of Watauga prevail over AC’s Ella Deal, 6-2, 6-2, before the Cougars’ Jenna Mason put the visitors on the team scoreboard in defeating the Pioneers’ Serena Jewell-Miller at No. 6 singles.
At No. 1 doubles, Younce and Davidson had little trouble with Alexander Central’s tandem of Rogers and Sharpe, winning 8-2. Alaina Muse and Laurel West teamed up at No. 2 doubles to defeat the Cougars’ Kilby and Mason, 8-4. At No. 3 doubles, Watauga’s Katie Harrison and Abbi Shuman prevalied over ACHS’ Eckard and Alaina Peterson, 8-5.
Now 10-1 overall and 7-0 in the Northwestern Conference, the Pioneers look to extend the unbeaten conference streak when they travel to Hibriten on Sept. 28 and to Freedom on Oct. 3, before completing the regular season at home vs. Ashe County on Oct. 5.
By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Caroline Farthing’s 16 kills and fellow senior Brooke Scheffler’s 12 kills and 18 assists helped host Watauga to a dominant, 3-0 women’s volleyball sweep over visiting Morganton-Freedom on Sept. 26, 25-7, 25-11, 25-4, at Lentz Eggers Gym.
Although Freedom had its moments with strong serving and good digging ability to keep the ball in play, by match’s end the overall skill of the Pioneers was clearly evident, up and down the host’s roster. Watauga head coach Kim Pryor emptied her bench in the 3-set sweep and didn’t lose a step when some of her younger players stepped in.
Pioneer setter Camryn Norris does her thing on Sept. 26 against Freedom at Lentz Eggers Gym. Photo by David Rogers
“I was really glad we could showcase our roster depth,” said Watauga senior Faith Watson after the match. “We have some very talented athletes, but only six of us can be on the court at any given time.”
Watson is a middle blocker and outside hitting specialist for the Pioneers, with plans to attend East Tennessee State and pursue a career in nursing, she told High Country Sports.
Now 13-1 overall and 4-0 in Northwestern Conference play, the Pioneers go on the road to Ashe County on Sept. 28 before returning home on Oct. 3 to face South Caldwell and Oct. 5 vs. Alexander Central before hosting a tri-match with two of the region’s more powerful programs on Saturday, Oct. 8, vs. Foard (Newton) and T.C. Roberson (Asheville).
A small, but enthusiastic student section was on hand Sept. 26 to watch Watauga volleyball sweep Freedom, 3-0, in Lentz Eggers Gym. Photo by David Rogers
By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C., — Led by sophomore Tate Shore’s 1st place finish in 16:35, Reagan High School finished with three runners among the top six finishers, helping the Raiders to the team title in the High Country XC Classic on Sept. 24.
Watauga’s Will Bradbury (17:08) came across the finish line in second place, followed by Roman Sibaja (11th, 18:15), Collin Anderson (15th, 18:36), Sam Nixon (22nd, 19:01), Jonah Norris (26th, 19:12), and Elliott Taft (27th, 19:13), allowing the Pioneers to capture 2nd place in the team competition among the 85 varsity men’s athletes and 11 schools.
85 young men competed in the varsity division of the High Country XC Classic on Sept. 24. Photo by David Rogers.
In the men’s junior varsity race, Watauga junior Miles Page (19:41) came across the finish line first in the 5,000 meter run, leading a cavalcade of six Pioneers in the top 11 finishing positions. Other Pioneer runners included Santino Wood (5th, 20:22), Davis Crymes (8th, 20:29), Alex Gremmell (9th, 20:29), Silas Powell (10th, 20:35), and Elijah Healy (11th, 20:37) in helping Watauga to the JV team title.
By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — West Henderson sophomore Noelle Houlihan crossed the finish line first (19:51) in the women’s varsity division of the High Country Cross Country Classic on Sept. 24, but Lexington (S.C.), led by 8th grader Kendra Miles’ second place finish (20:02), captured team honors with all five of its scoring athletes finishing in the top 15 of the 84 athletes competing.
Host Watauga’s Gwendolyn Anderson (11th, 20:55) led a quintet of Pioneer athletes all finishing in the top 25 to secure third place in the team results 11 squads competing on the hilly course. The other Pioneer women contributing to the team’s finish included Brianna Anderson (13th, 21:14), Andriana Rink, (17th, 21:55), Janie Beach-Verhay (19th, 22:00), and Sydney Cate Townsend (24th, 22:17).
Watauga harrier Brianna Anderson placed 13th in the field of 84 athletes competing in the Sept. 24 High Country XC Classic. Photo by David Rogers
In the junior varsity women’s division, Reagan completed a 1-2-3 sweep in taking four of the top eight finishing positions before Science Hill came across in 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th.
A pair of Reagan freshmen harriers, Keira Bach (23:24) and Slayde Schott (23:52) led the field.
Watauga freshman Patricia Bailey Collins led the Pioneers, finishing 9th, with senior Caroline Beach-Verhay close behind in 11th. Watauga junior Vivi Rushing completed the 5,000 meter course in 14th.
By David Rogers. BOONE — On a perfect day (cool and dry) for long distance running in the North Carolina mountains, Watauga’s Cali Townsend and Grady Gates took top honors in the girls’ and boys’ middle school divisions, respectively, in the High Country Cross Country Classic.
According to race director Randy MacDonough, 22 teams were entered in the six race divisions that included boys and girls high school varsity, high school junior varsity, and middle school, with a Lexington, S.C. team driving the furthest.
At least figuratively speaking, Townsend finished a country mile ahead of second place finisher in the middle school girls division, Olivia Speropulos of Providence Academy. Townsend, a 7th grader, ran the 3200 meters race in 12:26.19, with Speropulos following over a minute later in 13:33.28.
Impressively, eight more Watauga middle school girls crossed the finish line before another athlete from a different school. That included Maggie Visser (3), Carrie Bradbury (4), both 8th graders, then sixth grader Sophia Stull (5), 7th grader Lily Kimbrough (6), 8th grader Lainey Johnston (7), 7th grader Noelle Bollman (8), 7th grader Gianna Casco (9), and 8th grader Julian Martin (10).
Other schools or running clubs represented among the 84 young athletes competing included Grace Academy, Tailwind, North Carolina Leadership Academy, Morganton Day School, Surry Home Educators, Happy Valley, and Liberty Prep Christian Academy.
Grady Gates of Watauga finishes first in the boys middle school division of the High Country Cross Country Classic on Sept. 24. Photo by David Rogers
In the boys middle school division, Watauga 8th grade Grady Gates took top honors in 11:58.47, while teammate Andres Roman, also an 8th grader, finished in second at 12:03.79. The same group of schools were represented in the boys division.
By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — After three weeks of ‘miracle’ performances, App Nation might be forgiven in thinking their team walked on football water, that waltzing to another Sun Belt Conference championship was predetermined for the 2022 college football season.
Then along comes James Madison, the gridiron artist formerly known as FCS contender, to throw a monkey wrench in the wheels of App State’s parade train, 32-28, in front of 33,248 — and at Kidd Brewer Stadium, no less. After falling behind, 28-3, JMU scored 29 unanswered points, winning on every side of the ball.
Dalton Stroman (22) gets valuable yards after the catch and breaks tackles as he enters the end zone on Sept. 24 vs. James Madison at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Photo by David Rogers
As introductions to FBS-level football in a first Sun Belt Conference game goes, it doesn’t get much better for JMU than taking down, even embarrassing one of the league’s powers on their home turf.
And yet, as porous as the Mountaineer defense was in the second half, they gave App State’s offense a chance to win the game with just over two minutes to go.
After Centeio hit wide receiver Terrance Greene, Jr. for a 36-yard TD pass early in the 4th quarter and then made good on a 2-point conversion that pulled the Dukes to within a field goal deficit, 28-25, the Mountaineer faithful hoped for one of App State’s patented, time-consuming offensive drives that put the game out of reach with a TD.
Those hopes were dashed when, on the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Chase Brice’s pass intended for wide receiver Dashaun Davis was intercepted by JMU defensive back Jailin Walker and returned 22 yards to the Mountaineers’ 9-yard line. Two plays later, the Dukes’ redshirt freshman running back Kaelon Black punched the ball across the goal line for a TD and suddenly the Dukes had a 32-28 lead.
Michael Hetzel fights for extra yards after catching a Chase Brice pass vs. James Madison on Sept. 24. Photo by David Rogers
Upon receiving the kickoff, the Mountaineer offense sputtered, giving the ball back to JMU after a three-and-out, with 9:13 left in the game. With the ball again, JMU orchestrated a 15-play drive that took over 7 minutes off the play clock, getting the ball all the way down to the App State 9-yard line before the Mountaineer defense stopped the Dukes on 4th-and-1 to give the offense one more chance to pull out a win with another miracle finish. Could the Mountaineers’ “O” summon up enough of Weeks 1,2, and 3 to pull off another improbable win?
The drive started promising enough, Brice completing a 23-yard pass to last week’s hero, wide receiver Christan Horn. Then, with short pass completions to WR Kaedin Robinson and TE Henry Pearson, Brice manufactured another first down to near midfield, at the App State 41-yardline.
But that is where the drive stalled, with under a minute left in the game. Two incomplete passes, a Brice scramble under pressure that only netted a yard, then another incomplete pass on fourth down, and the ball was turned over to James Madison, Centeio & Co. to simply kneel down and run out the clock. The end wasn’t quite that clear cut. It remains a bit of a mystery that 42 seconds were put back on the clock with the Dukes facing 4th down, but dealing with it was only a formality. They let the play clock run down to zero and the game clock to two seconds, on 4th down. Centeio took the snap, ran backwards for a little more than two seconds, then slid to the ground, game over with time expired.
App State QB Chase Brice uncorks a pass downfield on Sept. 24 against James Madison at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Photo by David Rogers
What went wrong for the Mountaineers?
Appalachian State has a highly touted room of running backs performing behind a mostly veteran offensive line. They have put points on the board, controlled possession, deprived their opponents of opportunities by taking time off the clock… Camerun Peoples and Nate Noel have both run for 1,000 yards in the same season, Peoples leading the Sun Belt in TD runs and just two seasons removed from a record-setting performance in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Daetrich Harrington is an inspiring performer after an injury plagued college career. A third year sophomore transfer from Wake Forest, Ahmani Marshall shows promise after rushing for 2,204 yards and 30 TDs at East Forsyth, including back-to-back 4A state championships in 2018 and 2019. Former high school quarterback Anderson Castle, is now big, powerful, and sure-handed as both ball carrier and receiver.
James Madison’s Dukes were not intimidated. They held the Mountaineers to just 57 yards rushing in the first half, allowing only six more net yards in the second half. In short, they proved that limiting Middle Tennessee State and Norfolk State to just 21 net yards in the Dukes’ first two games was not a fluke.
Mountaineer WR Dashaun Davis gets loose for a big gain on Sept. 24 against James Madison. Photo by David Rogers
“This was a disappointing loss and a tough one to swallow,” said App State head coach Shawn Clark after the game. “The defense gave us a chance to win by forcing two turnovers and a turnover on downs we scored three touchdowns. Offense did not move the ball at all. We rushed the ball for 63 yards and that is embarrassing. Congratulations to James Madison but we did not do our jobs in all three phases. We can’t let this one loss turn into two. We have a tough opponent next week in The Citadel, but (today) I am very disappointed, very embarrassed. We have to come back, regroup, and get ready to go.”
Speaking to the defensive performance of the Dukes, Clark said, “It is a high pressure defense. They blitz 54 percent of the time. We knew that… They are always going to bring one more down into the box and we knew that. When that happens, you run to the outside. And (passing) we have to make sure we are running the right depth of routes and catch the football. It wasn’t one person or one group. It goes back to being a team game. All three phases need to improve. We have to get that squared away and squared away fast. We are in a tough conference and played against a tough divisional opponent.
“We have to play better and that starts with me. Execution, we have to get that squared away. This one loss is not going to define the season. We have a lot of football left in front of us, but we can’t let one loss turn into two,” Clark added.
The Mountaineers (2-2 overall, 1-1 in Sun Belt) host The Citadel (1-2, 1-1 SoCon) on Oct. 1, with a 3:30 scheduled kickoff.
By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Visiting Hibriten was a vastly more competitive team than in previous years, but Watauga still had their volleyball number on Sept. 21, winning 3-0, at Lentz Eggers Gym, 25-16, 25-11, 25-10.
“We knew that they were much improved over previous years,” said Watauga outside hitter Caroline Farthing after the match, “but we have won the Northwestern Conference for nine straight years. We want another conference championship this year. Our mindset going in was to focus on our side of the net and do what we do best. We try to never play down to an opponent’s level.”
Faith Hill (5) goes up for a Watauga block vs. Hibriten on Sept. 21.
Brooke Scheffler now splits her time between outside hitter and designated setter — and her stats reflect the dual role in this match with 15 kills, 15 assists, and 7 digs.
“From the time I first started playing volleyball in grammar school,” said Scheffler, “developing versatility has been important to me. At this level, and even at the next level in college, having that range of skills makes me more valuable to the team.”
Kenzie Baldwin (7) looks to set a kill opportunity for Carolina Farthing (22) on Sept. 21 vs. Hibriten at Lentz Eggers Gym.
When Scheffler was introduced as part of the senior class Homecoming court on Sept. 16 during the football halftime at Jack Groce Stadium, her college plans became no longer a secret: she plans to attend Furman University for her academic studies while also playing on the school’s volleyball team.
Offensively, Farthing led the team with 20 kills, 5 digs and 5 service aces, while Faith Watson added 3 kills and 3 stuffed blocks. Cam Norris contributed 18 assists, 9 digs, and a service ace to round out the statistical leaders.
Watauga junior varsity also won in straight sets, 25-19, 26-24. Hadley Woods recorded 9 kills 10 assists and 3 service aces, while Grace Tillery added 7 kills and a block to lead the JVs, statistically.
Special Report from App State Sports. NEW ORLEANS, La. — Freshman Ethan Lipham earned his second career Sun Belt Cross Country Men’s Runner of the Week honor on Wednesday.
Lipham clocked a personal best 8K time of 25:19.13 to garner gold at the Firetower Project Run (Sept. 16), leading the Mountaineer men’s squad to a first-place team finish with a score of 20. His time was a 30-second improvement from his season debut on Sept. 2.
The Largo, Fla. native was tabbed the season’s first Men’s Runner of the Week honoree on Sept. 7 after posting a ninth-place finish and 8K time of 25:49.43 in his collegiate debut at the Covered Bridge Open (Sept. 2). His finish helped the Mountaineers to a second-place team finish with 69 points.
The Mountaineers will be back in action on Oct. 1 at the Live In Lou Cross Country Classic in Louisville, Ky.
By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — Several split decisions marked the Watauga County middle school volleyball action on Sept. 20. Hardin Park and Parkway continued to roll through opponents, while the standings in the bottom two-thirds of the league got more muddled as teams that lost in the first two weeks seem to have gotten stronger and more confident with experience.
Green Valley’s Ansleigh Watson goes for a ‘dig’ against Mabel on Sept. 20, in a tri-match hosted by Blowing Rock. Photo by David Rogers
At the Blowing Rock gymnasium, the host Rockets dropped their first set to Green Valley narrowly, 22-25, but rallied to take the next two sets more convincingly, 25-18, 15-10.
In the second pairing at Blowing Rock, Mabel defeated Green Valley in a split decision, 2-1 (13-25, 25-15, 15-11), but then was swept by Blowing Rock, 2-0 (25-14, 15-13).
Two Blowing Rock players converge on the ball, including Alaina Portero (14), in a tri-match pairing vs. Mabel on Sept. 20, hosted by Blowing Rock. Photo by David Rogers.
At the Valle Crucis hosted tri-match, Hardin Park dispatched both Cove Creek (25-9, 25-17) and Valle Crucis (25-13, 25-8) in straight sets, while Cove Creek won a close encounter with their hosts, 2-1 (25-23. 20-25, 15-13).
In the lone solo match hosted by Bethel, Parkway proved to be an inhospitable guest in sweeping, 2-0 (25-7, 25-21).
