By Zach Smith. WELCOME, N.C. — Game notes and play by play for the final non-conference game of Watauga’s 2023 season.

Pregame Notes

• Watauga (4-0) takes on North Davidson (1-3) on the road
  • Watauga offensive is averaging 37.8 points/game
  • North Davidson has been shut out twice this season
  • Teams have only met once
    • 2014 playoffs, North Davidson defeated Watauga 52-14

Watauga Team Leaders

• QB/DB #4 Maddox Greene (Jr)
• TE/LB #9 Jackson Pryor (Sr)
• RB #44 Everett Gryder (So)
• LB #6 Trathan Gragg (Jr)
• WB/LB #14 Morgan Henry (Sr)

PLAY BY PLAY

1st Quarter

• • Watauga wins coin toss, elects to receive
• Watauga ball at their own 14
  • Maddox Greene carries right for 3 yards
  • Everett Gryder carries left for 3 yards
  • Evan Burroughs carries right for 9 yards
  • Gryder carries up the middle for 2 yards
  • Greene carries up the middle for 20 yards
  • Gryder carries up the middle for 5 yards
  • Burroughs carries up the middle for 5 yards

• Holding against Watauga, 1st and 20 from ND’s 49

• False start against Watauga, 1st and 25 from their own 46

• • Gryder carries right for 1 yard
  • Greene pass complete left to Jackson Pryor for 25 yards
  • Greene carries up the middle for 10 yards

• TOUCHDOWN WATAUGA

• • #44 Everett Gryder 18-yard rush (1)

• • #41 Jack Wilson PAT is good

Watauga 7 North Davidson 0

• ND ball at their own 45
  • Payton McMillan pass complete right to Hayden Ross for 7 yards
  • McMillan pass incomplete
  • Zaylen Hayes carries left for 1 yard
  • McMillan carries up the middle for no gain
    • Luke Edmisten on the tackle

• Turnover on Downs

• Watauga ball at their own 47
  • Greene carries left for 52 yards

• TOUCHDOWN WATAUGA

• • #44 Everett Gryder 1-yard rush (2)

• • #41 Jack Wilson PAT is good

Watauga 14 North Davidson 0

• ND ball at their own 43
  • McMillan pass complete right to Ryan Forrest for 14 yards
  • McMillan pass incomplete
  • McMillan pass incomplete
    • Pryor with the QB pressure

• Facemask against Watauga, 1st and 10 on Watauga 28

• • Hayes carries right for 3 yards

• TOUCHDOWN NORTH DAVIDSON

• • #11 Payton McMillan 25-yard pass (1) to #9 Amir Dalton (1)

• • #13 Connor Dunn PAT is good

Watauga 14 North Davidson 7

• Watauga ball at their own 26

• TOUCHDOWN WATAUGA

• • #4 Maddox Greene 74-yard rush (1)

• • #41 Jack Wilson PAT is good

Watauga 21 North Davidson 7

• ND ball at their own 47
  • Hayes carries up the middle for 6 yards
  • Dalton carries left for no gain
    • Edmisten with the tackle
  • McMillan pass complete left to Wesley Henson for 7 yards
  • Dalton tackled for loss of 2 yards
    • Morgan Henry with the TFL
  • McMillan pass incomplete
  • McMillan sacked for loss of 5 yards
    • Carson Gunnell-Beck and Brady Lindenmuth with the sack
  • ND punts

• Watauga ball at their own 13
  • Gryder carries up the middle for 1 yard
  • Gryder carries up the middle for 4 yards
  • Greene pass complete right to Pryor for 28 yards
  • Gryder carries up the middle for 4 yards
  • Burroughs carries right for 10 yards
  • Gryder carries up the middle for 6 yards
  • Gryder carries up the middle for 6 yards
  • Greene carries left for 14 yards
  • Greene carries left for 1 yard
  • Gryder carries up the middle for 6 yards

• TOUCHDOWN WATAUGA

• • #4 Maddox Greene 7-yard rush (2)

• • #41 Jack Wilson PAT is good

Watauga 28 North Davidson 7

• ND ball at their own 49
  • McMillan pass complete left to Henson for 5 yards
  • McMillan pass incomplete
  • Hayes carries up the middle for 1 yard
  • ND punts

• Watauga ball at their own 1
  • Gryder carries right for 15 yards
  • Burroughs carries right for 6 yards
  • Henry carries left for 5 yards
  • Greene pass complete left to Henry for 17 yards
  • Greene pass complete right to Burroughs for 17 yards

• TOUCHDOWN WATAUGA

• • #4 Maddox Greene 39-yard pass (1) to #9 Jackson Pryor (1)

• • #41 Jack Wilson PAT is good

Watauga 35 North Davidson 7

• FUMBLE – ND muffs kickoff reception,
• Watauga ball at ND 44
  • • Edmisten with the recovery

• • Gryder carries up the middle for 5 yards

• Holding against Watauga, 2nd and 15 at ND 49

• • Greene sacked for loss of 5 yards
  • Gryder tackled for no gain
  • Watauga punts
• ND ball at their own 36
  • Dalton tackled for loss of 1 yard
    • Edmisten with the TFL

End of 1st Half: Watauga 35 North Davidson 7

Watauga Noteables

• #4 Maddox Greene
  • • 5/5, 126 yds (25.2/att), 39 long, 1 TD
    • 8 car., 181 yds, 22.6 avg, 2 TD

• #9 Jackson Pryor

• • • 3 rec., 92 yds, 39 long, 1 TD

• #44 Everett Gryder

• • 15 car., 85 yds, 5.7 avg, 2 TD

North Davidson Noteables

• #11 QB Payton McMillan
  • 5/10, 58 yds (5.8/att), 25 long, 1 TD

Start of 3rd Quarter

• Watauga kick out of bounds
• ND ball at their own 37

• • McMillan pass complete right to Forrest for 11 yards
  • McMillan pass complete right to Damani Chhorn for 7 yards

• TOUCHDOWN WATAUGA

• • #12 Evan Burroughs 60-yard INT return (1)

• • #41 Jack Wilson PAT is good

Watauga 42 North Davidson 7

• Illegal blindside block against ND on kickoff
• ND ball at their own 24
  • McMillan fumbles, recovers, tackled for loss of 1 yard
  • Dalton carries left for 16 yards
  • McMillan pass complete right to Ross for 4 yards
  • Dalton carries up the middle for 3 yards
  • Dalton carries up the middle for 4 yards
  • McMillan pass incomplete
  • Dalton carries left for no gain
    • Henry on the tackle
• McMillan pass intercepted

• • Burroughs with the INT and a 45-yard return

• Watauga ball at ND 20
  • Ben Gosky tackled for loss of 6 yards
  • Gosky carries left for 23 yards
  • Timeout Watauga (1)

• TOUCHDOWN WATAUGA

• • #12 Evan Burroughs 3-yard rush (1)

• • #41 Jack Wilson PAT is good

Watauga 49 North Davidson 7

MERCY RULE TRIGGERED: Running clock for remainder of game

• ND ball at their own 36
  • McMillan carries left for 2 yards
  • Julian Nowak carries up the middle for 2 yards
  • McMillan pass complete right to Forrest for 3 yards
  • ND punts

• Watauga ball at their own 33
  • • #10 Matthew Habich in at QB
  • Matthew Leon carries up the middle for 1 yard

• False start against Watauga, 2nd and 14 at Watauga 29

• • Timeout Watauga (2)
  • Kyle Williams carries right for loss of 1 yard
  • Habich pass complete left to Dillon Zaragoza for 12 yards
  • Williams carries right for loss of 4 yards

• Turnover on Downs

• ND ball at Watauga 36
  • McMillan pass incomplete
  • Ben Leamon carries right for loss of 2 yards

• McMillan pass intercepted

• Andrew Ward with the INT and 55-yard return

• Watauga ball at ND 10

• TOUCHDOWN WATAUGA

• • #3 Andrew Ward 10-yard rush (1)

• • #41 Jack Wilson PAT is good

Watauga 56 North Davidson 7

• Watauga kickoff out of bounds
• ND ball at their own 43
  • Nowak carries left for 27 yards
  • Nowak carries up the middle for 2 yards
  • McMillan pass complete left to Henson for 2 yards
  • Nowak carries left for 4 yards
  • Nowak carries up the middle for 12 yards
  • McMillan pass incomplete
  • Nowak carries up the middle for 9 yards

• TOUCHDOWN NORTH DAVIDSON

• • #25 Julian Nowak 1-yard rush (1)

• • #13 Connor Dunn PAT is good

Watauga 56 North Davidson 14

• • Watauga ball at their own 20

• Fumble recovered by North Davidson

• ND ball at Watauga 25
  • Colby Williams carries left for 3 yards

FINAL SCORE: Watauga 56, North Davidson 14

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Finding themselves down 14-8 late in the second quarter against the Black Knights of North Davidson on Sept. 14, the Watauga junior varsity football team’s “mood” darkened, individual players blaming each other and pointing fingers. Then, said head coach Marshall Thomas, the team found leadership — and rebounded in the second half for a 24-14 victory.

BONUS PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF ARTICLE (click any image for slide show mode)

“When you are working with freshmen and sophomores at the junior varsity level,” said Thomas after the game, “the leadership roles on a team may not have evolved. Amid the internal conflicts tonight, we had guys step up into those leadership roles and got the team unified in a positive direction. Our execution improved in the second half because of that leadership and that is why we won.”

SELECTED INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Kyle Williams: 9 carries for 105 yards, including two, 2-point conversions
• Matthew Leon: 19 carries for 91 yards, plus one fumble recovery
• Cade Keller: 7 carries for 96 yards and a TD, 1 fumble recovery
• Nyle Peays: 76-yard “pick 6” pass interception and return
• Thomas Deiters: One 2-point conversion pass reception

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Admitting that nobody is happy with a losing outcome, Watauga varsity men’s soccer head coach was pleased with the effort and intensity of his Pioneers in a 1-0, non-conference loss to visiting Cox Mill on Sept. 14.

“You never want to lose, obviously,” said head coach Josh Honeycutt after the game, “but I truly feel that this is the best we have played so far this season, really since the Ardrey Kell game. We are starting to figure some things out, defensively. The quality of play was there tonight. We probably should have had at least one goal, probably two. When the ball is bouncing around in the box, we need to do a better job of clearing it out, but when you make it a 1-0 game against a very good opponent instead of a 5-1 loss last time out, we are making strides in the right direction.”

Watauga has one more non-conference game, an 11 a.m. affair vs. Cuthbertson on Sept. 16 at Jack Groce Stadium, looking to improve on the team’s 2-7-1 start.

For Honeycutt and the Pioneers, though, it is all about the preparation. He intentionally schedules state playoffs-caliber opponents in the early season to get his team prepared for the Northwestern Conference slate.

“Our primary goal is to win a conference championship, which gives us a better seeding should we make the state playoffs,” said Honeycutt. “Facing those types of playoff quality teams early gets us ready. Our guys know that.”

Indeed, the 2022 edition of the Watauga varsity opened with a non-conference slate in which they went an identical 2-7-1 in non-conference, but finished the season 13-9-1 including a 9-1 record in winning the NWC conference championship before losing to Weddington in the third round of the 4A state playoffs.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Jumping out to a 2-0 lead over Cox Mill, the Watauga junior varsity men’s soccer team was in perilous territory even if eventually winning the day, 3-1.

“A 2-0 lead is dangerous,” said Watauga JV head coach Vern Collins after all was said an done. “It is still close enough that the opponent can rally and close the gap. And it is also wide enough that your team could get a bit complacent. You have to finish.”

Finishing is what Collins and his staff have been emphasizing the last few weeks during the early, non-conference portion of the 2023 season — and that attention to detail paid dividends against the visiting Chargers. While Cox Mill dropped in a second half goal to narrow the gap, to 2-1, the Pioneers responded with a late goal and played good defense the rest of the way.

SELECTED INDIVIDUAL STATS

• Lucas Hamilton: 1 goal, 1 assist
• David Ganley: 1 goal
• Noah Van Werkhoven: 1 goal
• Shiris Kandel: 1 assist
• Tegan Martinez: 1 shot on goal
• Trace Martinez: 1 shot on goal

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It might have been a little closer than expected, but Watauga High School’s young junior varsity volleyball team swept their South Caldwell counterparts on Sept. 13, 2-0 (25-17, 25-19), at Lentz Eggers Gym.

BONUS PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF ARTICLE (click on any image for slideshow mode)

The Spartans’ JVs battled back to narrow deficits a few times, but ultimately could not handle the well-skilled and disciplined Pioneers led by middle blocker Rylee Mitchell, outside hitters Athena Elliott , Gracyn Blanton and Kasey Gragg, as well as sparkling defensive play by libero Bella Wade and setters Ava Zaragoza and Lilli Combs.

SELECTED INDIVIDUAL STATS

• Rylee Mitchell: 6 kills, 2 stuff blocks, 2 service aces
• Athena Elliott: 6 kills, 1 dig
• Gracyn Blanton: 3 kills, 1 dig
• Ava Zaragoza: 6 assists, 3 digs
• Bella Wade: 7 digs, 2 service aces, 1 assist
• Lilli Combs: 11 assists, 1 service ace, 2 digs
• Sophie Kop: 4 digs, 1 service ace
• Lillon Henline: 2 service aces, 2 digs
• Julia Rowan: 3 kills

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. MORGANTON, N.C. — Although neither the Watauga men or women captured the top individual spots in the Northwestern Conference Pre-Conference cross country meet on Sept. 11, both captured the team titles.

Women’s Division

After Makenzie Jordan (North Carolina School of Math and Sciences) finished No. 1 with a blistering time of 22:03 and Ashe County’s Emory Taylor took the No. 2 spot in 23:54, Watauga came in numbers and all five scorers finished the 5,000-meter course within about a minute of each other, including No. 3 Sadie Buchanan, No. 4 Janie Beach Verhay, No. 5 Winter Shaw, No. 6 Sophie Parker, and No. 7 Lainey Johnston.

The Pioneers seemed to come in waves. Runners from NC School of Math and Science, Ashe, Hibriten and Draughn picked up the next few spots, then it was No. 14 Sophie McVoy before No. 20 Sydney Cate Townsend, No. 21 Maggie Visser, No. 22 Carrie Bradbury, No. 23 Keatyn Wuest, No. 23 Scarlett Rupp, and a 4-way tie at No. 26 with Elyse Rea, Katherine Rex, Madden Maple, and Julian Martinez-Jaime.

In total, there were 58 women competing in the race and 33 of them were Pioneers. With the top five runners from each team contributing to the team score, Watauga’s No. 3 through No. 7 placings handily won the team title, with 59 points (lowest score wins, in cross country), followed by NC School of Math and Science (97), Ashe County (145), Draughn (155), Hibriten (168) and Freedom (221).

MEN’S DIVISION

Watauga’s top finisher in the Men’s Division was Andreas Roman at No. 8, but that opened a virtual floodgate of Pioneers, including No. 9 Santino Wood, a tie at No. 10 shared by Jonah Norris and Holden Womak, No. 12 Levi Anderson, No. 13 Elliott Taft and No. 14 A.J. McAulay.

Then, after a couple more Math & Science runners, it was another wave of Pioneers in Calvin Zwetsloot, Grady Gates, Zeke Walker, Cameron Nance, Isaac James, and Hayden Walker.

All totaled, there were 53 young men competing, and 23 of them were Pioneers. Top honors went to Hibriten’s Christopher Church, followed by Everett Tucker (NC Math & Science), Tray Powell (Draughn), Jonah Griggs and Christopher Uren (Freedom) and then two more NC Math athletes, Lucas Nagel and Lucas Lyons, before the first wave of Pioneers.

Team Scores

1. Watauga (75)
2. NC School of Math & Science (83)
3. Freedom (146)
4. Hibriten (177)
5. Draughn (196)
6. Ashe County (221)