By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Look closely at the golden leaf fallen to rest against the blue-painted football turf. Surely it is a sign of grand things to come for Watauga when Mother Earth forges a “W.”
For the last home game of the regular season, Watauga played almost perfect complementary football vs. Freedom at Jack Groce Stadium, winning in dominating fashion, 42-6.
When head coach Ryan Habich moved to the High Country to take over the Pioneers’ program in 2013, his son, Matthew, was in first grade along with a bunch of the other 20 now seniors.
“I watched all these kids grow up. So many of them are friends with my son. They are all great, good character young men. I know their parents. So, on a personal level this is a very special group,” said Habich after going through the pre-game Senior Night rituals with all of the other parents and players.
And what a way to celebrate Senior Night on the field, rolling up 338 yards of total offense while limiting the Patriots to just 111. On offense and special teams, Freedom fumbled the ball seven times, losing two of them, and threw one pass interception.
True to form, the Habich-crafted offense dominated time of possession, 21:16 to Freedom’s 16:17. Equally important, when the Pioneers had the football, they did something with it, only punting one time. When Freedom wasn’t punting (three times), they were turning the ball over: two lost fumbles, one pass interception, and two failures to convert in “going for it” on fourth down.
The Pioneers’ senior quarterback Maddox Greene was again the game’s leading rusher, with 11 carries for 99 yards and two TDs. He also completed five of seven passes for 51 yards and another TD. Through this Nov. 1 game vs. Freedom, Greene has carried the ball 103 times for a net of 919 yards gained rushing — and scored 15 rushing TDs. He has completed 53 of 76 passes (69.7 percent) for 890 yards for another 12 TDs vs. just one interception.
“Maddox may be the best high school football player in western North Carolina,” said Habich after the game. “And our center, J T Cook, may be the second best player in western North Carolina.”
On this night, Greene had plenty of help from playmakers all around him, as well as from his offensive linemen, including Cook. Junior running back Everett Gryder carried the ball 12 times for 75 yards. Mostly in the second half, junior running back Matthew Leon carried the ball six times, for 46 yards and two TDs. And with some razzle dazzle, another junior, Nyle Peays, carried the ball just one time but it was outmaneuvering and outsprinting the Patriot defenders for 23 yards and a TD.
Greene only passed seven times in this game, completing five of them, but they were all in critical situations to extend drives. Burroughs was target three times, hauling in all three for a game-high 24 receiving yards. Dillon Zaragoza and Landon Smith each caught one pass, for 17 and 10 yards respectively, with Zaragoza recording a diving TD catch.
Watauga will turn the page pretty quickly in the coming week, with a light practice on Saturday (Nov. 2) and a full practice on Monday before traveling to West Jefferson on Tuesday (Nov. 5) where they will face Ashe County and the Huskies’ “Air Raid” offense. Three days later (in the Hurricane Helene-condensed schedule), the Pioneers end their regular season in Hudson, at 4A rival South Caldwell.
Habich told reporters after the game that coaching offense was relatively easy compared to coaching defense, especially in the Northwestern Conference.
“You run your offense pretty much the same every week. Sometimes you run a little more, other times you pass a little more. The defensive coaches? Against Ashe County they are preparing for the Huskies’ ‘Air Raid’ offense. A couple of days later, they are preparing for a completely different (offensive scheme) at South Caldwell.”
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