By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It was hot, hot, hot for a mid-morning summer day in the High Country — but the Watauga High School football team’s players and coaches embraced the moment.
Close to 100 eager student-athletes were put through their paces on July 30 on the lower athletic field named in honor of former Watauga lacrosse coach, Leigh Cooper Wallace.
The activity was fast and furious, the only breaks coming for periodic hydration opportunities or when one of the coaches stopped drills to bark out instructions, correct mistakes, or offer a ‘thattaboy’ in high praise for a job well done.
Having lost a brigade of seniors to graduation this past spring, Watauga will be looking for younger guys to step up around key, rising senior playmakers like quarterback Cade Keller, offensive and defensive line anchor Brady Lindenmuth, running backs Everett Gryder and Matthew Leon, as well as speedsters Evan Burroughs, Kyle Williams and Nyle Peays.
Head coach Ryan Habich admitted that a lot of area fans may be looking at the 2025 season as a rebuilding year for the Pioneers, but added that the other teams in the Northwestern Conference may think otherwise after Watauga earned its seventh consecutive, undefeated conference championship in 2024.
Beyond the conference competition, the 2025 season offers a unique opportunity if things come together on the field. With the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) reorganizing the competition levels to take effect this fall, going even deeper into the state playoffs is withing the realm of possibility.
Previously, Watauga competed in the statewide large school category (4A), often running into much larger, Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Greensboro schools — with deeper rosters — in the playoffs. This year, the NCHSAA has expanded the number of classifications, to include from 1A to 8A. Watauga was assigned to the 6A category, so will compete against schools more similar in size.
The 6A/7A Northwestern Conference in 2025 includes Watauga, Alexander Central (Taylorsville), Freedom (Morganton), South Caldwell (Hudson), and St. Stephens (Hickory), all classified 6A, and one 7A school in McDowell.
“In the playoffs,” noted Habich, “we could still face (good programs) like Dudley in Greensboro, Charlotte Catholic, and Asheville’s A.C. Reynolds, but not the much larger 8A schools like Mallard Creek, Independence and Hough. from the more densely populated urban areas.”
Watauga is bringing a large number of freshmen into the high school program from the very successful Watauga middle school program, but it is yet uncertain who, if any of them will have developed into varsity players.
“This is going to be a great opportunity for guys who may have been younger last year and very good, but playing behind one of those really good seniors we had. Guys like Thomas Dieters, a very versatile athlete who can play on both offense and defense,” said Habich.
Habich suggested that senior Cade Keller at quarterback may surprise a lot of people because he is an accomplished athlete who happened to play behind last year’s senior phenom, Maddox Greene. Keller got a lot of second half snaps last season when the Pioneers ran up early scores, showing exceptional promise as both a runner and a passer in Habich’s system.
As previously reported, Watauga will be without a Breitenstein on the sideline as an assistant coach for the first time since 1978, when Steve Breitenstein joined the coaching staff under former head coach Bill Mauldin. He stepped away for a couple of years, but came back in 2013 with Habich’s arrival. His son, Eric Breitenstein, was a standout running back for the Pioneers, going on to star at Wofford and even getting some interest from NFL teams, but eventually came back to the High Country to teach high school and joined Habich’s assistant coaching staff in 2019. He has taken a student-athlete advisory position at App State, so is unavailable to coach football at Watauga this year.
Habich is excited about the opportunity to add Hamilton Castle to his coaching staff this year. Castle was an all-Northwestern Conference quarterback and defensive back for Watauga, and the first quarterback Habich coached for all four years in playing for the Pioneers. The head coach indicated that Castle will work primarily with the wide receivers this year.
The Pioneers officially open their 2025 campaign with three consecutive non-conference home tilts against Ashe County (Aug. 22), T.C. Roberson (Aug. 29) and Mount Airy (Sept. 5). Kickoffs are scheduled for 7:30 at Jack Groce Stadium.
After a bye week, Watauga then goes on the road for its final non-conference tilts at Erwin (Sept. 19) and Asheville (Sept. 26), before starting Northwestern Conference play at Freedom on Oct. 3.
The remainder of the regular season schedule includes home vs. South Caldwell (Oct. 10), away at Alexander Central (Oct. 17), home vs. McDowell (Oct. 24), and away at St. Stephens (Oct. 31).
