By David Rogers. ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Two Watauga touchdowns and successful PATs in the first half accounted for all of the scoring on Aug. 23 in TCR-Ensley Stadium as the Pioneers defeated T C Roberson, 14-0, in a gritty season opener for both teams.
It may well have been a non-conference game but with picture perfect, early fall weather framing the contest and thousands of football-hungry fans in attendance, there was an electric atmosphere on the field for the longtime friendly rivalry game, the grandstands nearly filled on both sides of the field.
For offensive minded spectators, the night was a disappointment, especially among the Rams’ faithful in seeing their favorite sons shutout. After some mid-game and halftime defensive adjustments, Roberson held the Pioneers’ grinding, ball control-oriented option offense mostly in check — just as Watauga’s defense did throughout the game.
To learn that Watauga was limited to 223 yards of total offense, those not in attendance might have reckoned a Pioneer loss. Look deeper into the team statistics, though, and you learn that the High Country visitors limited their hosts to just 117 yards of total offense while forcing four turnovers, two fumbles and two pass interceptions.
As he has done for the previous three seasons, Watauga quarterback Maddox Greene rolled up a game-high 126 yards rushing on 20 carries, his longest a 44-yard scamper through the Ram defense, that one play accounting for slightly more than a third of the senior’s rushing total.
The game was not without offensive highlights, such as running back Matthew Leon’s 24-yard TD sprint to open the game’s scoring in the first quarter. Head coach Ryan Habich explained later that the play’s success in getting the speedy Leon into space hinged on quarterback Maddox Greene’s “read” of the defensive movements and adjusting accordingly. Also a sprinter in track, Leon was able to capitalize in attacking space.
“Matthew Leon and Everett Gryder share that running back position,” said head coach Ryan Habich after the game. “Both also play defense. We’ll rotate that running back position and as the year goes on they are both options to play running back and they are both good players. There will be games where we will go with the hot hand, say if one of them is hitting the holes really good…
“… On that particular play, it was a read (by QB Maddox Greene). Our quarterback reads (the defensive coverage) 90 percent of the time,” said Habich. “It was a shotgun play where we were pulling people and Maddox was reading (the defender) and he came up the field. So Maddox made a nice read with good blocking in to the weak side of that play. It was a big play for us… It was a unique play that we showed them. They hadn’t seen it. We ran it from a ‘trips’ (formation). We did a good job of popping it through. We tried it again in the second half but they did a very good job of defending it.”
Habich was candid in talking with reporters after the game about his team’s performance.
“Even where we win sloppy, we will take the win,” he said. “I told our guys before the game that we have an opportunity to play a very good football team. (TC Roberson) returns everyone except two starting players on defense, so that was a big win. Offensively, we didn’t play (well). Defensively, I thought we played really good. We played assignment football.
“That’s the big thing about our program. We want to play complimentary football,” Habich added. “We controlled the field position and did a good job with punts, our quick kicks. Maddox Greene did a good job of pinning them back. It is harder for a team to call offensive plays when you pin them back (against their own goal line). I don’t (normally) like to punt the ball, but we (punted well). We made a lot of mistakes and there are a lot of things we have to change if we want to be a top tier team. We have high expectations here at Watauga High School. The last decade has shown that… We have great kids. They are close but now we have to figure out how to be great teammates.”
Watauga travels to Newland, N.C. next Friday for a High Country rivalry game against Avery County. The Vikings fell to Cherryville in its hard fought season opener, 20-18. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
T C Roberson is also on the road Aug. 30, with a tilt hosted by East Rutherford in another non-conference matchup.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Rushing
- WAT – Maddox Greene: 20 carries, 126 yards, 1 TD
- WAT – Matthew Leon: 8 carries, 43 yards, 1 TD
- WAT – Evan Burroughs: 5 carries, 29 yards
- TCR – Tyrin Credle: 7 carries, 27 yards
- TCR – Laron Mills: 15 carries, 25 yards
- TCR – Cohen Bohanon: 6 carries, 22 yards
- TCR – Zeb Swangim: 4 carries, 20 yards
- WAT – Everett Gryder: 7 carries, 13 yards
Receiving
- TCR – Zeb Swangim: 1 catch, 30 yards
- WAT – Landon Smith: 1 catch, 12 yards
Passing
- TCR – Laron Mills: 2-7-34
- WAT – Maddox Greene: 1-4-12
Defensive (Watauga only)
- Carson Gunnell-Beck: 9 tackles, 1 sack
- Dillon Zaragoza: 8 tackles
- Trathan Gragg: 7 tackles, 1 forced fumble
- Landon Smith: 5 tackles, 1 fumble recovery
- Caleb Dewey: 1 tackle, 1 fumble recovery
- Maddox Greene: 2 tackles, 1 interception
- Evan Burroughs: 3 tackles, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble
