By Zach Smith. NEWLAND, N.C. — Looking to win their second road matchup in as many weeks, Watauga traveled to face long-time, High Country rival Avery County Aug. 30. A weather-shortened game couldn’t slow the Pioneers down as they routed the Vikings, 56-7.
After holding Avery County scoreless in the opening drive, Watauga needed just five snaps to reach the end zone. That drive set the tone for the Pioneers, who scored on all but one of their eight possessions.
Maddox Greene was instrumental in Watauga’s blowout victory. The senior quarterback was responsible for five touchdowns, three of them coming via the Pioneers’ efficient pass game. After throwing an interception on his second pass of the night, Greene completed nine consecutive targets including scoring attempts of 35, 53 and 66 yards.
Junior running back Everett Gryder had his best performance of the season as well. The top Watauga running back in 2023 tallied 89 yards on eight carries, breaking through the goal line twice — and that was before halftime, when the game was called because of lightning in the area.
Senior Carson Gunnell-Beck punctuated Watauga’s victory with a 19-yard defensive touchdown with under a minute left in the first half. With Avery County quarterback Kaleb Liner lined up under center, Gunnell-Beck tore through the offensive line and snatched the ball before breaking a tackle and sprinting to the end zone.
Following halftime, a lightning delay led to a meeting between head coaches where the decision was made to end the game.
Watauga head coach Ryan Habich spoke on the contrast between his squad’s victory over Avery County and their much tighter win at TC Roberson Aug. 23.
“We worked a lot on the basics, the fundamentals on both sides of the ball,” Habich said. “[We] worked on the pass protection. Last week we did not do a very good job with our pass protection.”
While the decision to end the game at halftime was mutual between Watauga and Avery, Habich expressed disappointment for some of his younger players who missed an opportunity to get involved in the game.
“That’s the disappointing thing about when a game gets called at halftime,” Habich said. “We were gonna play a lot of kids, so I’m a little disappointed for them that they didn’t get in.”
Watauga’s away game at Avery County is their last road trip until early October. Habich shared his thoughts on what it means to the players to have a lengthy homestand against quality opponents.
“We’re excited about playing at Jack Groce [Stadium],” Habich said. “Our kids love representing our community at Jack Groce. I think if you look at our record over the 11 years I’ve been here, our teams have done a really good job playing at home. We play for more than just ourselves.”
Watauga begins their three-game homestand Sept. 6 against Maiden. The Pioneers will look to open their season 3-0 for the third straight season at 7:30p.m.
