By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Even starting the first home game in roughly five weeks “flat” and “sloppy,” Watauga still had enough — and more — to corral Hibriten on Oct. 25, 49-14.

When you see that Hibriten controlled possession for more than 24 minutes compared to Watauga’s 16 minutes (it was a running clock beginning midway through the 4th quarter), you might think that the Panthers dominated the game. That was far from the case, however, with the visitors from Lenoir choosing to continue running the football even after going down by three touchdowns, using up the remaining time on the clock in the process.

Meanwhile, Watauga scored early and often.

‘The Catch’ Sequence

For its part, Watauga rolled up 473 yards of total offense, while allowing Hibriten to gain just 192 yards. To say it was a stellar effort on both sides of the football for the Pioneers is an understatement.

By midway through the third quarter, the Pioneers’ starting quarterback, senior Maddox Greene, was already off the field except for an appearance to punt. He didn’t leave, though, without having an impact. Greene kept the ball for 10 carries, 115 yards and two touchdowns, his longest a weaving sprint off left tackle for 45 yards. Oh, and he passed, too, completing nine of 13 passes for 146 yards and two TDs. Plus, at one point early in the third quarter, junior QB Cade Keller came on, moving Greene to a wingback position — from which he promptly caught a pass and broke a couple of tackles for a 6-yard gain as a receiver.

Junior wingback Evan Burroughs continued his own stellar play on both sides of the ball, but as a receiver he caught nine of nine targets for 137 yards and two TDs. His production included being on the receiving end of a 28-yard pass from Greene that he miraculously caught and stayed inbounds before exiting the field on the one-yard line, tippy-toe.

While Burroughs’ pass reception was spectacular, one of the most skillful plays of the night was a slant pass thrown from Keller to wide receiver Landon Smith, coming toward the middle from the right side. Keller rifled the ball to Smith, catching it in stride and advancing for what became a 30-yard gain.

Running back Everett Gryder, one of those special Pioneer juniors, was back in form, carrying the ball eight times for 59 yards, the longest a 27 yarder through the middle of the Panther defense.

Watauga has a number of what head coach Ryan Habich affectionately refers to as “blue collar” players. They show up to work at whatever role they are called upon to play and none epitomizes that more than Dillon Zaragoza, who plays wingback on offense and cornerback on defense. While he is often called upon to block, which he readily executes, on this night he carried the ball four times for 21 yards, his longest for 18 yards in the second quarter that put the Pioneers inside the red zone, at the Hibriten 12 yard line, with a first down. Early in the third quarter, however, he got a well deserved opportunity to run the ball into the into the end zone from a yard out for his first TD run. Apparently, the whole team was working for him to get it as he took a handoff from Greene, running left, then cut upfield and across the goal line, untouched. He could have driven a proverbial freight train through the gaping hole opened by his offensive line.

After the game, Watauga head coach Ryan Habich admitted that there were some areas for improvement, but was thankful for the opportunity to get a number of players on the field as the coaching staff still is looking to create depth at various positions as the playoffs approach.

Now 7-0 overall and 2-0 in Northwestern Conference play, the Pioneers enter a grueling stretch of the season, condensed because of the Hurricane Helene-related rescheduling. They will play three games in just eight days beginning Friday, Nov. 1, with a much anticipated encounter with Freedom, at Jack Groce Stadium in Boone. Four days later, they travel to face Ashe County on Nov. 5, then turn right around to go in the other direction, meeting South Caldwell in Hudson on Nov. 8. The Freedom and South Caldwell battles are scheduled for a regular, 7:30 p.m. kickoff. At Ashe County, the game is currently scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT – Qtr. 1 – Evan Burroughs, pass from Maddox Greene, 50-yard catch and run. Jack Wilsson PAT kick is good. WAT 7, HIB 0
• WAT – Qtr. 1 – Maddox Greene rush for 45 yards. Jack Wilson PAT kick is good. WAT 14, HIB 0
• WAT – Qtr. 2 – Evan Burroughs 12-yard pass from Maddox Greene. Jack Wilson kick is good. WAT 21, HIB 0
• WAT – Qtr. 2 – Maddox Green, 1-yard rush. Jack Wilson PAT kick is good. WAT 28, HIB 0
• WAT – Qtr. 3 – Dillon Zaragoza, 1-yard rush. Jack Wilson PAT kick is good. WAT 35, HIB 0
• HIB – Qtr. 3 – Avin Crawford rush for 3 yards. Landon Key PAT kick is good. WAT 35, HIB 7
• WAT – Qtr. 4 – Nyle Peays fumble return for 70 yards. Jack Wilson PAT kick is good. WAT 42, HIB 7
• WAT – Qtr. 4 – Matthew Leon 18-yard rush. Jack Wilson PAT kick is good. WAT 49, HIB 7
• HIB – Qtr. 4 – Darius Dixon 47 yard rush. Landon Key PAT kick is good. WAT 49, HIB 14.

SELECTED TEAM STATISTICS

• Total Yards of Offense: HIB 192, WAT 473
• First Downs: HIB 7, WAT 22
• Rushing: HIB 35 carries, 170 yards, 2 TDs; WAT 29 carries, 237 yards, 4 TDs
• Passing: HIB 4 completions in 11 attempts, for 27 yards; WAT 16-22-236, 2 TDs
• Penalties: HIB 5-25, WAT-5-65
• Sacks by: HIB 0, WAT 2
• 3rd Down Conversions: HIB 1-10 (10%), WAT 3-7 (43%)
• 4th Down Conversions: 1-4 (25%), WAT 0-1 (0%)
• Time of Possession: HIB 24:07; WAT 16:51

SELECTED INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Passing

• • WAT – Maddox Greene: 9 of 13, 146 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
  • WAT – Cade Keller: 7 of 9, 90 yards
  • HIB – Avin Crawford: 3 of 10, 17 yards
  • HIB – Colin Cook: 1 of 1, 10 yards

Rushing

• • WAT – Maddox Greene: 10 carries, 115 yards, 2 TDs
  • WAT – Everett Gryder: 8 carrries, 59 yards
  • HIB – Avin Crawford: 11 carries, 53 yards, 1 TD
  • HIB – DK Mitchell: 17 carries, 48 yards
  • HIB – Darius Dixon: 2 carries, 46 yards, 1 TD
  • WAT – Dillon Zaragoza: 4 carries, 21 yards, 1 TD
  • WAT – Matthew Leon: 2 carries, 18 yards, 1 TD
  • WAT – Evan Burroughs: 3 carries, 10 yards
  • WAT – Kyle Williams: 1 carry, 9 yards
  • WAT – Cade Keller: 1 carry, 5 yards

Receiving

• • WAT – Evan Burroughs, 9 catches, 137 yards, 2 TDs
  • WAT – Kyle Williams, 1 catch, 31 yards
  • WAT – Landon Smith, 1 catch, 30 yards
  • WAT – Matthew Habich, 2 catches, 13 yards
  • HIB – Micah Simmons, 1 catch, 10 yards
  • HIB – Julius Martin, 1 catch, 8 yards
  • HIB – DK Mitchell, 1 catch, 8 yards

BONUS PHOTOS

All photos by Jared Everett for High Country Sports