UPDATE: Watauga survives Maiden’s ball control offense, 24-13

September 6, 2024

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Watauga's pre-game ritual includes breaking through a large banner in a cloud of smoke. Photographic image by Jared Everett for High Country Sports

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Nary a cloud in the sky but lightning struck Jack Groce Field on Watauga’s first play from scrimmage on Sept. 6. Junior running back Everett Gryder ripped through a tiny gap in visiting Maiden’s defensive line, broke into the secondary and outsprinted the remaining Blue Devils’ defenders for a 66-yard touchdown, setting the tone for an eventual, 24-13 Pioneer win.

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The play at least temporarily gave the host Pioneers some momentum as they struggled after that, but the win improves Watauga’s early season record to 3-0.

Everett Gryder (44) sprints downfield on a 66-yard TD run for the Pioneers’ first play from scrimmage in the Sept. 6 home opener. Photographic image by Jared Everett for High Country Sports

In one sense, Maiden flipped the script on Watauga, the Blue Devils controlling possession for almost two-thirds of the game with a grinding, ball control offense — historically, Pioneer-style. Maiden’s offense just couldn’t seem to overcome errors when they needed to most, including penalties on what otherwise might have been scoring plays.

We are not a very good football team right now.

Watauga leveraged the Maiden miscures for some quick scores, but the overall performance of the Pioneers did not sit well with head coach Ryan Habich.

“We made a lot of mistakes across the board and we made those mistakes on both sides of the ball. It just isn’t Watauga football,” declared Habich after the last whistle had blown. “We’re a mixture between JV and varsity right now. We are not a very good football team right now and it is all my fault. It falls on the head coach. I have to do a better job with the discipline. Right now, I am not very happy the way we are playing football, on both sides of the ball.”

Habich did have high praise for the special teams units.

“One area that I am proud of is special teams,” he said. “They didn’t give up a big play, they tackled well, and they made a difficult field goal. Jack Wilson did a heckuva job making that field goal (24 yards, to put Watauga up by two scores, 24-13).”

Sporting brand new, all-black uniforms with white numerals for their first home game of the season in front of packed grandstands, the Pioneers may have been a little too “hyped up” at the beginning, Habich admitted in speaking with reporters.

Those new black uniforms… that is lunch pail black… we have to have that ‘blue collar’ mindset.

“We have some returning guys, but I don’t think they realize that the mistakes they make in practice are being carried over into games,” said Habich. “And when you play upper echelon competition like we will face next week (against A C Reynolds)… well, if we play this way, it is going to be a short game here at Jack Groce. It will be a running clock (against us). So we have to do a lot better. We have some great kids here at Watauga, with high academics, but we can’t be complacent here. We have had a lot of success here these last several years but we aren’t going to just walk out there and beat people. We have to execute and we have to get that mindset.

“Those new black uniforms… that is lunch pail black,” added Habich. “We have to have that blue collar mentality that brings that lunch pail to every game. Today, we were too undisciplined with false starts and other pre-snap penalties. That just is not Watauga football.”

Maiden featured a powerful rushing attack to open the game, but was unable to convert it into points. Photographic image by Jared Everett for High Country Sports

Bright Spots

The coach’s critique aside, there were some bright spots offensively and defensively, even though Watauga only had possession of the football for 11:22 vs. Maiden’s 29:45.

Many will argue that Gryder’s opening 66-yard TD run was the best offensive play of the game. The second and third best offensive plays arguably came a couple of series later, with 3:05 left in the first half — and the circumstances proved fortuitous.

The series was set up when Watauga faced a 4th-and-short on their own 27-yard line, but an illegal procedure penalty against the left side of the offensive line pushed the ball back, forcing the Pioneers to abandon going for a 4th down conversion.

Maiden wide receiver Hampton Reed makes an acrobatic catch in the second half to extend an offensive possession. Photographic image by Jared Everett for High Country Sports

Quarterback Maddox Greene’s punt was fielded at the Maiden 35-yard line, but the Blue Devils return man on the play, Hampton Reed, lost control of the ball as he started forward and the fumble was recovered by the Pioneers’ Landon Smith and Thomas Dieters.

So the fourth down punt moved the ball forward about 40 yards from where the Pioneer drive had stalled. As many football coaches like to do after that kind of dramatic turnover, especially in the opponent’s half of the field, it was time for what Habich calls “a shot play,” with a little razzle dazzle mixed in.

“We used the play last year against Mallard Creek, in the playoffs,” Habich recalled. “It was just a different combination of players.”

From his quarterback position, Greene handed the ball off to wide receiver Evan Burrough in motion, crossing to the left. Burroughs flipped the ball back to Gryder on a reverse, then Gryder passed the ball back to Greene on the right side. All the movement behind the line of scrimmage sucked up the Maiden secondary, leaving wide receiver Landon Smith deep downfield to catch Greene’s 40-yard pass at the goal line for a second Pioneer TD.

“Landon made a good play there,” said Habich. “On that play, everybody executed and the offensive line gave Maddox excellent protection.”

Photographic image by Jared Everett for High Country Sports

Defensive Gems, Too

In the second half, even though Maiden was moving the football with short runs and short to medium passes, Watauga’s defense stiffened at two critical points. Faced with 4th-and-short on two different occasions, Maiden was unable to convert.

Case in point: with 8:02 remaining in the third quarter and trailing by just one touchdown, 14-7, Maiden had successfully moved the ball to the Watauga 25-yard line and was looking at 3rd-and-2, poised to convert and keep the drive going. But Pioneer senior linebacker Trathan Gragg stopped two consecutive rush attempts by two different Maiden players. First, he drove quarterback Grant Lawing for no gain on a QB keeper, then he stopped running back Cohen Jenkins for just a 1-yard gain, Maiden turning the ball over on downs.

Led by Greene, it only took the Pioneers three plays to find the end zone after taking over at their own 24-yard line. On a keeper through the middle of the line, Greene sliced through the Blue Devils’ big guys upfront, wrestled free from a would-be tackler, and was finally collared after a 26-yard run, to midfield. The only thing that stopped him from breaking free and running the distance was, literally, a horse collar tackle that did not get flagged, apparently unseen by the officials.

Watauga’s Trathan Gragg (6), greets a Maiden ball carrier at the line of scrimmage for no gain. Photographic image by Jared Everett for High Country Sports

Gryder rushed for three yards, but then it was Greene’s show again. On another keeper, he patiently waited for a gap to open, sprinted through it and into the secondary, swerved toward the right sideline around anyone with hopes of stopping him. After Greene’s 47-yard scamper to paydirt, Wilson’s third PAT of the evening put the Pioneers ahead by two scores, 21-7.

Another bright spot for the Pioneer defense came early in the 4th quarter, with Watauga leading 21-7. Maiden closed out the third frame with an 8-play, grinding drive that moved the ball from their own 15 to Watauga’s 42-yard line. When the Blue Devils’ Grant Lawing dropped back to pass and looked to the right flat, he apparently didn’t see Watauga senior defensive back Dillon Zaragoza, who turned around just in time to see the ball coming directly to him for easy pickings. He caught the ball for the game’s only pass interception, then said “thank you” with a 21-yard INT return.

Occurring early in the fourth quarter at the 11:11 mark, Zaragoza’s defensive gem all but put the game away when Watauga drove to the 5-yard line, setting up the 24-yard field goal by Wilson from the right hash mark.

Even with the good stuff that happened, Habich was far from satisfied, repeating his cautionary counsel that if his offense and defense played the same way next week, against A C Reynolds, the outcome would not be a positive result.

“We just can’t make those mistakes,” said Habich.