 The Watuaga High football team turned its fortunes around Friday night at Jack Groce Stadium.
Finding themselves in a must-win situation, the Pioneers fought their way to a 10-9 against West Stokes. The win snapped a two-game losing streak.
A Wildcat (2-2) turnover in the third quarter put WHS (2-2) in the driver's seat. Jake Gillam is the man to thank. The senior sacked West Stokes quarterback Austin Fleming and forced a fumble, Daniel Trivette recovered at the Wildcats 18-yard-line.
That set up Watauga's only touchdown of the game. Ironically, Kyle Chambers fumbled near the goal-line. The ball skipped into the end zone where Clint Trivette pounced on it, giving WHS a 10-3 lead.
"I just had to bring him down," Gilliam said. "He's a big, strong guy, and he ran the ball against us a lot last year. We just had to contain him."
The PIoneers did their best to contain Fleming, a 6-foot-4 junior. But he still racked up 192 yards of total offense (110 passing, 82 on the ground). He also had a hand in 42 of West Stokes 56 plays. As a team, the Wildcats had all of five yards on 14 plays.
"He's a runner," WHS coach Tim Pruitt said. "And he's also a passer. He does both things very well. But our defense really made some great adjusts. They changed things up offensively, and we responded with a good defensive effort."
Both teams were anemic on offense. The Pioneers had six first downs and 148 yards offensively. But WHS rambled for 129 of those yards on the ground.
"I was happy with our running game," Pruitt said. "I thought we moved it well. But we still shot ourselves in the foot with silly penalties. A penalty for helping the running back wiped out a touchdown (Baker Stanley scored late in the second quarter), and we had a block in the back. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as last week.
"Both teams also struggled throwing the ball. We completed our first one, and never connected after that. So we needed our running game to be productive."
Caleb Watson, who completed Watauga's only pass for 19 yards, finished with 89 yards on the ground.
"I'm a little sore, but a win is a win," Watson said. "It was good to get this one."
The Wildcats capitalized on a WHS turnover with 4:25 to go in the game. Tyler Bullard recovered an Ethan Greene fumble at the WHS 46-yard-line and punched it in five plays later. Fleming hooked up wth Luke Bowen on a 27-yard touchdown pass that made it 10-9.
But Scott Leonard, who kicked a 35-yard field goal in the second quarter, hooked the extra-point attempt wide left and WHS maintained the lead.
From there, WHS kept the ball on the ground and ate up the clock.
"What a relief, when he missed that kick," said senior Mo Gore. "It took a huge weight off our chests. I don't know if we got a hand on it. A lot of people think the extra point is pretty automatic, but that's not always true."
The Pioneers now travel to Asheville to play A.C. Reynolds, the defending Class 4A champions. The Rockets had to forfiet a season-opening win against West Forsyth because they dressed an illegal player.
The Rockets are protesting the ruling made the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. Our coverage next Friday night begins at 6:30 pm on Oldies 100.7 FM.
NOTES: Alex Parsons kicked a 23-yard field goal that tied the game at 3-3 in the second quarter......it was his first field goal of the year.....Mo Gore booted a school-record 71-yard punt in the second quarter.....the Pioneers are 2-0 lifetime against West Stokes, in what is probably the final meeting between these teams in this series.....with Friday's win, Tim Pruitt is 13-15 as head coach of the Pioneers......Baker Stanley suffered a leg injury and was forced to leave the game late in the fourth quarter. Favoring his right leg, he was carried off the field. But he was standing on that leg during the team's post-game huddle....Linebacker Alex Fox has been lost for the season with a knee injury. He will have surgery September 17. He was injuried during the third quarter of last week's game against Avery.
**********
Scoring Summary (Final)
Watauga Pioneer Football 2010
West Stokes High vs Watauga High (Sep 10, 2010 at Boone, N.C.)
West Stokes High (2-2) vs. Watauga High (2-2)
Date: Sep 10, 2010 Site: Boone, N.C. Stadium: New Jack Groce
Attendance: 3695
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
West Stokes High.... 0 3 0 6 - 9
Watauga High........ 0 3 7 0 - 10
Scoring Summary:
2nd 07:41 WSHS - Scott Leonard 35 yd field goal
12 plays, 49 yards, TOP 6:03, WSHS 3 - WHS 0
03:11 WHS - Alex Parsons 23 yd field goal
10 plays, 29 yards, TOP 4:19, WSHS 3 - WHS 3
3rd 08:34 WHS - Kyle Chambers 0 yd fumble recovery (Alex Parsons kick)
3 plays, 18 yards, TOP 0:59, WSHS 3 - WHS 10
4th 04:25 WSHS - Luke Bowen 28 yd pass from Austin Fleming (Scott Leonard kick failed)
5 plays, 46 yards, TOP 2:03, WSHS 9 - WHS 10
**********************************************************************
Team Statistics (Final)
Watauga Pioneer Football 2010
West Stokes High vs Watauga High (Sep 10, 2010 at Boone, N.C.)
WSHS WHS
FIRST DOWNS................... 14 6
Rushing..................... 8 4
Passing..................... 5 1
Penalty..................... 1 1
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 87 129
Rushing Attempts............ 36 36
Average Per Rush............ 2.4 3.6
Rushing Touchdowns.......... 0 1
Yards Gained Rushing........ 160 182
Yards Lost Rushing.......... 73 53
NET YARDS PASSING............. 110 19
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 12-20-0 1-7-0
Average Per Attempt......... 5.5 2.7
Average Per Completion...... 9.2 19.0
Passing Touchdowns.......... 1 0
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 197 148
Total offense plays......... 56 43
Average Gain Per Play....... 3.5 3.4
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 5-1 3-1
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 10-71 8-72
PUNTS-YARDS................... 5-141 7-255
Average Yards Per Punt...... 28.2 36.4
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 23.2 30.7
Inside 20................... 1 0
50+ Yards................... 0 1
Touchbacks.................. 0 2
Fair catch.................. 1 4
KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 3-119 3-140
Average Yards Per Kickoff... 39.7 46.7
Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 18.3 21.3
Touchbacks.................. 0 0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 0-0-0 2-25-0
Average Per Return.......... 0.0 12.5
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 3-76-0 2-64-0
Average Per Return.......... 25.3 32.0
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 0-0-0 0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 25:56 22:04
1st Quarter................. 7:43 4:17
2nd Quarter................. 6:26 5:34
3rd Quarter................. 6:23 5:37
4th Quarter................. 5:24 6:36
Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 14 3 of 11
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 2 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-2 2-2
Touchdowns.................. 0-2 1-2
Field goals................. 1-2 1-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-10 1-12
PAT Kicks..................... 0-1 1-1
Field Goals................... 1-1 1-1
***************************************************************************
West Stokes High
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
-------------------------------------------------
Austin Fleming 23 114 32 82 0 14 3.6
Eorn Jenkins 5 22 2 20 0 13 4.0
Austin Long 3 24 4 20 0 20 6.7
TEAM 5 0 35 -35 0 0 -7.0
Totals... 36 160 73 87 0 20 2.4
Passing Cmp-Att-Int Yds TD Long Sack
-------------------------------------------------
Austin Fleming 12-19-0 110 1 36 1
TEAM 0-1-0 0 0 0 0
Totals... 12-20-0 110 1 36 1
Receiving No. Yds TD Long
----------------------------------------
DeMarion Jones 4 13 0 14
Luke Bowen 3 72 1 36
Austin Long 1 16 0 16
Ryan Ward 1 12 0 12
Brock Reynolds 1 1 0 1
Dalton Boles 1 0 0 0
Eorn Jenkins 1 -4 0 0
Totals... 12 110 1 36
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB
---------------------------------------------------
Austin Fleming 5 141 28.2 37 1 0
Totals... 5 141 28.2 37 1 0
Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
--------------------------------------------------
Austin Long 0 0 0 1 18 18 0 0 0
Lucas Elliott 0 0 0 2 58 38 0 0 0
Totals... 0 0 0 3 76 38 0 0 0
Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
Scott Leonard 2nd 07:41 35 yds - Good
Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg
---------------------------------------
Scott Leonard 3 119 0 0 39.7
Watauga High
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
-------------------------------------------------
Caleb Watson 18 101 12 89 0 30 4.9
Baker Stanley 3 23 0 23 0 11 7.7
Ethan Greene 4 26 10 16 0 9 4.0
Kyle Chambers 3 14 0 14 1 7 4.7
Robbie Sherrill 3 12 0 12 0 10 4.0
Jake Gilliam 1 6 0 6 0 6 6.0
TEAM 4 0 31 -31 0 0 -7.8
Totals... 36 182 53 129 1 30 3.6
Passing Cmp-Att-Int Yds TD Long Sack
-------------------------------------------------
Caleb Watson 1-5-0 19 0 19 0
Ethan Greene 0-2-0 0 0 0 1
Totals... 1-7-0 19 0 19 1
Receiving No. Yds TD Long
----------------------------------------
Matt Scott 1 19 0 19
Totals... 1 19 0 19
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB
---------------------------------------------------
Mo Gore 7 255 36.4 71 0 2
Totals... 7 255 36.4 71 0 2
Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
--------------------------------------------------
Trey Kavanaugh 2 25 17 1 48 48 0 0 0
Mo Gore 0 0 0 1 16 16 0 0 0
Totals... 2 25 17 2 64 48 0 0 0
Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
Alex Parsons 2nd 03:11 23 yds - Good
Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg
---------------------------------------
Cam Haas 3 140 0 0 46.7
FUMBLES: West Stokes High-TEAM 3-0; Austin Fleming 2-1. Watauga High-Kyle Chambers 1-0; TEAM
1-0; Ethan Greene 1-1.
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