Clay Battelle, Local Sports, Sports

Clay-Battelle ready to bounce back against Valley-Wetzel

BY MATTHEW PEASLEE

MORGANTOWN — The Clay-Battelle football team has a chance to bounce back this week against winless Valley-Wetzel. Last week, the Cee-Bees surrendered their early momentum against East Hardy and eventually lost, 45-12.

Clay-Battelle scored first but No. 3 East Hardy broke out just before halftime and held the Cee-Bees scoreless in the second half.

“We made some miscues that you just can’t do against the No. 3 ranked team in the state,” Clay-Battelle head coach Ryan Wilson said. “Some of our kids acknowledged that we’re a lot better than what we showed last week.”

The Cee-Bees get that chance at home this week against the 0-2 Valley Lumberjacks. Wilson says, don’t let their record fool you.

“They do have a nice team and they have the pieces to do some good things on the field — their offensive line is sound and their skill players are able to execute in their offensive scheme,” Wilson said. “Defensively, they get after you. They’ve had some things go wrong and it snowballs. They were in the ballgame in the first half of their games.”

Valley has lost to Calhoun County (28-6) and Tygarts Valley (49-0) this season. Eight starters returned on offense for the Lumberjacks but they had to replace four-year starter Gavin Streets at quarterback. Youngster Gavin Derby stepped in at QB and has just the two games of varsity experience.

“Their quarterback is young but he throws a pretty nice ball,” Wilson said. 

Other impact players for Valley include senior running back Billy Kuhn with receivers Isiah Bassett and Patrick Higginbotham.

Higginbotham will also fill in for Derby at quarterback, if needed. The Lumberjacks will have played all three of their games on the road this season.

“We have 28 kids on the roster and a lot of talent,” Valley head coach Logan Miller told the Wheeling Intelligencer. “With a younger team and a young quarterback, maybe starting off with that many games on the road will help us grow a little bit and avoid the pressure of playing on the home field. It’s a good schedule with … plenty of meat on it.”

Clay-Battelle has won three straight games against Valley and has been victorious in four of the last five, dating back to the 2016 season.

“This is a conference game and we need this one to get back on track,” Wilson said of the Mason-Dixon Conference foes. “I go back and watch the last few years that we have played them. We’ve seen them against their opponents this year and they’ve just had some bad luck.”

This season for the Cee-Bees, Carson Shriver has 23 rushes for 125 yards and four touchdowns. Passing, he is 6 for 9 with 113 yards and a touchdown. Drew Boczek is 4 for 7 passing for 94 yards and a touchdown, while also catching five passes for 63 yards. On special teams, Boczek has two punt returns for an average of 27.5 yards per return. He also has blocked two kicks.

Other notable contributors include Brady Ammons who has 18 carries for 134 yards and a touchdown; Maverick Gum who has 11 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown; and Noah Sollars who has two receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown. 

“The kids really responded when we regrouped at the beginning of the week,” Wilson said. “We said, ‘hey guys, let’s put that game behind us.’ We made some mistakes in that ballgame and we need to learn from them and move on.

“It’s not like we can go back and re-play that game but we do have an opportunity this week to get back out there and correct our mistakes and play a better game.”

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