BLACKSVILLE — There came a moment Friday night when Carson Shriver heard his head coach yelling at him to get out of bounds.
Clay-Battelle’s quarterback had other ideas.
“Yeah, I heard (Ryan Wilson) telling me to get out of bounds,” said Shriver, who led the Cee-Bees to a convincing 51-14 victory against Tygarts Valley. “Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the cutback lane open up, so I went for it instead.”
It ended up as a 32-yard touchdown run — Shriver’s second of the night to go along with his two TD passes — that gave the Cee-Bees a 35-0 lead with 3:36 left in the second quarter.
“I was figuring just get out of bounds and let’s get to the next play,” Wilson said. “That’s one of those he-saw-something-else moments. He hit the cutback and went to the other side of the field and scored. It was a great run. That’s why we have to get the ball in his hands.”
Technically, the ball is in Shriver’s hands every play, as long as the Cee-Bees (3-1) are on offense.
He’s the quarterback. He threw two touchdown passes to Matthew Gadd and Mason Chisler.
Yet you look at his 154 yards rushing on nine carries — 17.1 yards per attempt — and you would think he’s a running back.
Maybe in an era gone by, Shriver would be a running back, a tailback in the old I-formation possibly.
Yet Wilson sees Shriver’s athletic talent and has him lining up in the shotgun with the option to run or pass.
“I really like getting out there and getting some contact, so running is a lot of fun,” Shriver said. “Getting a big play through the air is exciting, too. To me, it doesn’t really matter, run or pass, I’m fine with whatever coach wants to call.”
And so the question is asked: Is Shriver a running back playing quarterback or a running quarterback or just simply an athlete?
“He’s an athlete, that’s how I see him,” Wilson said. “He’s an athlete that can throw the ball some. He keeps teams honest, because you can’t load up the box on us and he’s also got the ability to run around you, too.”
Shriver viewed himself the same way.
“I’m not the typical quarterback. I would just say athlete,” Shriver said. “I mean, we can throw when we have to, but when our line is moving people like they were tonight, it’s so much easier just to run it.”
And run it the Cee-Bees did with 250 of the team’s 343 rushing yards coming in the first half.
“The line really executed what we wanted,” Wilson said. “They were able to open up some really good running lanes for us.”
Zach Hall, Maddox Shriver and Tysen Price also added TD runs for Clay-Battelle.
Tygarts Valley (0-5) was led by quarterback Lucas Bright, who threw for 168 yards and two long scoring passes to teammate Wade Warner in the fourth quarter. Warner finished with six receptions for 161 yards.
Tygarts Valley 0 0 0 14—14
Clay-Battelle 14 28 3 6—51
SCORING SUMMARY
C-B—Carson Shriver 66 run (Drew Mercer kick)
C-B—Zachary Hall 3 run (Mercer kick)
C-B—Mason Chisler 20 pass from Shriver (Mercer kick)
C-B—Maddox Shriver 32 run (Mercer kick)
C-B—Matthew Gadd 13 pass from Shriver (Mercer kick)
C-B—Mercer 21 field goal
TV—Wade Warner 84 pass from Lucas Bright (Bright kick)
C-B—Tysen Price 40 run (kick failed)
TV—Warner 46 pass from Bright (Bright kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Clay-Battelle —C. Shriver 9-154 2 TD, Hall 7-78 TD, M. Shriver 5-35 TD, Maverick Gum 5-17, Price 2-48 TD, Brenden Baker 4-9, Landon Savage 1-4, Jacob Kassay 1-0, JC Spears 1-(-2). Tygarts Valley—Bright 17-25, Warner 3-0, Aiden Channell 3-0, Austin Gear 1-0, Team 1-(-5).
PASSING: Clay-Battelle—C. Shriver 3-5 48 2 TD. Tygarts Valley—Bright 8-20-2 168 2 TD, Austin Gear 0-1.
RECEIVING: Clay-Battelle—Gadd 2-28 TD, Chisler 1-20 TD. Tygarts Valley—Warner 6-161 2 TD, Derrick Gear 2-7.
