BLACKSVILLE – When asked what he learned about his team after a 22-16 loss to Cameron to begin the 2025 season last week, Clay-Battelle High School football head coach Aaron LaPoe said he would have the answer to that question after the next game.
But after a 42-20 victory over visiting Frontier (Ohio) this week, LaPoe was ready to give a response to the question posed to him in Week 1.
“Tonight, I learned that we have the kind of kids that will sink their teeth in in the second half,” LaPoe said. “We had the lead against Cameron entering the second half, and we didn’t do that. We had self-inflicted wounds, and part of winning is not beating yourself. There were moments in the first half tonight where we were beating ourselves. But we are so proud of the response of our guys, and we have some amazing leaders in the locker room.”
Clay-Battelle (1-1) took a 34-20 lead into halftime, beating out a 45-minute weather delay by a few minutes. After 54 points and five touchdowns between the two sides in the opening 24 minutes, the second half saw each offense on the field for only two drives apiece, with the Cee-Bees coming away with the only points on the other side of the break en route to a dominant victory.
The Cee-Bees controlled possession of the ball from the opening kickoff to the final buzzer and outgained the Cougars 513 to 220 on offense. Three hundred twenty-nine of those yards came on 45 attempts for the hosts, with junior quarterback Corey Coen completing 11 passes for the final 184 and two touchdowns. He added 65 yards and a pair of scores on the ground.
After the opening touchdown of the game on a 16-yard pass from Coen to Braden Ponceroff, the Cee-Bees recovered a surprise onside kick and doubled the lead with tailback Caleb Snodgrass finding the endzone.
“Originally, I was just going to defer to the second half for kickoff, but we discussed it and decided to take the ball and then try the onside,” LaPoe said. “Their strength is their offense, and we knew that’s what would be dangerous in the game. We have so much faith in our defense but wanted to try and gain an advantage early and it worked out.”
The backfield duo of Snodgrass and Caleb Hall combined for 261 rushing yards in the contest, each with a touchdown as well. Their stats were near script-worthy with Snodgrass running for 131 yards on 14 attempts and Hall for 130 on 17.
“We’ve been trying to be more intentional about making sure we get the ball to our players in the best situations for them to be in,” LaPoe said. “We did a little better with that tonight as far as having them ready to score more points than we did in the Cameron game. We believe in these kids and know that we have guys ready to step up when we need them to.”
The Cougars got on the board with a 48-yard pick-six late in the first quarter, but the Cee-Bees responded with back-to-back touchdown drives in the second, both capped by scores on the ground by Coen and Hall. Coen also found Cooper Payton for a 17-yard score as C-B took a 34-12 lead; however, on the ensuing kickoff, Frontier’s Austyn Kephart returned the ball 80 yards to cut the lead to two scores, 34-20.
“I was upset about the return because that’s not who we are at all,” LaPoe said. “We teach tackling every single day. Those were missed tackles and are unacceptable.”
The game was delayed by weather during halftime, but the teams returned 45 minutes later to begin the second half. After such an offensively loaded first half, the second half was the total opposite story.
Both teams only ran two drives on offense, with the only points coming on a four-yard run by Coen.
The 42-20 victory was a great response by the Cee-Bees after dropping a heartbreaker to Cameron in Week 1. LaPoe knows his players were better despite the loss.
“That was the beauty of playing Cameron Week 1; they made us better,” he said. “We learned that we had to find more answers for things and had to fix some details fundamentally. Those are things that we spend a lot of time on, and while I’m sure there are still things to polish, I think we’ve cleaned up some things pretty well between the two weeks. That’s what makes coaching fun. When you teach a kid something as simple as moving your left foot instead of your right in this instance, or whatever it is, and they go and do it and see the success of it, that’s the best part.”
The Cee-Bees will return home next week to host Valley on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
BOX SCORE
Frontier 6 14 0 0 – 20
Clay-Battelle 14 20 8 0 – 42
SCORING SUMMARY
CB – Ponceroff 16 pass/Coen (2pt conv. good)
CB – Snodgrass 8 run (Conv. failed)
FHS – Hayes 48 INT return (Conv. failed)
CB – Coen 1 run (Conv. failed)
CB – Hall 25 run (Conv. failed)
FHS – Kephart 34 pass/Powell (conv. failed)
CB – Payton 17 pass/Coen (2pt conv. good)
FHS – Kephart 80 kickoff return (conv. good)
CB – Coen 4 run (conv. good)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Frontier – Kirkpatrick 10-50, Kephart 2-12, Powell 3-9, Ferrell 1-1, Hayes 1-1. Clay-Battelle – Snodgrass 14-131 TD, Hall 17-130 TD, Coen 12-65 2TD, Payton 2-3.
PASSING: Frontier – Powell 9-17 TD INT. Clay-Battelle – Coen 11-20 184 2TD 2INT.
RECEIVING: Frontier – Kephart 4-78 TD, Ferrell 2-43, Bills 1-20, Ruble 1-8. Clay-Battelle – Ponceroff 7-118 TD, Payton 3-54, Sandy 1-12.
