BLACKSVILLE – Even though the weather for Clay-Battelle’s homecoming game against Valley Wetzel was perfectly dry and absolutely perfect, the Cee-Bees might as well have been playing in a monsoon, as they turned in multiple splash plays on both sides of the ball in a 48-6 victory against Valley Wetzel.
The Cee-Bees forced eight turnovers, that’s no typo.
Six came by way of interceptions – again, no typo – with two of those being returned for a touchdown.
For added measure, Clay-Battelle (2-1) added two long touchdown runs and two long TD passes on offense.
It didn’t take long for the C-B defense to get going, as Braden Ponceroff picked off the first Valley Wetzel play from scrimmage. Nor did the Cee-Bees offense need much time to heat up, as tailback Caleb Hall burst out on a 35-yard run into the red zone, and then waltzed in on a sweep from four yards out for the opening score. After forcing a three-and-out, Clay-Battelle struck quickly again, as Trey Huggins flashed past his single-man coverage, hauled in quarterback Corey Coen’s rainbow pass in stride, and sprinted in for a 66-yard score and a 14-0 lead.
It was time for the Cee-Bees’ defense to get in on the big play parade when middle linebacker Cooper Payton picked off a pass at the Valley 15, then picked his way through traffic and into the end zone for another score to make it 20-0 after the first quarter.
At that point, C-B led in total yardage, 126 to -2, and the home team kept the foot on the accelerator in the second quarter, when Huggins used a nifty in-out cut move to once again get free in the secondary, and Coen again led him perfectly, culminating in a 37-yard TD and a 28-0 lead.
Ponceroff picked off another pass, leading to Hall’s second scoring run of the day from 11 yards out, then safety Caleb Bragg, playing centerfield, hauled in another INT at midfield, and returned it down the right sideline for the Cee-Bee’s second pick-6 of the half.
After yet another interception – the first of two by sophomore Eli Cottrell – and with time running down until halftime, Huggins replaced Coen at quarterback, connected on two passes totaling 48 yards, then called his own number and skirted left end and raced to the pylon for a 20-yard score and a 48-0 halftime lead. Running clock and liberal substitutions in the second half kept the final score in check, Lumberjack’s quarterback Koleton Kinkade closed out the scoring with a 21-yard scamper in the third.
When asked about his high impact night of work (2 receptions for 103 yards and 2 TDs, one carry for 20 yards and a score, and 2-for-2 passing for 48 yards), Huggins admitted he enjoyed running an offense again.
“It felt good,” said Huggins, who was the starting quarterback at Hundred last season. “because I haven’t had a chance to play quarterback here yet. But it doesn’t matter who plays where, it’s about putting points on the board. We knew they would key on Braden (Ponceroff), and that would give us a chance to take advantage of one-on-one coverage, and Corey put it where it needed to be. It’s been great being here, we’re all brothers, and I think we can keep this going.”
Second-year head coach Aaron LaPoe admitted he wasn’t sure what to expect from the Lumberjacks defensively.
“They’d only played one game, against Tygarts Valley’s single-wing, so we didn’t have much to go off of,” he said. “But I thought we did a great job up front, which let our skill guys and our speed work for us. And anytime you win the turnover battle, you’re giving yourself every chance to win. And we know we can play good football defensively week in and week out.
“There’s always things to learn from and improve on from every game,” he continued, “but that’s not ever an issue with these guys. It’s a player-led team, and they all are on the same page playing for each other and working hard to get better every day and every week. It’s early yet, but our goal was to win some playoff games, and I still see us heading in that direction. We’ll enjoy this one, enjoy Homecoming, the get back to work next week.”
The Cee-Bees have their bye next week, then travel to Gilmer County the following week.
BOX SCORE
Valley Wetzel 0 0 6 0–6
Clay-Battelle 20 28 0 0–48
SCORING SUMMARY
CB–Caleb Hall 4 run (Hall run)
CB–Trey Huggins 66 pass from Corey Coen (try failed)
CB–Cooper Payton 15 INT return (try failed)
CB–Huggins 37 pass from Coen (Braden Ponceroff run)
CB–Hall 11 run (kick failed)
CB–Caleb Bragg 55 INT return (Daman Coen kick)
CB–Huggins 20 run (D. Coen kick)
VW–Koleton Kinkade 21 run (try failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Valley – Kinkade 9-41 TD, Ryder Gravette 7-29, Gaige Wichterman 9-31. C-B– Hall 4-58 2TD, Huggins 1-20 TD, Colt Sandy 3-8, Cooper Payton 1-14, Jason Sleeth 1-0, C. Coen 2-(-12), Caleb Snodgrass 1-12, D. Coen 3-(-6) McLaughlin 8-10.
PASSING: Valley–Koleton Kinkade 1-10-6 1. C-B–Corey Coen 4-5 130 2TD, Trey Huggins 2-2 48, Gavin McLaughlin 1-2-1 1.
RECEIVING: VW – Gravette 1-1. C-B– Huggins 2-103 2TD, Bragg 1-2, Ponceroff 1-25, Sandy 1-37, Sleeth 1-11, Briston Reed 1-1.
