BLACKSVILLE – Even a chilly evening filled with a steady drizzle punctuated with several drenching downpours couldn’t dampen the mood of the Clay-Battelle football community Friday night during the Cee-Bees’ regular-season finale against Magnolia, as C-B finished off the Blue Eagles 30-0 to finish at No. 3 in Class A, the highest ranking in school history.
It didn’t take long for Clay-Battelle (9-1) to jump out to an early lead, as Magnolia (2-8) went nowhere on their opening possession, then muffed the punt snap, giving C-B excellent field position at the 18. Three plays later, tailback Caleb Hall found paydirt from the 2, and quarterback Corey Coen ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead just three and a half minutes into the game.
The Blue Eagles responded, finding success with their single-wing offense, especially with fullback Anthony Lancaster quick-hitting between the tackles, but their long, time-consuming drive stalled at the C-B 30. The Cee-Bees offense immediately added to their lead with a 12-play, 70-yard TD drive. On third and goal from the 15, running back Caleb Snodgrass executed a tremendous jump cut at the line, swept to the left sideline, read an excellent downfield block from receiver Cody Clovis, and sprinted in for the score. The try failed, but the lead was 14-0. Once again, the MHS offense pieced together another long drive as the first-half clock wound down, but the C-B defense stiffened at their own 14, turning the ball over on downs with 11 seconds left before the break.
Magnolia unsuccessfully tried an onside kick to start the second half, but the Cee-Bees couldn’t capitalize and punted. However, linebacker Cooper Payton’s interception set up the Clay-Battelle offense deep in Magnolia territory at the 15, so when Coen bucked across from the one, and ran in the try, the advantage was bumped to a comfortable three-score margin, 22-0.
After forcing another Blue Eagle turnover on downs, C-B put the game away when Coen stood tall in the pocket with a defender in his face and threw a perfect post route pass to Braden Ponceroff, who juggled then corralled the ball for a pretty 30-yard touchdown connection. Snodgrass powered in on the conversion for the 30-0 lead, and when Hall intercepted in the last minute to preserve the shutout, the celebration was on.
C-B head coach Aaron LaPoe was doused with a surprise Gatorade shower to get the party started.
“That was my first shower, and no, I wasn’t expecting it,” LaPoe grinned after the game. “It took that third score after Cooper’s pick shortened the field for us before I was finally able to breathe a little bit. They came in wanting to control the ball and limit our possessions, and they did that really well in the first half. You’re frustrated because you’ve only had the ball on offense twice in the first half, but then you see that you’re up 14-0 and that helps. When we made it 22-0, they had to change things up, and we were ready for them.”
Even though his team acknowledged after the game that the job wasn’t over, LaPoe still appreciated the way they celebrated the win and their historic ranking.
“I think they wanted to honor all those playoff teams from the past, and they’re also very excited about the season they’ve put together so far,” he explained. “They also gave me the game ball, which was a very special gesture. I am just so appreciative and proud of how they came together, kids from rival schools, and embraced the challenge. We’ve had so many guys sacrifice playing time, move to new and less glamorous positions, all to give us a better chance to win. I cannot emphasize how very hard it is to do what they’ve done.
“They make movies about stuff like this. This level of unselfish dedication to their teammates has been a deeply spiritual act, a really beautiful thing, and I think we’re all so happy to get a chance to continue our journey together.”
The Cee-Bees will host a playoff game next week, with their opponent and game day and time to be determined after final seeding is complete.
Box score
Magnolia 0 0 0 0 –0
Clay-Battelle 8 6 8 8–30
SCORING SUMMARY
C-B–Caleb Hall 2 run (Corey Coen run)
C-B–Caleb Snodgrass 15 run (try failed)
C-B–Coen 1 run (Coen run)
C-B–Braden Ponceroff 30 pass from Coen (Snodgrass run)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING: Magnolia–Kingsten Cristen 6-24-2 82. Clay-Battelle–Coen 1-3 30 TD, Trey Huggins 0-1 0.
RUSHING: Magnolia–Anthony Lancaster 7-50 Gregory Moore 6-7 Ethaniel Harlan 6-21 Lucas Anderson 1-(-12) Hunter Cooley 10-46. Clay-Battelle–Hall 9-73 TD, Coen 10-40 TD, Snodgrass 4-45 TD, Huggins 2-25, Colt Sandy 1-1, Jason Sleeth 4-6, Daman Coen 2-6, Cody Clovis 1-(-1).
RECEIVING: Magnolia–Anderson 1-5, Conner Carpenter, 1-9, Jaxson Goddard 1-11, Colton Chaney 3-57. Clay-Battelle–Ponceroff 1-30 TD.
