BLACKSVILLE — Sound, disciplined and assignment defense — that’s exactly what Clay-Battelle head coach Ryan Wilson wanted from his defense Friday night against Paden City.
The Cee-Bees responded by allowing 99 yards in a 36-0 shutout win on homecoming weekend.
“They were awesome,” Wilson said of his defensive unit. “Watching them out there, they’re flowing to the football. I still go back to the scouting reports and our kids were very focused. Our coaches came up with a great plan and our kids followed it and executed it — they were always in the correct position and they made plays.
“I can’t ask anymore out of that defense.”
C-B (4-2) relying on its defense is nothing new this season. With the exception of a 51-10 loss to Tygarts Valley on Sept. 21, a game where the Cee-Bees were down eight starters defensively, they are allowing just eight points per game.
Opponents have scored just one touchdown in the last eight quarters, as well.
Senior Michael Stewart, who had two interceptions against the Wildcats (1-6), believes it’s a matter of everyone buying in to what the coaching staff is telling them.
“If we weren’t working as a team, this wouldn’t have happened,” he said. “This is all just one big motor and all of the gears have to be going at one time. We just happened to have one big really awesome game tonight. We clicked and it was amazing.”
Stewart even found himself in the end zone, catching a 2-point conversion on the Cee-Bees first touchdown of the night in the first quarter on a Hunter Brewer 7-yard run.
C-B scored two more in the second quarter — two touchdown passes by Levi Carrico to Drew D’Eletto and Cadon Skavinsky, respectively.
In the second half, Sean Hays scored and Noah Watson blocked a punt and ran it in himself for the final touchdown of the game.
Carrico finished with 156 yards, while Brewer led the team in rushing with 56 yards. The majority of Brewer’s carries came on direct snaps.
With four games left, Wilson isn’t worried with scoreboard watching or how the WVSSAC playoff rankings are shaking out — he wants his team to enjoy the win and their homecoming weekend.
The rest will shake itself out as C-B heads into next week’s showdown with Class A No. 6 Cameron.
“It’s one game at a time right now,” Wilson said. “We told the kids on Monday that everyone’s got a job to do on homecoming and ours is to get ready to play a football game, and they did their job tonight. Enjoy the day on Saturday but come Sunday, watch film, and on Monday, come back to work.”
