MORGANTOWN – The Clay-Battelle Cee-Bees earned a statement victory on the road over the Class A No. 8 ranked Meadow Bridge Friday night in what first-year head coach Aaron LaPoe describes as nothing short of a grind-it-out win that required his players to dig deep and find an extra level of effort.
According to LaPoe, the main story of Friday night’s upset was a defensive change that he and his staff made in preparation for a tough matchup away from home.
Kooper Statler, a junior who usually lines up on the defensive line, moved to linebacker this week in practice and made a massive difference in the game with 20 tackles and four forced fumbles, all recovered by the Cee-Bees (4-3).
“Kooper is a big kid, and he was flying around the field,” LaPoe said. “He was flat-out hitting people, Jack Lambert style, and separating them from the ball. He also plays offensive guard for us, can come in at center, and does many things for us. Last night, he helped lead us to a great win.”
The Cee-Bees jumped ahead early, but the Wildcats (4-2) ground-and-pound offense responded, and the two sides traded scores throughout the contest.
C-B freshman running back Caleb Hall rushed for 157 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns while missing most of the second half with an injury. Caleb Snodgrass added 31 yards on ten carries with a touchdown of his own.
“It was a very physical game,” LaPoe said. “We had kids on both teams who simply couldn’t keep going. I think their coach described it as war after the game. At one point, I had a hard time fielding a punt team, so we lined up the offense, and I had Corey Coen (C-B quarterback) punt it from there.”
Meadow Bridge tied the game in the latter stages of the fourth quarter, and the Cee-Bees certainly felt the pressure of playing a ranked team on the road in an intense environment.
“Their crowd was cheering, the band was playing, the cow bells were going crazy,” LaPoe said of the Meadow Bridge supporters following the game-tying score. “They had people wrapped around the fences last night at the game. It reminds me a lot of us because it’s a small town and school with a great community.”
The Cee-Bees got the ball back but were forced to punt, as LaPoe says they struggled to move the ball on offense at times in the second half. But Statler got a good kick away, and Meadow Bridge started their drive at their own 25-yard line, looking to take the lead on short time.
But the C-B defense held, forcing a turnover-on-downs after a fourth-down stop at the Wildcats’ 30-yard line.
That’s when LaPoe says he got a little assistance on what play to call on offense, but it didn’t come from another coach. It came from injured quarterback Braden Ponceroff, who began the season as the starter.
“Braden tapped me on the shoulder and said that he noticed one of their corners looked a little tired and maybe cold as the temperature dropped a bit,” he said. “He thought it would be a good idea to send Josiah (Morgan) on a go-route, so that’s what we called. Corey threw a great ball to the endzone that we came down with. This was truly an all-around team effort.”
C-B will host No. 10 Cameron next weekend.
