BLACKSVILLE—Clay-Battelle football first-year head coach Aaron LaPoe had the same message for his players Friday night after his Cee-Bees fell 47-0 to the visiting Cameron Dragons that he had when they dropped a one-point contest to Tygarts Valley 13-12 in Week 5.
“There is a right and a wrong way to respond to this game tonight,” LaPoe said. “That’s what I’ll go in and tell them in the locker room. With a one-point loss, you recalibrate the next week and fix what you did wrong. This is a bit different, but we played an outstanding football team tonight in Cameron.”
The Dragons started early and often as senior running back Klypsan Wallace went 33 yards on their first play of the night.
Clay-Battelle (4-4) forced Cameron (7-1) into a fourth down at the C-B 22 but couldn’t make the stop, and the Dragons scored the game’s opening touchdown from 15 yards out as senior Slaton Pettit scampered in for six.
Cameron scored a touchdown on each of its four drives in the first quarter and held a 27-0 advantage after the opening 12 minutes.
The Dragons carried the ball 22 times for 249 yards as a team and gained 16 first downs. Wallace gained 174 yards and scored twice in 14 attempts on the ground. Junior quarterback Kason Angel threw the ball only thrice but completed all his passes for 74 yards and two scores.
Clay-Battelle sophomore Caleb Snodgrass led the way with 48 of the hosts’ 62 yards gained on the ground.
Wallace scored both of his touchdowns in the second quarter to help push the lead to 40-0 at the break. The Dragons added their final touchdown to open the second half as Pettit took the kickoff return all the way back for six.
Despite the lopsided result against one of the best teams in Class A this season, LaPoe and the Cee-Bees have the most control over their destiny regarding earning a spot in the Class A state playoffs as a top-16 team.
The Cee-Bees will hit the road for a matchup with Beallsville, Oh. next week before enjoying a week to rest on a bye.
They will conclude their 2024 regular season by visiting Magnolia, which could determine the boys from Blacksville’s playoff fate.
“We have a chance to secure a non-losing season next week, and depending on what happens elsewhere, we could be fighting for a playoff spot in the final game,” LaPoe said. “Making the playoffs is one of the goals we wrote on the board at the beginning of the season. While listening to the players’ senior night letters being read, I heard a few of them say their best memory of playing football was making the playoffs their first two years here, and they lost those games. We know what’s ahead of us and still have an excellent opportunity to make this season what we want it to be.”
BOX SCORE
Cameron 27 13 7 0 – 47
Clay-Battelle 0 0 0 0 – 0
SCORING SUMMARY
CHS – Pettit 15 run (Wright kick)
CHS – Pettit fumble recovery TD (Kick no good)
CHS – Angel 13 pass to Scott (Wright kick)
CHS – Angel 61 pass to Pettit (Wright kick)
CHS – Wallace 1 run (Kick no good)
CHS – Wallace 19 run (Wright kick)
CHS – Pettit KO return TD (Wright kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Cameron – Wallace 14-174 2TD, Pettit 3-31 TD, Winters 2-28, Brown 1-9, Angel 1-7; Clay-Battelle – Snodgrass 23-48, Gum 5-14.
PASSING: Cameron – Angel 3/3 74 2TD; Clay-Battelle – Coen 4/12 24.
RECEIVING: Cameron – Pettit 1-61 TD, Scott 1-13 TD, Reed 1-0; Clay-Battelle – Morgan 1-20, Savage 2-5, Snodgrass 1-(-1).
