BLACKSVILLE — It isn’t often that a potentially season-defining game occurs so early in a football season, but Friday night Class A No. 8 Clay-Battelle hosted No. 3 East Hardy with both teams prepared to learn an awful lot about just what 2021 might have in store — perhaps even with playoff implications on the line — in just their second game of the season.
What the Cee-Bees learned in the first quarter and a half is that they can match up toe-to-toe with one of the best Class A teams in the state — but only if they can avoid penalties, injuries and surrendering gash plays on defense.
A combination of sloppy tackling, some uncharacteristic mental lapses and a bevy of sidelined starters gave the powerful Cougars all they needed, as East Hardy scored 39 unanswered points in a convincing 45-12 road win.
The first quarter turned out to be a series of big plays, the first turned in by Clay-Battelle defensive end Johnny Arnett, who snagged a ball in midair that was jarred loose from East Hardy quarterback Mason Miller and rumbled 20 yards for a stunning pick-6 just 1:02 into the contest. After the C-B defense turned the Cougars over on downs, it was East Hardy’s defense that came up big, forcing a fumble at the Clay-Battelle 26, and Miller found Dawson Price wide open (after C-B senior corner Noah Sollars collapsed with an injured ankle) on a skinny post for an 18-yard TD to tie the score.
Clay-Battelle responded with a solid nine-play, 83-yard touchdown drive capped by Carson Shriver’s strong 25-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-5 to retake the lead. However, it took Miller and Price just one play to knot the score, as a swing pass and several broken tackles transformed a short gain into a 63-yard touchdown.
The game seemed to turn at the start and the end of the second quarter, after the Cee-Bees offense sputtered for the third straight possession. Looking for a big play, Miller’s bomb was instead intercepted by C-B free safety Drew Boczek, who advanced the ball inside the EH 40, only to have the ball punched out from behind and recovered by the offense on a double turnover play. The Cougars took advantage, scoring on a fourth-and-inches TD plunge by Damian Iman to take their first lead, 19-12.
And then came heartbreaker.
Looking to run out the clock and get into the locker room down by a single score, the Cee-Bees offense managed to grind all but 12 seconds off the clock after they punted to the 50-yard line — but Miller and Price struck again on a perfectly executed screen pass that Price took the house for devastating touchdown and a 26-12 lead.
“We were right there, playing right with them,” C-B coach Ryan Wilson lamented after the game, “and then we intercept the ball in their territory, but give it back to them. So, instead of maybe taking the lead, or pinning them down, they come back and score on us. Big swing. And the screen pass just killed us. We knew it was coming, game-planned for it, but they made the play, and we didn’t.”
With injuries and cramping issues mounting, Clay-Battelle wasn’t really able to mount much resistance on defense or generate much momentum on offense in the second half, as the Cougars scored three more rushing touchdowns to win going away.
“I told the guys that our effort was good, especially when we had guys filling in at positions they’ve never played before,” Wilson said. “We played hard and never quit. We have some tackling issues and some mental mistakes that we need to clean up, but this was just one setback. Plenty of season left. We take this one, learn from it, and move on.”
The Cee-Bees look to bounce back when they host Valley Wetzel next Friday at 7 p.m.
East Hardy (1-0) 12 14 6 13 – 45
Clay-Battelle (1-0) 12 0 0 0 – 12
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Q – CB – Johnny Arnett 20 INT return (kick missed)
EH – Dawson Price 18 pass from Mason Miller (kick blocked)
CB – Carson Shriver 25 run (try failed)
EH – Dawson Price 63 pass from Mason Miller (try failed)
2nd Q – EH – Damian Iman 1 run (Noah Lang kick)
EH – Dawson Price 50 pass from Mason Miller (Lang kick)
3rd Q – EH – Iman 5 run (kick blocked)
4th Q – EH – Gabe Henderson 7 run (Lang kick)
EH – Tyler Tarallo 10 run (try failed)
PASSING
EH – Miller 6-14-3 166 3TD
CB – Boczek 2-5-0 22, Shriver 3-5-0 23, Totals 5-10-0 45
RUSHING
EH – Miller 7-31, Iman 10-92 2TD, Gabe Henderson 10-44 TD, Tyler Tarallo 8-39 TD Total 35-206 4TD.
CB- Shriver 11-49 TD, Boczek 1-(-3), Tate Elliot 12-50, Brady Ammons 13-55 Total 37-151.
RECEIVING
EH – Lang 1-5, Price 4-133 3TD, Mario Combs 1-28.
CB – Boczek 3-23, Shriver 1-12, Chisler 1-10
