BLACKSVILLE — The offense was explosive and the special teams unit had a punt return for a score and shut down a two-point conversion attempt, but the defense really stole the show for all four quarters in Clay-Battelle’s 44-6 win against Hundred last week.
It was the first victory for new C-B head coach Aaron LaPoe in his first game leading his alma mater. The 38-year-old complimented his players, as well as his veteran defensive assistants, for helping everything come together in this new era of Cee-Bees football.
“We’ve been about as old school as we can possibly be in the year 2024 with these kids,” LaPoe said. “None of them have quit. They’ve embraced it and become so much tougher because of it. We have a routine that we buy into and believe in it. We’re focused on this process of self-improvement and making practice so hard that when the game comes, we’ve earned the right to feel confident because we are built different.”
C-B limited Hundred to 149 yards of offense and forced three fumbles in the big win last week.
LaPoe was previously the linebackers coach at Capital High School for five years as a part of the Cougars’ state championship and state runner-up teams in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
He has been impressed with the way the Cee-Bees defense has adapted and evolved over the summer months and how the unit engaged in week one.
“We have some tackling techniques that I’ve picked up along the way and we’ve been implementing that and they’re learning well,” LaPoe said. “We really try to focus on the fundamentals of leveraging gaps and tackling with technique and the kids went out there and did it. They’re learning quick and still going to get a lot more repetitions. There’s definitely improvement that we can make, but we’ve already seen some nice improvement. From our first scrimmage to that game against Hundred, we look like a completely different team, in a really good way.”
The step from training camp to week one was a big one for the Cee-Bees, but the step to week two may be even bigger. C-B remains at home this week to host Madonna. The Blue Dons overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to race past Wellsville (Oh.), 30-28.
“We’re going to learn how we are as a team this week and we’ll see how we can respond when the other team makes plays,” LaPoe said. “They have some talented playmakers. They have speed. They present some challenges, but I think we’re going to be tough on them upfront and manage the line of scrimmage.”
Wesley Molish, a senior transfer from Oak Glen, spearheads the Madonna offense. He caught four passes while also rushing for 70 yards, including the game-winning score in the closing minutes.
“He plays football like a man,” LaPoe said.
The Cee-Bees have a lot of men on their offense, too.
Maverick Gum had 91 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries last week, as Caleb Snodgrass added 53 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and Braden Ponceroff added 19 yards on two carries, with a 12-yard touchdown run.
“We played well physically and with toughness and effort, but there is still a lot to clean up for us to become a really good football team,” LaPoe said. “We looked sharp. It made me proud. I’ve been having a lot of fun and to now be back living a childhood dream as head coach of Clay-Battelle is a huge blessing.”
Football has long been a part of LaPoe’s life growing up in the small community of Core to becoming C-B’s all-time leading rusher and playing collegiately at WVU and Fairmont State. He got his coaching start at South Middle School and was able to come back home to coach the Cee-Bees on former head coach Ryan Wilson’s staff for two years before the pandemic. Beginning in 2020, he stepped away from the game to be with his three kids while his wife, Sally, worked in a hospital setting.
He was taking classes at Marshall to obtain a principal’s certificate when the door opened this offseason as Wilson retired after 29 years leading Clay-Battelle.
“My dream was to be the head coach at Clay-Battelle High School,” LaPoe said. “Being a part of this community is great and last week was a wonderful experience. The stands were full. We’re a blue-collar mining community and we represent that as a team. I know for certain our kids are going to play with 100 percent effort. They’re going to be tough and the other team is going to leave knowing they just played football in Blacksville.”
By MATTHEW PEASLEE/For The Dominion Post
